Tricky to keep up with this because three months ago my FT4 and FT3 had tanked, FT3 was 40% of range, all due to my iron & ferritin tracking down this year following covid in January 2024.
In response to FT3 tanking, in September my private Armour prescription was increased 1/4 grain to 1 and 1/2 grains. And I had an NHS iron infusion on 31st October.
Three weeks after the iron infusion I felt over-cooked, absolutely wiped out and awful pressure in my chest, head, ears. I didn’t reduce Armour, I switched back to split dosing and I felt much better. That was a month ago, I’m still a little trembly and up n down emotionally.
With FT3 now over range, am I looking at a reduction to 1 and 3/8 grain at my next review?
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Insomania
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I haven’t recently switched, it’s been 17 months titrating from zero treatment. I’ve been getting on well with Armour until the low iron disrupted progress.
Yes - I imagine you'll have to factor in this iron infusion - do you know the rate at which its effectiveness diminishes within your body ?
Hopefully once your metabolism stabilises you will be better able to maintain your ferritin through food and if not a good supplement - and suggest any iron bisglycinate as it will be ' kinder on your stomach ' - than the NHS options.
Hi! I’m under NHS haemotology on iron treatment for iron deficiency anaemia. On treatment, I’m running low every two years and I get another NHS iron infusion. When not on treatment, I ran low in 6 months.
Would you suggest to thyroid Dr staying on current 1 1/2 grains and see where things are in another 12 weeks?
I just found Paul Robinson’s book CT3M which summarised when T3 is good and cortisol is low you can get shakey/anxious. This is me so I could do some focusing on adrenals…
So every 2 years you'll go through this iron infusion routine so I guess needing to adjust your thyroid medication to reflect initially - higher than normal to lower than normal ferritin levels - it's not ideal - but I'm sure there is a way round this -
NDT batches can change a little in the T3/T4 content so we need to be prepared to dose up or down by 1/4 grains when we start a new batch -
which maybe all that is needed once you get into the swing of your raised and then falling ferritin levels -
You are taking 1 + 1/2 grains - if these are 2 tablets could you consider chopping the 1/2 grain in 2 - and just dropping your current dose a little - until the peak of the iron infusion has passed - and then revert back 1 + 1/2 grains ?
I started taking adrenal glandular 2 years before I switched to self medicating NDT and still take these everyday - and I know I'm better for keep taking them -
I'm with Graves post RAI thyroid ablation and became very unwell some years post RAI back in 2005 -
I read this toxic substance is also taken up by other glands and organs in the body including adrenals and since they were easy to buy OTC I thought ' why not give that a try ' as my doctor had no answers and called me a conundrum -
I felt the benefit after around 2 months - less shaky and could stand up long enough to boil an egg and make a cup of tea and that was progress for me, back in 2016/17 -
so yes - give your body time - and retest in around 3 months time.
These are my last three reviews. Between May & Sept my ferritin lowered from 63 to 46, it'll be sky high now after iron infusion, interesting that iron has had such a dramatic effect on FT3...
On 1 ½ grain & Iron infusion 31.10.24, Randox, 11.12.24
Iron facilitates the iodination of tyrosine in thyroglobulin to make thyroid hormones. It also is essential for T4 to T3 conversion together with iodine, tyrosine, selenium, zinc, etc.
We generally get enough iodine from diet and recycling or/and our thyroid meds. The minerals are accumulated from diet and also often supplemented either alone or in a multivitamin once vits have reached optimal levels.
However, an iron deficiency can be difficult to reverse because the T3 it requires for maximum function of its numerous mechanisms it impairs levels from optimising. In other words raise iron you raise T3 levels. Raise T3 levels and you raise iron levels, as they drive and maintain each other and help make erythropoiesis work properly.
You need to reduce your T3 levels from over-range or else risk your body converting it to inactive metabolites as a protective measure to prevent over stimulation of say bone marrow turn over, etc. It is all a balance.
If iron levels do start eventually dropping again you may need to increase T3 meds again but hopefully in a lesser extent.
I got my quarterly iron blood test today. I’ve had 2 iron infusions before (both before I was on thyroid treatment) but this is the highest ferritin I’ve seen. I did forget to stop biotin until 48h before blood test, which may have influenced the result.
Good news about the ferritin 👍. Many say 48 hours is adequate in stopping biotin pre-test.
There should be a fairly quick response from transferrin after the iron infusion, say a week or two but interestingly yours is still low. Transferin are the protein carriers that iron binds to. It is commonly low in the presence of the inflammation seen accompanying autoimmune conditions and/or if you are very overweight (anaemia of chronic disease)? It might help transferrin raise if you can reduce chronic inflammation whilst ensuring your protein intake is adequate. This will encourage iron mechanisms best use of your new iron levels.
I have iron deficiency anaemia, I'm under NHS haematology (that's how I get the iron infusions).
I'm not aware of inflammation (CRP is <4). I'm not overweight.
I don't know if my hypothyroidism is autoimmune, I don't get high antibodies and 2 scans of enlarged thyroid did not show characteristics of autoimmune.
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Diarrhoea, high ft3 low ft4.
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PLEASE HELP - Should I increase NDT?
