New thyroid results! and some new symptoms...

[WhyAmISoTired]

Hello all,

I have two new sets of thyroid blood tests. These well all done while fasting and around 9am.

December 2023 (this was during ovulation so TSH may have been slightly raised)

TSH 0.59mU/l (0.30-4.50)

fT3 3.92 ng/l (2.30-4.20)

fT4 1.53 ng/dl (0.80-1.70)

January 2024

TSH 0.33 mU/l (0.27-4.20)

T4 20.3 pmol/l (12.0-22.0)

no T3 was tested.

I am currently on 92.8mcg of Levothyroxine per day, no T3. I am thinking it is time to decrease this dose slightly, say to 85.7mcg, because:

1) My period tends to come a day early now

2) From my last blood tests in April 2023, on the same dose of Levo, both my T3 and T4 increased, while TSH remained stable.

3) I got a bit anxious. It is hard to tell if this is thyroid related, as many things happened recently in my life that warrant some anxiety.

4) My heart rate goes up sometimes. My standing heart rate is way too high (often around 100). Last night I woke up with my heart racing at 132 bpm, which was scary. My blood pressure is low though. This could also be related to my anxiety, or to other issues I am having with my digestive system, I am not sure.

Any thoughts?

I am still fatigued, by the way, but I am starting to think there may be other things at play. I have started experimenting with Yarrow bitters which make me feel a lot more energetic but even one drop a day is hard to handle for my digestive system! I went up to 2/day and it was a complete disaster, I had awful reflux, lots of burps, and shortness of breath, my blood pressure was way too low, and just generally I felt really uncomfortable in a way that's hard to describe. I am taking a break now but I am hoping to start again with 1 drop once things stabilize because they do help with fatigue and I am hoping some of my symptoms are from sibo die-off. The heart rate thing may also be related to this....

Thank you!

[GlowCoach Administrator]

Free T4 (fT4) 1.53 pmol/L (.8 - 1.7) 81.1%

Free T3 (fT3) 3.92 pmol/L (2.3 - 4.2) 85.3%

These results look great. No need to change at all.

None of the symptoms you have mentioned are particularly hypo issus and your TSH on both results is fine.

Waking in the night with a high heart rate might point towards sleep apnoea which would also cause fatigue. You could discuss this with your GP.

You were having issues with iron & ferritin so what are your latest results?

What supplements are you taking?

What are your latest blood results for folate, B12 & D3?

[WhyAmISoTired in reply to GlowCoach]

My combined total D2+D3 is 84 nmol/l (no range given). I am not testing B12 because I am still on injections, although I have been slowly decreasing the frequency (now once every two weeks). I do not have a recent folate result but it has never been a problem for me

My ferritin is currently 67 mcg/l (15-291). I am planning to work on this some more, but taking a ferritin supplement is hard on my digestive system which right now has to deal with other things already

I am taking a vitamin D supplement and a vitamin B complex, not every day though. But I think this is working well.

I am worried I am slightly overmedicated. Historically my period has been a very good indication of hypo issues so now that it's coming too early I am thinking it could be a sign I'm overmedicated. Same for anxiety. Heart issues are a bit murkier but right now I would rather play it as safe as possible heart-wise....

[GlowCoach Administrator in reply to WhyAmISoTired]

Its possible that it could be a tiny amount too much Levo for you. I wouldn;t reduce it by any more than 12.5mcgs though as then more hypo symptoms could creep in.

If you're injecting B12 then magnesium is important. Its also a vitamin that can affect absorption of other things so needs to be taken a good 2 hours either side of anything else.

[WhyAmISoTired in reply to GlowCoach]

Ah yes, i do have magnesium as well! It does wonders for me.

[arTistapple in reply to WhyAmISoTired]

Please take note of what GlowCoach suggests about sleep apnea. I was put out when I was told I had sleep apnea. I was sure the results must have been for someone else. Apparently I was ‘waking’ 47 times an hour, which I was entirely unaware of. Much more rarely I would wake like a shot out of a gun choking and spluttering. Crikey I was getting no sleep at all. Worse than that, somewhere down the line I started getting pounding palpitations, 90% at night and sometimes during the day I would have lighter ones after a really bad night with the palps, almost like echoes of the nighttime ones. Four visits to A&E.

I have not quite got to the bottom of this yet but the palpitations started with the introduction of T3 and up until now I have blamed that. I am thinking that something about the T3 has exaggerated the palpitations. Not quite worked out what that could be yet.

Answers on a post card please?

However relating them to the sleep apnea has helped me a lot around the anxiety also brought on by the sodding palpitations - thank heavens. The anxiety IMHO comes on after (but so very close) to the palps. Not before which was a surprise at first but an important discovery.

Please consider sleep apnoea, you could spare yourself a lot of unnecessary grief.

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

It could be that you are waking in the night due to a drop in cortisol and your body compensates by giving you a shot of adrenalin... sounds like your adrenals are being taxed by life in general at the moment, have you tried adding in an adrenal cocktail to nourish you adrenals?

Basic one is orange juice (vit C) salt and cream of tartar (potassium)

[HealthStarDust]

I wouldn’t change a thing as your results do not suggest you do, your symptoms may be temporary or due to something else and most importantly, when talking about your anxiety you mentioned that a few things have have been going on in your life. So, due to the latter alone. I would suggest some stability as far as possible be attained in your life.

As for periods, 1 day change in a period cycle is simply not enough to consider a dose change. Periods fluctuate often for all sorts of reasons, add hormones to the mix and it can take months for them to restabalise.

[KK881]

I think you may be slightly overmedicated. When I'm taking too much Levo my heart rate increases and I have anxiety, SOB and difficulty with sleep. I feel best when my TSH is closer to 1. Your numbers do look like they are towards the high end of normal. Listen to your body.

[WhyAmISoTired in reply to KK881]

thank you! I will try a very small decrease. what is SOB?