I had TT in 2014 for TPC. At first I was taking 150mcgms daily but now Ive been taking 125mcgms daily for awhile now.
Everything has been fine until around three months ago. I started to feel nausea in the morning, loose floaty stools, insomnia, anxiety and a small reduction in my weight. I stopped my magnesium, collagen, nac and other supplements I take. But continued to take thyroxine, Vitamins d3 and K2 and Mega Bs.
I went to my GP, she arranged a ultrasound on GB, Liver and Pancreas. Full bloods including testing for parasites and celiac plus a stool sample.
My GP contacted me today, confirmed the u/s was normal, everything was normal. ( I don't have actual results figures)
She gave me t4 and tsh results as follows- t4 26.7 tsh 0.05 (suppressed). She confirmed Im slightly over-medicated and recommended I reduce two days a week to 100mcgrms.
I'm confused as when I was taking a higher dosage. I didnt suffer from any symptoms like I am now.
I'm 58, menopausal and on hrt (Estrogel) now. Suffer from ibs, eat no dairy and exercise regularly.
Should I reduce my thyroxine or is there something else going on?
Thanks ☺️
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PapiGirl
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Hi , . our needs do change , for various reasons .. i have gradually needed less over the last few yrs ... i used to be on 150mcg Levo for many yrs , then post menopause that became a bit too much and gave me overmedicated symptoms ( similar to what you describe) i reduced to 125 for 2/3 yrs , then that also became a bit too much , and then reduced to 112.5mcg ( eg 125 / 100 alternate days) .
there can be various reasons our needs change (for example starting / stopping hrt can sometimes have an effect because estrogen level has an effect on thyroid hormone transport / binding ) .... but your symptoms (and the high fT4 / supressed TSH) do fit with overmedication .
so yes reducing your dose is a good idea .. and reducing it carefully by 25mcg 2 days a week is a better idea than being too gung-ho and lowering it to 100mcg / day ( which some GP's would do )
Was test early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription
You need to see what TSH, Ft4 and Ft3 are together
Plus test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Ideally get FULL test BEFORE changing dose
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
Monitor My Health (NHS private test service) offer thyroid and vitamin testing, plus cholesterol and HBA1C for £65
IMPORTANT......If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 5-7 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results
In week before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate folate supplement (eg Jarrow methyl folate 400mcg) and continue separate B12
Post discussing how biotin can affect test results
we do discuss that it’s important not to have too high a level of Ft4
But it’s important to establish that test for thyroid levels was done correctly, what Ft4 and Ft3 are and for good conversion of Ft4 to Ft3 we need optimal vitamin levels as well
Right! Sure......why I am not surprised with such a important matter about the rubbish you recommend to support are thyroid function after you see are test results. I think this should be discuss especially you are recommended to some of the members low or high dosage of Levothyroxine!!!!
Breast cancer is NOT a side effect from levothyroxine. This is nonsense. Levothyroxine replaces the T4 hormone that the thyroid gland normally makes. It is NOT a DRUG, it is a replacement thyroid thyroid hormone.
Lucilla, as this is PapiGirl 's post, she will keep getting alerts for all replies on here, so it would be better to start a new post of your own to discuss your concerns about levo / cancer . You could then post a link/ source to the research you have read that is concerning you .....just asking people to check the latest study is not helpful.
yes, there is some recent research suggesting a link between higher T4 levels ( from all sources , both from the thyroid itself and from levo) and proliferation of cancer cells, but it is complicated , very early days and therefore not at all clear cut .
this subject has been discussed in a few posts previously , with links to the relevant research. If you start a new post , someone may find them for you ( assuming you aren't going to be rude to them too ...or they may not feel like bothering )
It is essential that you are dosed and monitored on your Free T3 and Free T4 readings :
Once on any form of thyroid hormone replacement - and especially without a thyroid - the TSH is a very unreliable measure of anything -
and we need a to see a T3 and T4 from the same blood draw as it is the relationship between these 2 vital thyroid hormones that tells us if you are over medicated - or more likely - not converting well the T4 into T3.
We generally feel best when the T4 is in the top quadrant of its range at around 80% with the T3 tracking just behind at around 70% through its range and at around a 1/4 ratio T3/T4.
T4 is a pro-hormone and needs to be converted in the body into T3 the active hormone which runs the body much like fuel runs a car - and conversion can be compromised by non optimal levels of the core strength vitamins and minerals - so suggest as well as asking for a full thyroid blood test to include T3 - you also get run ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D - and we can advise where your optimal readings need to be maintained - as ranges are just guidelines - with some too wide to even be sensible.
When having the blood test - it should be a fasting blood draw by around 9.00 in the morning - with you just taking in water o/night and taking your T4 for that day after the blood draw - so having left around a 24 hour window from your last dose - after the blood draw -
Is this what you do - and take the T4 on an empty stomach and leave a good hour afterwards before you eat or drink anything except water ?
Also leave off all supplements for around 7 days so we measure what your body is holding rather than just ingested - and also any supplements containing biotin can ' mess ' with the measuring assays used in the Laboratory - so again must be left off for the week prior to a blood test.
The thyroid is a major gland responsible for full body synchronisation of your physicality and stamina, and your mental, emotional. psychological and spiritual well being, your inner central heating system and your metabolism - and living without a thyroid and not optimally medicated is a bit like driving a car without gear box and unreliable dashboard readings.
Your HPT axis - the Hypothalamus - Pituitary - Thyroid feedback loop on which the TSH relies on as working well - is now incomplete as there is no thyroid in situ to complete this circuit or give accurate blood test readings and why we need the T3 and T4 actual readings and ranges to understand exactly what is going on.
A fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you on a daily basis with trace elements of T1.T2 and calcitonin + a measure of T3 at around 10 mcg + a measure of T4 at around 100 mcg - with T3 said to be around 4 times move powerful than T4.
Some people can get by on T4 - monotherapy.
Others find that T4 seems to stop working s well as it once did and that by adding in a little T3 - they are able to rebalance T3/T4 - and feel better.
Some can't tolerate T4 at all and need to take T3 only - as you live without T4 but you can't live without T3 :
Whilst others feel best taking Natural Desiccated Thyroid which contains all the same known hormones as that of the human thyroid gland and derived from pigs thyroid glands and the original treatment for hypothyroidism and successfully used for over 100 years on which Big Pharma launched its T3 and T4 synthetic treatment options.
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