What and Why? Change of Brand??

[Flippasmile]

Hi All,

I have just had my most recent bloods back and they are a little confusing if I am honest!

I am taking 200mcg Levo and 25mcg Lio.

I had to change brand in November and didn't feel any ill effects from the change over. Can a change in brand really cause that much of a hike?

I have been under an ENORMOUS amount of stress since early December, again, could this really cause that much of a hike.

I have not had access to my progesterone since November and I did do a hormone test and I am still Oestrogen Dominant but this time I had much less Oestrogen but also less progesterone (32 down from 52 pmol).

There have been no changes to any other medications or supplements and I am pretty bummed because the last two tests my T4 was about 16 each time.

I have not taken any other vitamin tests because I'm broke (part of said stress, which is now thankfully resolving itself).

Now I have been feeling unwell and have been going into regular and very painful flairs, which I put down to stress, and shockingly my pulse ox was 93%. I have begrundingly booked an appointment at the GP, but they'll probably just say I am fat again.

My tests dated 04/10/23 were:

TSH 0.1 mIU/L (0.27 - 4.2) -4.3%

Free T4 (fT4) 15.8 pmol/L (12 - 22) 38.0%

Free T3 (fT3) 5.2 pmol/L (3.1 - 6.8) 56.8%

T4:T3 Ratio 3.038 

My tests I have just done 11/03/24 are :

TSH 0.1 mIU/L (0.27 - 4.2) -4.3%

Free T4 (fT4) 27.1 pmol/L (12 - 22) 151.0%

Free T3 (fT3) 6.1 pmol/L (3.1 - 6.8) 81.1%

T4:T3 Ratio 4.443 

I take it I should be lowering the Levo, but not sure how much by and time scales??

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

Were these 2 tests taken under similar conditions? By that I mean, same time of day, had you carefully timed your last dose of Levo for 24hrs before the test and T3 8-12 hours before test?

Most people on a combination dose end up on around 100-125mcg Levo and 5-20mcg T3, so 200mcg is a large dose to be taking alongside T3.

Have you changed the way you take your Levo?

Do you always take it on an empty stomach, 1 hour before food or drinks other than water?

You might want to think about dropping Levo by 25mcgs and retesting in 6-8 weeks time.

[Flippasmile in reply to Jaydee1507]

Hi, Yes tests were taken under similar conditions and under the criteria you stated. I have not changed the way I take my levo. Yes I take it at 7am every morning with water and then have a coffee at 8.15am.

I have been on this dose for at least a year at this point and tests were coming back as stable at 16 for t4 and 5ish for t3.

I did take too much t3 at one point, but I've never had the t4 go this high.

[Buddy195 Administrator]

What brand of thyroid medication did you change from/ to?

I would definitely look to reduce Levothyroxine to get FT4 within range, retesting 6-8 weeks after being on a consistent dose.

[Flippasmile in reply to Buddy195]

I went from Thyronorm to Thyrox, both produced in India. Thanks for the comment.

[SmallBlueThing]

I've had thyrotoxicosis as a result of stress (due to bereavements) and infections. My fT3 and fT4 were both over-range a year after having COVID-19.

[Flippasmile in reply to SmallBlueThing]

That's super interesting because I had covid at Xmas. I'm sorry for your loss, my stress has also been due to bereavement as well as a number of things. It's just been an awful few months.

[SmallBlueThing in reply to Flippasmile]

Best wishes to you for coming through the storm.

Not diagnosed, but I went hyper when my dad died, when I was a kid. I was being monitored during the time my mum's health was deteriorating. She wasn't getting any help and I'd found out she had about six months, with my TSH falling from 5.5 to 0.4. As soon as Mum's end of life care commenced I went hyper. I thought things had calmed down by the time I saw my GP, two months after Mum's passing, but had three tests at six week intervals, with rising, over-range fT3. Nothing explained to me, useless surgery switchboard with increased winter pressures, and I didn't go back for over a year (not recommended!), by which time I was hypo.

[Lovecake]

I recently had a levo brands change and it made me feel under active. So I would say that your brand change could have had the reverse effect on you.

But it might not…..it’s all rather confusing at times.I’ve managed to get my previous brand now and am much happier on it.

I’ve read on other posts that some people find different T3 brands seem to work better than others. I’m sure they are not supposed to, but maybe it’s the fillers and the way in which we absorb the different brands?