Help with blood test interpretation please?

[florasmate]

Hello clever people, I wonder if someone could cast an eye on my latest blood results. Taken last week approx 9am with only water (no levothyroxine) - however I only stopped b vitamins including biotin 4 days prior to test.

TSH 0.96 (0.27-4.2)

FT3 2.9 (2-4.4)

FT4 1.18 (0.93-1.7)

I am currently on just 62.5mg levo, creeping up from a starter dose of 25mg in May '23. The dose increases by 12.5mg each time so far. Should I ask for a 25mg increase?

In a recent referral letter from my doctor she said the aim was to get TSH to approx 1

So I'm now worried that I won't get the dose increase I'm sure I need.

In the past weeks I've had creeping return of symptoms including anxiety & irritation, fatigue, feeling hypoglycaemic when I try to work (I'm a 60 year old market gardener :/) , sleeplessness, cold (though to be fair it is freezing atm). I should say that luckily my symptoms have never been as severe as many sufferers on this forum.

I take Thorne B complex, selenium, magnesium, vit D+K spray daily.

A side question - how do you work out percentage of results within the range please?

Also - how do you know if you convert T4 badly?

Comments very gratefully received, thanks in advance x

[greygoose]

Well, with those results I would want an increase in dose. But I don't know how you can convince a doctor that is TSH-obsessed. Your FT3 is very low, and it's low T3 that causes symptoms, not TSH. TSH doesn't make you feel anything, and your doctor should not be dosing by it.

So, to get the percentages, use this handy converter:

thyroid.dopiaza.org/

FT3 2.9 (2-4.4) 37.50%

FT4 1.18 (0.93-1.7) 32.47%

Both these results are too low, should be up around 75% through the range.

To tell how well you convert, you test the FT4 and FT3 at the same time, like you have, and then compare the percentages. The FT3 should be just slightly lower than the FT4. If the gap between the two is wide, then you are a poor convert.

According to your results, your conversion is good. BUT you don't really have enough T4 to convert. Things could change as your FT4 gets higher - if you get an increase, that is. Good luck!

[florasmate]

That is such a great reponse, do helpful. Thanks a million x