Temp advice please

[Sailing14]

My temperature was 35.3 this morning and has been below this. I thought I might be overmedicated but I am unsure if this is under treatment due to a strong medication I have been given for an infection (or if this is unrelated). My cheeks have been puffy and I feel unwell and I am not sure if I need an increase of t4 (although, I usually go over medicated if any higher), or I need T3 added.

My thyroid results on 15th June were:

Vitamins:

Serum vitamin B12 level 420 ng/L [187.0 - 883.0]

Serum folate level 13.8 ug/L [3.1 - 20.5]

Serum ferritin level 66 ng/mL [20.0 - 235.0]; Note reference range changed from 04/12/23.

Vitamin D 75

Thank you for any much needed advice you are able to give. I am contacting the GP this morning about the symptoms following my medication, but they are not understandable of our thyroid journey and what we go through, so I I’m sure I will be unable to even discuss these ‘normal’ results with him.

[pennyannie]

Hello Sailing :

That is a low temperature and presume ' lower than your normal ' - temperature ?

When unwell the body tends to down regulate itself and slows down T4 to T3 conversion and conserves T3 to fight infection, and repair and replenish whatever is going on within the body.

Your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D - all need a little push up the ranges -

I now aim for ferritin at around 100 - folate 20 - active B12 125 ( serum B12 500++ ) and vitamin D around 125.

Conversion can also be compromised by any physiological stress ( emotional or physical ) inflammation. depression, dieting and ageing :

So - you know you are dealing with pain, inflammation and struggling - and you need to rest and recover in your own time.

I don't know if the other medication prescribed has any bearing on anything.

[Sailing14 in reply to pennyannie]

Thank you for your reply and helpful advice. My temp has been 36 and above from what I can remember so this is low for me.

Do I need to introduce t3 due to your explanation regarding psychological stress and how it affects conversion?

[pennyannie in reply to Sailing14]

Looking back you seem to have been on and off antibiotics these past 5 months -

and dealing with a variety of stomach issues -

are you now taking the liquid T4 - and does this suit you better ?

Your body must be under considerable stress - physically and mentally - and think at this point in time it's more important to find the root cause of why your body is so upset.

Your last set of results looked ok though they were too soon and with having taken the T4 prior to testing - you thought you were feeling over medicated then ?

Have you been checked for certain food stuffs - gluten, dairy, wheat etc ?

[pennyannie in reply to pennyannie]

Having also had RAI thyroid ablation - around the same time as you -

I know I'm much better mentally / psychologically with T3 in my treatment regime -

I now self medicate and take Natural Desiccated Thyroid as I find it ' softer ' on my body - as I felt a little turbo charged when trialling T3 myself.

Once refused both T3 and NDT by my doctor and hospital in 2017/18 I took it upon myself to self medicate.

Luckily things are now a bit better as we have a supportive pharmacy offering both a consult and dispensing service -

but I think first we need to rule in or out all other reasons for all this inflammation

[Sailing14 in reply to pennyannie]

Thank you. I think the on going infection I have is causing the inflammation and I am hoping the GP will help with this later on this morning.

Could you advise where I can obtain natural dedicated thyroid from? I have contacted Roseway labs for a trial of t3 (if they agree), but I was considering NDT and I am not sure if this will be a more helpful route first. Also, are you aware if they provide NDT?

I do have liquid thyroxine as the GP agreed to this initially, but would this help with conversion if that is mainly the problem?

I avoid lactose and have been tested in the past for gluten but this was negative. I also have to avoid certain wheat products due to irritable bowel syndrome.

Thank you again for your help.

[pennyannie in reply to Sailing14]

Yes - I think I'm fully aware but I can't afford the leading brands of Armour and Efra and source my own and look after myself -

and if you have stomach absorption issues these need to be sorted out first -

All tablets contain ' fillers ' and some people can't tolerate certain ' fillers ' - so first off this inflammation issue needs to be resolved -

Did you feel better on the liquid T4 - if so - why not stay on this for the time being - work out what the issue is/was - and then when you feel more comfortable and recovered and off the antibiotics - think about introducing a little - which will be in tablets form - with either treatment option.

[DippyDame]

These are not thyroid results per se....they are the nutrient levels which are essential to support thyroid function!

Vit D:

The Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L

Vit B12:

"The clinically normal level for cobalamin/B12 is unclear, although it is thought that serum cobalamin of less than 200 nanograms/L (148 picomol/L) is sensitive enough to diagnose 97% of people with vitamin B12 deficiency." ex NiCE

Folate:

Recommended to be at least half way through range

Ferritin:

Optimal level for thyroid function is 90-110ug/L

So you can see you need to work on these nutrients to optimise them

What "strong medication" are you taking that may be affecting things.....antibiotics? Probiotics can help

palomahealth.com/learn/anti....

Your previous post described test results which were unreliable due to wrong testing protocol ...please re-read that post

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Until you have a reliable set of results that include TSH, FT4 and FT3 it is only a guessing game as to what is wrong

TSH or even TSH + FT4 is not going to give you a helpful picture of your thyroid function.....despite what ill informed medics claim

thyroidpatients.ca/2021/07/...

Testing protocol -

test at 9am...

24 hts after last dose of levo ( not 4 hrs as last test)

and, on an empty stomach

Many of us have private tests to achieve full thyroid results

SlowDragon gave you good advice re this in your previous post

Re low temp....

Hypothyroidism can slow down metabolism, leading to a drop in core body temperature. Some people with low levels of thyroid hormones may feel cold all the time or have a low tolerance to the cold.

And yes, you're correct, medics are not always helpful which is why we need to be as clued up as possible

Post new lab results and we will then have the means to advise further