second blood test for dr

[Kowbie]

we’ll you know I had a letter from the surgery telling me they had put my thyroxine down by 25 and the last time I spoke with a dr as I never seem to get the same one she told me I had got to have another blood test it was because my tsh is 0.02 ( 3 / 6) ? I think that’s right range ,t 4 was 17 ( 12.5/22)and she spoke as though she would be putting it down even further well I didn’t want that so over the days of waiting for the test I skipped 2 or three days thyroxine as I didn’t want her putting it down any further . Did test this morning t4 11.1 tsh 0.02 my tsh never came down any so I don’t know what they will do , I tried telling her I felt not so good dropping 25 dry skin a bit constipated but not constipated when it came out more joints hurting, she said she didn’t think that was thyroid,well now I feel even worse my ankle started giving way not all the time but felt I’m going to end up on the floor feel as I’m getting heavier my back was hurting but much worse now have to be careful how I get up as it’s started catching me , seem a lot slower walking feel as if the stuffing been punched out of me (BLOODY DOCTORS)

[Sparklingsunshine]

TSH is slow, very slow to react, its why we allow 6-8 weeks after a dose change, so unfortunately missing Levo by 2 or 3 days is unlikely to achieve anything. FT4 and 3 are much more fluid hence you now look like you have FT4 below range. It also depends on the reason for your being hypo, whether you have any of your own thyroid left or if its been removed or has shrivelled up.

Many of us get on the TSH seesaw by ill informed GP's and move between doses. Additionally some people, especially if they have a suppressed TSH for a long time find that even if they stop Levo altogether their TSH is incredibly slow to come back into range.

Its an issue many of us have with TSH obsessed medics. With hypothyroidism often very low TSH isnt matched by high levels of FT4 and FT3.

[Kowbie in reply to Sparklingsunshine]

Thanks for getting back to me but I had to come down as they made me come down 25 that’s about 2 months ago , I had radio active iodine treatment over 30 years ago , why I missed some was because I didn’t want them putting it down any more and messing things up

[tattybogle in reply to Kowbie]

is your GP aware you are taking T3 kowbie ?

what dose are you taking ? 125mcg levo + 37.5mcg T3 or different .

how much levo is your GP prescribing ?

are you topping this up by self sourcing more levo ?

some of your earlier fT3 results on previous posts were a false low as last dose T3 was taken 24 hrs before test.... some people were not aware of this when advising. You need to let people know clearly what doses you are taking , time of last dose before testing etc , other wise you will get bad advice.

if GP is mainly looking at TSH to adjust your dose , then yes , they are going to keep reducing your levo prescription down to more or less nothing due to the very low TSH .

stopping levo for just 2/3 days won't make TSH rise ... it will just make your fT4 look unrealistically low .. but if TSH is still very low GP's will tend to look at that rather than fT4 level .

did you also stop taking T3 before this test ?

[Sparklingsunshine in reply to tattybogle]

I'm guessing Kowbie's intake of T3 could likely result in a lowish FT4 as well. I didnt realise she was on T3 as well.

[Kowbie in reply to tattybogle]

Hello Tattybogle Yes they know I’m taking t3 I was still taking the t3 dr prescribes 125 t 4 but I do self source as well , I’ll just have to see what happens thankyou for replying