T3 and arrhythmia

[nara8]

I've been on levo for 25 years. A few years ago I found I have mitral and tricuspid regurgitation ,sinus tachycardia, and some PACs. I asked an internist if I could take t3 and he said no. But I can't tolerate the fatigue anymore. Is it safe to take t3 when having arrhythmia?

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

Can you share your latest thyroid blood results with us with reference ranges - numbers in brackets after your result.

Do you also have blood results for key vitamins ferritin, folate, B12 & D3?

[nara8 in reply to Jaydee1507]

Thank you Jaydee. Endo only orders TSH.

TSH 0.123 ulU/ml.....(0.42-4.2)

Vit.D 46.4 ng/ml....sufficiency(30-100)

Ferritin 77.1 ng/ml......(10-260)

I had tachycardia and muscle weakness and endo reduced the dose to 100mcg per day. I didn't test again so don't know my current TSH level.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to nara8]

Your Endo is dosing you by TSH alone which isn't at all accurate. You need to see FT4 & FT3 as well to know your thyroid status.

I'd suggest finding a different Endo that will take all of your thyroid hormones into account.

You could also test privately and post results in a new post for comments.

No result for B12 or folate which are essential. Test privately if necessary.

Your vit D could be a little higher. What are you taking for vit D?

Ferritin is not too bad but could be improved with an iron rich diet. Ferritin should be around 90 - 100 for best use of thyroid hormone. Suggest increasing iron rich foods in diet and eating them often. Chicken livers, pate, red meat etc

Whats really important is that we need OPTIMAL levels of key vitamins for our thyroid hormone to work well.

What supplements do you take?

I'm just thinking that with improving your vitamins and optimising your Levo dose you could feel a whole lot better even without added T3 possibly. To do that though we need the right test results.

[nara8 in reply to Jaydee1507]

Thank you for your help. I take iron bisglycinate and folate( 10 days a month), and vit D 1000 iu per day. A few years ago I tested ft3 and it was low compared to the level advised here [ 2.6 pg/ml...(1.4-4.2)]

I thought I might need liothyronine but an internist told me not to take t3 when he saw my holter report.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to nara8]

We would need to know a complete thyroid panel of TSH, FT4 & FT3 all taken in the same blood draw to get an idea if T3 might help you.

Just an FT3 level on its own means nothing as there could possibly be room to increase your FT4 with added Levo instead.

Suggest you get some private bloods run for B12, Folate, TSH, FT4 & FT3.

1,000iu Vit D is a relatively low amount that you could likely safely double to get your vit D more optimal. Its also recommended to take vit K2 to help the D3 go to your bones.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You have Hashimoto’s

Mitral valve prolapse is also considered autoimmune

What vitamin supplements are you taking

Please add B12 and folate results

Are you on strictly gluten free and/or dairy free diet

ESSENTIAL to test TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 together

Just testing TSH is completely inadequate

Recommended that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

[nara8 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you . I take iron bisglycinate and folate( 10 days a month), and vit D 1000 iu per day. A few years ago I tested ft3 and it was low compared to the level advised here [ 2.6 pg/ml...(1.4-4.2)]

Endo doesn't order b12 and folate. I'm not on gluten or dairy free diet.

I have hashimoto's my anti tpo is 1000.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to nara8]

Do you test as recommended

What are most recent Ft4 and Ft3

Presumably not in U.K.?

[nara8 in reply to SlowDragon]

No I'm not in U.K.

Endo never orders ft4 and ft3! I think he's only interested in latest advances in diabetes treatment not thyroid.

I tested 24 hours after last dose of levo before 9 a.m.