thyroid results & hand tremour

[Nat107]

hi everyone just wanted a opinion on my latest thyroid results please as have been getting bit of hand tremor, Iv put over a stone in in weight feel & feel exhausted I’m taking 100 levo & 30 mcg liothyronine split 20 mcg morning and 10 mcg teatime, i have my phone call this week so any advice is welcome, I know how & when to take bloods and criteria as Been getting done for 30 years. I think Greygoose mentioned feeling similar to me and said to open a new post thank you xx

Thyroid results

* Free T3 5.6 pmol/L (3.1 - 6.8)

* TSH * 0.02 mU/L (0.27 - 4.20)

* Free T4 15.2 pmol/L (12.0 - 22.0)

[DippyDame]

Some thoughts...

How long have you been on this dose?

Hand tremors can be a sign of overmedication ..particularly T3.

100mcg levo + 30mcg T3 is a fairly large dose for most people

Your numbers look reasonable....but we are not all about numbers

The weight gain and exhaustion on the other hand usually suggests undermedication.....and low cellular T3

I wonder if you might benefit from a reduction in the levo dose and more T3

I cannot tolerate levo....after about 20 years it left me barely able to function and it turned out that instead I need high dose T3-only (currently 100mcg) because I have a form of thyroid hormone resistance. Hand tremors are one of the signs I monitor for overmedication. On high dose T3 we have to monitor by signs and symptoms

However, I'm not suggesting you need T3-only....just less T4 and a little more T3...at least right now.

I would try reducing your levo to 75mcg ...it sounds drastic and may be a bit rocky but I think levo may be the problem....

after a couple of weeks add another 5mcg T3 and see how that feels then possibly add another 5mcg T3. You can try slower dose changes during the swap if you feel more comfortable with that

There are no strict rules....it can be trial and error...and patience. We need what our body needs not what numbers dictate or what our next door neighbour takes!

I can only refer to my personal experience and acquired knowledge. I had to end up self medicating in order to achieve my therapeutic dose

Hopefully your doctor is open minded

PS....just read your bio, should have done that first! Maybe you should read mine....there are parallels!

I'm now sure both my mother and grandmother had undiagnosed thyroid disease....I've spent the last 7/8 years "digging" for answers and eventually found them

And my younger son has just had to give up work...his thyroid is failing fast.......it's fairly clear it's genetic in our case.

So, yes, I'm fairly sure you need more T3....problem is medics in general are clueless. Like you I look ok....even medics comment young for my age ( almost 79). So the assumption is ....you look fine, you must be fine! Rubbish.

I think you'll find greygoose and I have had similar thyroid journeys....she gave me the confidence to chase T3!

Hope some of this rant helps!!

You are not alone...we're here to try to help!

[Nat107 in reply to DippyDame]

Hi DippyDame thank you for reply. Iv been on that dose for a very long time now possibly 2 years now. I did ask for a increase in t3 a while back and the endo nearly choked on the phone, he said no way he would be allowed to give higher than 30mcg, as I’m under him at the moment I can’t really can’t even do Anything about it with him prescribing my dose but have my phone call on Monday so I am going to ask him, ours is hereditary as mum has it and I’m sure my Nan had it too, our daughters have it but not our sons although one has had symptoms just not diagnosed up to now. Runs in my hubby’s family too as he has it his mum did so our kids weren’t lucky there not dealt a good hand in eith us both having hereditary diseases.

Just can’t make out after all this time on the same rise I now have increased weight the hand tremor isn’t all the time though as not got it at the moment

[radd]

Nat107,

I agree with DD that hand tremor is a sign of over medication (usually T3) and you are on quite a high dose combo.

However, I’m gonna suggest the opposite to DD and that is to reduce T3. It’s approx 67% through range which would be too high for me (many of us only need a little bit). Also to raise Levo to not only offset the T3 reduction but raise your FT4 levels which are presently much too low in range for wellbeing.

If you have felt well on Levo + T3 combo previously your present blip would indicate only a T4:T3 ratio change is required and not the actually meds.

Over medication stops meds from working effectively, hence your weight gain and exhaustion. Elevating T3 higher will likely worsen symptoms and increase hand tremor.

[Nat107 in reply to radd]

Thank you Radd so maybe 125 levo & 20 t3 is that what you mean

[radd in reply to Nat107]

Yes 👍.

[Nat107 in reply to radd]

Thank you

[Fencerope]

hi, not much I can contribute I’m afraid apart from perhaps lowering the t3 a wee bit to see if that helps. I’m having some weird results and feeling myself at the moment and trying to figure out what is going on. Good Luck anyway, I hope you can find somebody that can give you some better advice than me.

[Nat107 in reply to Fencerope]

Thank you very much your reply is appreciated horrible disease to have thyroid hope you feel better soon