Please can you help....I take 50mcg of levothyroxine and have been doing so for the past 10yrs. I've just had my bloods taken and my results have changed, T4 has decreased, as have T3 and my TSH has risen.
My bloods were previously taken in March 2024 and the latest was this week. Nothing has changed since March in my life and I'm wondering what reason my results are so different. My blood tests are done at 8.30am and I always fast before it.
Should I be on a higher dose of Levothyroxine.... i always feel better when TSH is 1 or just below.
Any help would be most appreciated. Thank you.
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pompadour
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Tbh, I've no idea why there are 2 sets of results, that is what has come back from the laboratory. Yes, I always fast before a test, I don't even have any water and my blood tests are always taken at 8.40am and I stop levo for 24hrs. I was originally put on levo when it was discovered I had nodules on my thyroid, I was told the plan was to try and prohibit my thyroid from producing and hoping that the nodules would reduce in size, which is what has happened. I'm thinking I have hypothyroidism but have never been told this.
I take vitamin D3 with zinc and B12.
If I were to increase my dose to 75mcg, would this in turn reduce my tsh level?
Levo doesn’t “top up” failing thyroid, it’s replaces it
Almost everyone eventually ends up on approximately full replacement dose
Even if we frequently start on only 50mcg, most people need to increase levothyroxine dose slowly upwards in 25mcg steps (retesting 6-8 weeks after each increase) until eventually on, or somewhere near full replacement dose (typically 1.6mcg levothyroxine per kilo of your weight per day)
Adults usually start with a dose between 50 micrograms and 100 micrograms taken once a day. This may be increased gradually over a few weeks to between 100 micrograms and 200 micrograms taken once a day.
Some people need a bit less than guidelines, some a bit more
TSH should be under 2 as an absolute maximum when on levothyroxine
If symptoms of hypothyroidism persist despite normalisation of TSH, the dose of levothyroxine can be titrated further to place the TSH in the lower part of the reference range or even slightly below (i.e., TSH: 0.1–2.0 mU/L), but avoiding TSH < 0.1 mU/L. Use of alternate day dosing of different levothyroxine strengths may be needed to achieve this (e.g., 100 mcg for 4 days; 125 mcg for 3 days weekly).
Thank you so much for your help, I will increase my dose to 75mcg and see how that goes. Hopefully I will be less tired and perhaps my hair condition will improve too.
SlowDragon As per my response to the original post, that page of results is reporting results using two different sets of units, getting the units wrong and not showing the units on every value. As a result, interpreting those results is error prone and the results should be re-created before mistakes are made. Demonstration of how risky is that in your response above you have reported a December value that is actually ng/L as being pmol/L. Not your fault - whoever put those results together introduced mistakes and risks. pompadour I suggest complaining to whoever produced those results, possibly as a formal complaint, as what they have done is report units incorrectly, report results ambiguously, and introduce the risk of medical error by whoever interprets the results.
Just had a thought, would it be OK to take 50mcg one day and 100mcg the next? or is this not a good idea, I'm just trying to avoid having to break tiny tablets.
Just wondering why you need an increase and what has changed. Has brand of levo changed?Do you take at same time. 1 hr away from coffee and food 4 hours away from magnesium. It has to absorb through you stomach.
I cut tablets in quarters roughly. I would go with Slowdragons experience. 50 to 75 mcg would be 50% increase in dose ... probably too much.
Hi, my brand hasn't changed, and I take my tablet just as I go to bed, and I leave a 3hr gap from food/drink .I'm at a loss as to why it's risen so much, but I know it's not right for me at this level .
It may be a seasonal effect due to colder winter weather although, I guess there may not be much difference in March and December temperatures where you live?
I can't help with ur question. But was wondering how you got ur results printed like that. Did u go private. I'd been in agony for months aches and pains got bloods done and I'd been being over medicated over a year for thyroid on levoth double what I got reduced to over a period of months. All I got was calls to reduce them by 12.5mg each 8 weeks and get bloods done again then to satisfactory and stay on 100mg. But never saw tests coming back in print.
You are legally entitled to copies of your test results and ranges
Please write a new post of your own with recent experiences and results
The best way to get access to current and historic blood test results is to register for online access to your medical record and blood test results
UK GP practices are supposed to offer everyone online access for blood test results. Easiest option is NHS app, you may need "enhanced access" to see blood results.
