Boom!! Dexa Scan Normal.

[Fluffysheep]

I'm on T3 medication only, which was prescribed very reluctantly by my NHS endo. I've slowly upped my dose over the last 12 months, and whilst he was happy (ish) to prescribe 60mcg per day, he pretty much flipped his lid at our last appointment in January when I told him I was taking 80mcg (and all in one dose, which I've also spent the year trialling two doses, three doses, and settled on a single dose).

Anyway, as he often does, he told me in January that I'm going to give myself atrial fibrillation and osteoporosis. And as I always reply to him, I am very happy to have any tests available for both these things, and would be more than happy to have a Dexa scan. Normally he ignores this, and just moans on about it (but then does actually write supportive letters to my GP about my need for T3, so he's not all bad!).

This time, he actually decided to refer me for a Dexa scan, and I've just got back from it. The person doing it said my bones are absolutely normal, and are in an above average state for a female of my age (48).

There's no real point to this post. but obviously I'm happy that my results are normal. Hopefully he will stop telling me now that I'm going to get osteoporosis - I guess that means all his focus will be on atrial fibrillation instead!

[Hypopotamus]

I was told the same, so asked for a Dexa scan after quite a few years on T3/NDT. The answer was that I didn't need one. That didn't surprise me to be honest.

[Batty1]

I had DEXA Scan 10+ years ago now and before I was diagnosed with thyroid disease and then had a scan done again 5 yrs ago now after I had thyroidectomy and have been on a combo T4/T3 …. Both Scans showed almost the same exact results (mild osteopenia) what they don’t consider is medications (steroids) for me that I have taken almost my entire life…

Fluffy sheep What did Endo say about results?

[Fluffysheep in reply to Batty1]

I haven't spoken to him. The results were sent straight to him, but I don't currently have an appointment booked with him (my last one was January, the letter said I'd be reviewed in 6 months, the last letter I had also said that and it ended up being around 10 months before I had an appointment sent through!).

I'll give it a week or so then email his secretary to see if I can be given the results properly. The person who did the scanning just looked at them, told me everything was fine and I was better than average, but I wasn't given the actual numbers/results.

[Laundretta]

Interesting post, thank you! I take t4 as prescribed by my GP plus the t3 I treat myself to, and as a result my tsh is mildly suppressed with well in-range t4 and t3 . I'm 48 and also on HRT. I read a thing recently (link below). The takeaway is that bone cells have TSH receptors but they don't know why, and that there is a correlation between suppressed tsh with in-range t3/t4 and increased bone loss in menopausal women not on HRT.

As a result feel I should take responsibility for monitoring my bone health, no point doing myself over. So I've got a DEXA scan coming up to get a bench mark down because one day they'll take me off of the HRT and then I'll be able to properly monitor if there is excessive bone loss occurring.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Fluffysheep in reply to Laundretta]

My TSH is very supressed as I'm on T3 only, and even before then once I got to 150mcg of levo (before introducing T3) it became supressed. In fact looking back at my spreadsheet, it's been supressed since around April 2020. My T4 was in range until early 2023, when I was finally on T3 only medication, and my T3 has always been in range.

I've been on HRT for a while now, around 3 years I think. I'm peri-menopausal and don't have too many of the effects yet, but when I went on it I was hoping it might be a magic solution to my joint pains, fatigue, brain fog etc. A part of me hoped that rather than it being my thyroid causing me those issues, it would be the menopause, and the introduction of HRT would make all those symptoms go away. Of course, it didn't, but it does help with one of the effects I was starting to experience, plus I know it's good for helping stop osteoporosis.

I did eventually get a letter from my endo saying he'd reviewed the results and it was all very good news. Not sure if this will mean he's more open to increasing my prescription - probably not as he'll still tell me I'm giving myself atrial fibrillation I'm sure!