Blood test comments before Endo appointment, please

[Fifteen]

I had blood tests done last month and the FT3 reading is high.

I am concerned my endo may want to lower my dose (Thybon 20Henning). He sees me once a year when it is time to order another year's supply. He is registered in France as well as the UK so his prescriptions are valid in the EU.

My tests were done before 9am. I adhered to all guidelines - i.e. except that I took my half dose of Thybon at 2pm, as was my habit then. (I now take the whole tablet in the morning and feel much, much better with only very rare energy lows at 2pm-3pm.

My August results:

FT3 5.8pmol/L [2.4 - 6.0] In May 5.1 (All ranges are unchanged)

FT4 16.3pmol/L [9.0 - 23.0] 17.3

TSH <0.01mU/L [0.3 - 4.2] <0.01 (The lab seems to accept this level now)

Serum Ferritin 149ug/l [20 -300] 129ug/L

Serum Folate 15.8ug/L [<2.7] 12.8ug/L

Serum B12 496 ng/L [160-800] 494ng/L

Serum Vit D 118.7nmol/L [50-150] 126nmol/L

The vitamin results in August surprised me as I had not been diligent in taking them each day. Perhaps there was a sufficient build-up.

Advice and suggestions please.

How do I address the high FT3 readings with my endo? He listens and understands the problems we experience with hypothyroidism so I hope he will accept that I am feeling good - and now that I take the Thybon once a day, I am feeling even better.

With thanks

[greygoose]

The fact that you feel better taking your T3 all in one go could suggest that you have some degree of resistance to thyroid hormone - i.e. you need to saturate the receptors in order to get some hormone into them. In that case, you would need higher levels of T3 in the blood than someone without that resistance. In any case, maybe remind him that a blood test just tests what is in the blood, where it is inactive, and you have no way of knowing how much gets into the cells. And there's only a problem if too much gets into the cells. That's something they appear to forget!

[Fifteen in reply to greygoose]

Thank you. This is both helpful and interesting. I have to take higher levels of e.g. Vit D to achieve reasonable levels. Perhaps my processing with the thyroid hormone is similar. I will discuss this with him.

[greygoose in reply to Fifteen]

Well, not sure you can compare them. And don't be suprised if you endo has no idea what you're talking about. They don't tend to know a lot about thyroid.

[Fifteen in reply to greygoose]

The endo I consult is a little different from most. As is usual, he originally concentrated on diabetes but he noticed people, mainly women, attending the hospital who never seemed to progress to recovery. He found out that they were thyroid patients. He became interested in learning about thyroid problems so he could give more positive care. I should mention that he has a B.E also - he was an engineer before he took up medicine. He has a very different approach and attitude. Refreshing.

[greygoose in reply to Fifteen]

Well, fingers crossed then.

[Fifteen in reply to greygoose]

Thanks

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

Could it be that you'd feel equally well on a slightly reduced dose? I used to take 25mcg split into 2 or 3 doses but when I swapped to a single dose I found that 15mcg works much better than 20 or 25mcg so a little experimenting is no bad thing 🙃

[Fifteen in reply to TiggerMe]

I had wondered about that. Good to know about your experience. Thanks.

[Brightness14]

Your ratio of FT4 to FT3 is perfect and you feel well. Your other readings are a little on the high side. If he says anything just tell him that you took T3 just before the blood test.

[Fifteen in reply to Brightness14]

Ha! I thought of that. Good idea