Thyroid help!

[GinaR86]

Alright it’s been a while since I posted. I had my baby in July last year and since I’ve not been taking care of myself and forgetting my levothyroxine most mornings after sleepless nights. About 8 weeks ago I switched taking my Levo in the morning to the evening as I had more time while baby was asleep which has now made me more consistent with my meds. I took a blood test hoping all would come back fine but I’m confused what to do now! I will see my doc but want to be armed with what I want to do.

Results:

TSH - 3.26 mIU/L

FT4 - 24.9 pmol/L

FT3 - 4.2 pmol/L

T4 - 175 nmol/L

TPOAb - 206 kIU/L

TGAb - 770 KU/L

I’ve never had a reading like this so could be brain fog but I’m confused what this means. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance

[FallingInReverse]

Congrats on your baby : )

Please provide ranges for the results, and out of curiosity, what hypo symptoms do you experience/ how do you feel?

[GinaR86 in reply to FallingInReverse]

I feel okay! Was getting palpitations and my periods have been a bit odd recently but otherwise I’m fine (or at least I think!)

TSH - 3.26 mIU/L - normal (under 4.2)

FT4 - 24.9 pmol/L - high (over 22)

FT3 - 4.2 pmol/L - normal

T4 - 175 nmol/L - high (over 154)

TPOAb - 206 kIU/L - high (over 34)

TGAb - 770 KU/L - high (over 115)

[greygoose in reply to GinaR86]

Sorry, but those are not ranges. A range has a top and a bottom number. So the FT4 would probably be something like 12-22 - we need both numbers to make sense of results.

And, the word 'normal' is absolutely meaningless in this context. When a doctor says 'normal' all he means is that the results is somewhere within the range. He doesn't mean it's normal for everybody, or even normal for you - and he certainly doesn't mean it's optimal. So, we need to see excatly where the result falls within the range to be able to interpet it.

At a guess, I would say that you're a poor converter - hence the high FT4 and the low FT3 - and that your FT3 is too low to satisfy your pituitary - hence the high TSH. Someone on thyroid hormone replacement shouldn't have a TSH that high.

So, some questions - apart from the exact numbers for the ranges - a) how much levo are you taking?

b) how long were you on that dose, taking it every single day, before this test?

c) what time of day was the blood draw?

d) did you eat before the blood draw?

e) how long was the gap between your last dose of levo and the blood draw?

Sorry for the interrogation but if anyone is going to be able to help you, they need to have all the tiny details.

[GinaR86 in reply to greygoose]

Thanks very much unfortunately I won’t have time to put all of that down. I struggled putting the detail already on the post as my baby is full on.

But I guess I’m simply wondering if my high t4 and high tsh could be because of when I hadn’t taken my medicine regularly and now the TSH needs time to catch up with t4 and potentially may be on too much Levo.

[greygoose in reply to GinaR86]

Well, it is only a guess, isn't it.

Obviously if you don't take your levo your TSH is going to be high. But not your FT4. However, your FT4 will be high if you took it too close to the blood draw. Who knows.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

was last dose Levo 24 hours before test

Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription

If you normally take levothyroxine at bedtime/in night ...adjust timings as follows prior to blood test

If testing Monday morning, delay Saturday evening dose levothyroxine until Sunday morning. Delay Sunday evening dose levothyroxine until after blood test on Monday morning. Take Monday evening dose levothyroxine as per normal

ESSENTIAL to test vitamin D, folate ferritin and B12 at least annually

What vitamin supplements are you taking

[GinaR86 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you! Yes, yes and dose adjusted before test, vit d, folate, b12 all good! Ferritin on next test!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to GinaR86]

So if last dose Levo was 24 hours before test …..Ft4 is a little high

But TSH is high suggesting you may need dose increase in Levo

Obviously with Hashimoto’s levels do hop up and down a lot until TSH is usually lower than 1

How much levothyroxine are you taking

Please add vitamin D, folate and B12 results

But if your periods a bit odd…could be low ferritin