Latest T4 just under upper limit is 50mcg per week enough?

[ockerdoc]

Hey guys my latest T4 was just under the upper limit 20.9 (11.9-21.6) ..I take 135mcg a day, 5 days 150 and 2 days 100..shall I drop down to 4 days 150 and 3 days 100 would that be about right? Thank you.

[TiggerMe]

👍

[SlowDragon Administrator]

yes …retest again in another 8 weeks

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

With your dose varying substantially (up 50%, then down 33%), you have to be careful not to get misled by a test taken after a high dose vs after a low dose.

Think, if you took 150 and had a blood draw 24 hours later, that would likely be significantly higher than 24 hours after taking 100. And, of course, vice versa.

Personally, I'd be trying to adjust to 125 and 150 (worked out to get the dose you need). That is, not varying by more than 25 from one day to another.

[ockerdoc in reply to helvella]

Right yes I didn’t think about that to be honest..because it’s a storage hormone I thought it would be pretty much the same..I took 150mcg on the day before the test so maybe if it was 100mcg it would be lower? Regarding the dosage I buy 100mcg tablets so I could cut them up into 4 realistically. I currently take 950 so if I changed to 900 I could take 6 x125mcg and then 1x 150mcg. Do you think that would be a better option?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to ockerdoc]

For a long time, I was on 112.5. And I tried alternating 100 and 125. Again and again. And it never felt right. No, I never felt right.

So I did whatever I needed to do to take 112.5 every night - splitting tablets to achieve it.

There are people who find they need to go further and split their T4 every day.

I strongly dislike the term "storage hormone". It appears to imply that the T4 level (free or total) is utterly irrelevant. But it isn't irrelevant. The levels of T4 and T3 both affect the pituitary and are used to control the level of TSH. The whole system is affected by T4 levels.

(Yes, T4 doesn't in itself do anything in terms of hormone activity. So the argument appears to make sense, but the reality is far more complex and intertwined.)

[ockerdoc in reply to helvella]

Thank you 🙏

[Jazzw]

Gotta admit, I’d want to be taking a set dose each day. Would you be averse to taking 125mcg every day?

And are you still adding some T3?

[ockerdoc in reply to Jazzw]

Thanks yes I’m thinking about taking 6 x 125 then 1 x 150 to make the 900mcg per week. I’d just have to cut the tablets into 4 which would be ok. I’m coming off the T3..I was taking 6.25mcg but it’s caused quite bad constipation so I’m coming off it and trying to eat more carbs to increase my conversion. My T3 level was 5.77 (3.1-6.8) but I usually eat quite low carb which I why I added a bit of T3. I’m going back to basics to see if the constipation goes because it’s becoming a nightmare.