This currently only applies in England, not across the whole of the UK. Nether Scotland nor N.Ireland have released an NHS app for patients. (Scotland supposedly due in December '24.) Wales has an app, but only for booking appointments, repeat prescriptions and amending personal details
As I said I didn't get any. I didn't even know they tested t3 and t4. Thought it was tsh. Because of how I had been feeling ill and other health issues I wasn't even aware it was over a year since they'd last been done same with my diabetes. But I'd that much health issues from hospital and drs everything got on top of me where I think back I think the drs should send a message to say that things needed done as they do that with other tests and injections
Hi, I live in France, and it's normal to receive your blood test results by email from the Lab the same day as bloods are taken, the Lab also sends email copy to your GP as well.I'm so sad you are having problems, it's awful isn't it.
Ur fortunate. We can barely get to talk to a dr here in Northern Ireland. They eventually call you to see what's wrong with you before they let u into surgery. People could find it easier getting into high security places than we can with drs here. I even asked bebeneden my private insurance can I get seen and I'm told that I have to be seen by dr and referred. Which they won't refer u as ur being treated for it by them.
pompadour SlowDragon Whoever put those result together did not proofread what they did. It would seem that they have (reasonably) given the results and ranges using two different sets of units (different countries tend to use different units). However, rather than making clear that the units are ng/L and pmol/L, they have erroneously shown one pair as ng/l and pmol/l, and the other as ng/l and ng/l, the latter being the sort of mistake that leads to medical errors.
Checking the numbers in online calculators (links below), it would appear that they are indeed values using the units ng/L and pmol/L, but whoever put those results together should recreate them with correct units to confirm this. For patients etc to have to second guess laboratories is potentially dangerous.
It's because of the use of different units in different places, that I tend to query posts in forums that just present numbers without units.
SlowDragon More likely that the lab reports using two different sets of units. For me, the question is who produced the sheet of results in the original post - if it was the laboratory, hospital or doctor's practice, then a complaint needs to be made. On the other hand, if Pompadour created that sheet (possible, but seems less likely as people don't normally print out and then photograph documents that they generate themselves) then it's possibly just a patient error, rather than a potentially dangerous error in the medical system.
Hi, no the original sheet is direct from the lab, it was very tiny print so I just retyped exactly how it was on the lab report. Checking it before posting so it reads exactly as the lab report.I live in France, so perhaps the labs here report differently .
pompadour If that is exactly how it was on the lab report, please raise a formal complaint. It is nothing to do with being in France, it is simply incorrect. If the lab managed to create something not just ambiguous, but actually incorrect (by putting the wrong units on one row) then they have a failure in their process that if not fixed could result in mistakes being made in treatments. If they do the same on other tests, that could be immediately dangerous.
For those not familiar with the different units, imagine a 1 litre jug full of golf balls.
ng/L would be akin to the total mass of the golf balls in the jug
pmol/L would be akin to the number (not the mass) of golf balls in the jug
Mixing the two up creates very different results.
The thing to check on the original, is whether the units next to 15.58 are ng/L or pmol/L. If it is ng/L that is wrong.
pompadour - No, it's one test, just reported in two different ways.
Using the golf balls analogy in my previous post, it's basically done by weighing the golf balls, then dividing the result by the weight of one golf ball to get the count of them. Then the weight (strictly, mass) is reported as the ng/L figure, and the count is reported as the pmol/L figure. It's one test, just reported two different ways (mass and number). But if they put ng/L on the 15.58 figure, they have flaws in their process that could be downright dangerous if not fixed. Please report it if they did put ng/L on the 15.58 figure.
did you have thyroid cancer ? I had an aggressive thyroid cancer tall cell variant in 2012 and had a TT and neck dissection. My TSH has to stay low at .4 If you have not, I would say your numbers are perfect but discuss with your Endo if you have an issue with it.
JerryGirl3, TSH of nearly 3 indicates Pompadour's dose is a bit too low if symptoms of hypothyroidism are present (it might be ok for someone who felt good at that level , but not other wise) : see multiple references here , all recommending GP's keep TSH below 2/2.5 in ALL patients on levo : healthunlocked.com/thyroidu.... list-of-references-recommending-gps-keep-tsh-lower-in-range-
also simplified explanation of why TSH ' in range' is not the same as 'optimal for the individual' : healthunlocked.com/thyroidu... explanation-of-what-*high-tsh-is-telling-us-when-our-ft4-level-is-normal-on-levothyroxine-the-shoe-size-analogy.-*-over-2.5-3-ish
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