Blood test after switching back to Levo from NDT

[selenipap]

Hi, there. I want to share my experience from switching back to levo after 3 years on NDT (Thyroid-S). Until last November I’ve been on ndt (3 grains). Initially, it helped me lose some weight and feel better. From last May to December, I wasn’t feeling well at all, having all the hypo symptoms. Since I started on ndt I also started having onycholysis on my fingernails and toes, which was very persistent despite many doctors advising and many treatments. Of course, I kept struggling with my weight, which remained stable despite my arduous efforts (walking 10000/day, eating healthy eating-mostly non-processed vegetarian-mediterranean foods).

My last blood test while on 3 grains ndt was:

TSH 0.005 (0.27 - 4.2 uIU/mL)

FT4 15.68 (12 – 22 pmol/L)

FT3 3.84 (3.1 - 6.8 pmol/L)

In Dec. 2024 I decided to switch to levo, mostly because I was fed up with struggling to get the ndt pills. It’s been 3.5 months I’ve been on 125 mg of levo X 5 days, and 150mg X 2 days. Although my nails are improving, I still struggle to lose weight despite all my efforts. Today’s blood tests are:

TSH 0.06 (0.27 - 4.2 uIU/mL)

FT4 17.83 (12 – 22 pmol/L)

FT3 3.61 (3.1 - 6.8 pmol/L)

I’m wondering if I have a conversion problem, although my FT3 was still low when I was on 3 grains of ndt. And also if I shall increase my leve a bit more, maybe up to 150/day. Currently, my main concern is to manage to lose some weight. I'm 166 cm and currently at 85kg...

PS. I don''t have any recent D3 and B12 blood test.

[greygoose]

I'm not surprised you can't lose weight with that low FT3 - you're still hypo, despite the FT4 and TSH levels. And hypo weight-gain has little to do with diet or exercise, it's to do with reduced metabolism and water-retention, and no diet or exercise regime in the world is going to have any effect on those. What you need is an FT3 of about 70% through the range, at least.

But both your FT3 and FT4 were low on 3 grains of NDT, one would expect them to be higher. How were you taking it? Well away from food, etc?

[selenipap in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I was taking my ndt (and now the levy) at least one hour before food. While taking ndt I had some good blood test results, with higher FT3. The weird thing is that some months after increasing my dose to 3 grains, I started having hypo symptoms (especially low energy) and my blood tests showed that they were never optimal. I never tried to increase my dose to more than 3 grains, before switching back to levo.

[greygoose in reply to selenipap]

Well, you're obviously a poor converter so it would look like you need to add some T3 to your levo, to bring it up a bit. It is just too low for good health.

[selenipap in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for the advice. I have zero experience with T3. Where I live T3 is not available (not even in public hospitals). Shall I start with 5 mg or is it too much?

[greygoose in reply to selenipap]

5 mcg shold be just right for a starter dose.

[selenipap in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for the advice!