Second attempt at Monitor my Health results in hope to link with high HR

[Judithdalston]

As requested here are the results of my second attempt at Monitor my Health at their more sophisticated tests with thyroid, anemia/ ferritin, b12/ folate etc too. Most failed to produce results as Post Office 24 hour tracking show the blood sample was literally sitting in the Exeter sorting office for 24 hours stuck ( not true of the previous week’s failed test that had reported not got enough serum in). Another odd thing about accessing my Monitor my Health results ( and signing up) is generally speaking I cannot get past the ‘I am not a robot’ bit on my iPad, so had to borrow husband’s laptop quickly…means I didn’t check the ranges, sorry.

So results MMH 29/7/24 on 100 levo. + 10 T3

TSH : 0.02

FT4: 19.2 ( Edited as got ranges 72%)

FT3: 4.2 ( 30%)

Only other result was vit D : 78 (proof it has been such an awful summer with thick skies in far NW England, fortunately do vit D/K drops).

Slightly odd, as I had dropped one of the quarter T3 pills ( so 5 mcg) of the ‘normal’ 3x5 mcg dose plus 100 levo , and I am perhaps correctly assuming ranges are the same, but Medichecks 19/9/23, 100 levo + 15 T3 was:

TSH : 0.018

FT4: 17.2 ( 52%)

FT3: 4.6 (40%)

In between I had also tried increasing the T3 a tiny bit to raise FT3 levels: Medichecks 1/5/24 100 levo+ 17.5 T3 was:

TSH: 0.01

FT4: 18 ( 60%)

FT3: 5.5 (65%)

I can see what gives the better free results , that are closer to each other ( 100 levo with 17.5 T3) but from the point of view of the TSH the smaller T3 dose ( 100 levo+ 10 T3) has higher TSH which would just about be acceptable by my private (ex) endo at 0.2 as bit better than ‘undetectable’ that 0.01 results were named. But I believe to get past the ‘it’s being overmedicated on levo that rising your HR’ I might have to now experiment with lowering levo. next, just to get some referral to other specialists to look at the Long Covid BP/ HR problems….any suggestions minimum reduction of levo that should / might go towards this?

[tattybogle]

MMH ranges fT4 (12-22) fT3 (3.1-6.8) TSH (0.27 -4.2)

[Judithdalston in reply to tattybogle]

Excellent, thanks for that…I thought they were same or very similar to Medichecks…entered % in post.

[tattybogle]

playing devils advocate for a moment ..... heart issues started after you added T3 ........... have you considered stopping it for a couple of months to see if they go away ?

that would be the quickest way to shut the GP up. .. and also the quickest way to get TSH back up a bit . (obviously doing this would likely make you feel pretty unwell ... so... erm 'not ideal' .... but likely to be more effective at raising TSH than fiddling around with levo dose will .

[Judithdalston in reply to tattybogle]

Yes I can understand this but obviously reluctant to remove completely as before it’s use I was at times limited to tea- leaf sized slow walking, I know I am not doing much walking now cos of the postural hypotension but presumably noT3 would affect my daily swimming ( then I’d have a knock on to my diabetes and already inability to loose weight….so other illnesses coming into play?). I am also up against a Gp who doesn’t recognise FT3 or T3, so not sure whether removing that rather than levo would mean anything to him!

[tattybogle in reply to Judithdalston]

to stand any chance of winning the 'TSH is too low' argument with a GP you would need to get it over about 0.04

looking at your results from years ago on levo only , it seems likely that to get TSH to come up a little , you would need to stop T3 and be on less than 137.5mcg levo ... or stay on T3 and reduce levo dose to something ridiculously low.

Removing T3 may not mean anything to him , my point was that lowering levo slightly seems unlikely to have any significant effect on raising your TSH while you are taking T3.

May 3,2018 on 137.5mcg levo only

TSH: 0.175 (0.27-4.20) ...(prior to this TSH was 1.27 on 125mcg levo only )

Free thyroxine : 22.6 (12-22)

Free T3: 4.72 (3.1-6.8)

[Judithdalston in reply to tattybogle]

Yes I was looking at my old paper results…back in 2006 had my first private thyroid bloods done has been the only result I have ever got TSH in range (0.27-4.20) when it was 1.20 at 150 levo dose, but FT3 at 3%. Thereafter in 2018 I discovered the Healthunlocked Thyroid Uk site and consequently tested and fine tuned, and by then highest TSH was 0.175 on 133 levo only. Soon as any T3 introduced whether with T4 or as mono-therapy in 2018 over 20 Medichecks tests show TSH at a maximum 0.06 but one as low as 0.01.I recorded my private endo referred to a TSH of 0.03 as ‘mildly suppressed’ in March 2021. And while I was reading my historic documents GP surgery receptionist phoned with message from GP confusingly reading ‘ TSH is raised, reduce levothyroxine to 75 mcg’ …a good sign when he doesn’t know his raised from suppressed, NHS test like the MMH one 0.02, but no frees tested.

[SlowDragon Ambassador]

I would get an exercise watch that records actual heart rate data

Highest heart rate

Lowest heart rate when sleeping

Any ectopic heart beats or A fib

Etc

Which brand Levo and which brand T3 are you taking

Are you gluten and/or dairy free

[Judithdalston in reply to SlowDragon]

I had thought of buying a smart watch a year or so ago but with bit of research discovered lots of cardios didn’t like the results and sophisticated Kardia were better regarded, so perhaps with hindsight wrong buy, and though portable certainly not swimming pool compatible! Kardia shows no AF/ ectopics as confirmed by medic.done ecgs, and 24 BP monitor. Infact looked up Which? reports other day to see whether there were recommended cheaper/ accurate ones for BP/HR for swimming … not convinced, and not keen on having something so obviously telling me ‘ you are ill’ 24/7! Do have an oximeter which quickly picks up HR too. Levo normally Mercury, occasionally different if pharmacy having sourcing problem, in-fact currently Accord( never noticed problem with that before, but will now make effort to record which brand taken). T3 been Thybon Henning 20 for last 3+ years, 3 years before Tiromel. Tried gluten free probably about 5 years ago for a few months, did not notice any difference, never tried dairy free ( as diabetic don’t do much carbs. so always used cheese, yoghurt, nuts as ‘snacks’j. I was reluctantly diagnosed as hypothyroid over 22 years ago with TSH of 10+, and later still feeling bad on 150 levo. did antibody tests privately: TgAb raised (779) not TPO. Subsequently never had either raised, so not sure antibodies have had relevance at least the last 8 years.

[Judithdalston]

The plot thickens…having been told this am that 5 of the blood tests could not be done by the MMH lab, I complained. Didn’t get an answer to this but instead got the 5 missing results:

Haemoglobin: 135 g/L

ferritin : 66 ug/L

Transferrin saturation: 34%

Active B12: 101 pmol/L

Folate : 4.6 ug/ L

No ranges just levels on graph…all low to mid normal , though Folate appears lot lower than Medichecks results in teens, so ‘could do better’. Wonder how they suddenly found results?