Levels question and meds increase

[Clare37]

I have been on 25mcg levothyroxine for 2 months and as in my previous posts I felt worse gained more weight etc. saw diff gp today who up my dose to 100mcg I saw on the screen my levels but only saw the numbers. First one was 10.68 second was 9.6. Anyone know what these mean?

[greygoose]

Bit difficult without knowing what they are, Clare. Why don't you just ask for your results? Ring the receptionist and ask. It's your legal right to have them, they're not a state secret. lol

Upping levo for 25 to 100 is a whopping great increase. It may make you feel bad. It would be far more intelligent to do it by 25 mcg increases. Go up to 50 for two weeks, 75 for two weeks, then up to 100. It would be far less stressful for your body to do it that way. You don't want to have palpitations or something and have to go back to your doctor and have the dose put down again, do you? Cling onto your new dose, but do it in stages, I would.

Hugs, Grey

[Clare37 in reply to greygoose]

Hi sorry for late response I only just got my results through. Now apparently my levels are TSH 10.48 and T4 is 9.5. This was before medication. I know nothing about the levels!! Do u understand what my results mean? Thank you for your advice. X

[greygoose in reply to Clare37]

Well, that TSH is way, way too high, meaning you are hypo. TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is a pituitary hormone. It stimulates the thyroid to make thyroid hormone, so the higher the TSH, the less thyroid hormone your thyroid is producing, meaning you are HYPOthyroid.

To really understand the T4 (is it FT4?) one needs the range used by your lab, because the ranges vary from lab to lab. However, it does look low. T4 is a thyroid (T) hormone produced by the thyroid gland. And it would be logical that it is low because the TSH, as explained above, is high.

All in all, the results say that you are hypo and need thyroid hormone replacement.

Hugs, Grey

[Clare37 in reply to greygoose]

Brilliant thank you for explaining that to me. Do u think 100mcg is enough?

[greygoose in reply to Clare37]

Only time will tell. One cannot estimate how much any individual will ultimately need. The thing is to have tests every six weeks and increase by 25 mcg (NOT by 75 mcg!!!) until all your symptoms are gone and you feel well. And to do this you must make sure that your doctor doses by your symptoms and thyroid hormone (T4) result rather than your TSH.