New Thyroid Results -- 1 month update

At a glance, it looks like you need a boost of T3. It hardly went up at all.
Sorry you're feeling so crummy!

cd should be along to advise you...

Thank you so much you two.

My doctor just emailed me back that my increasing would be fine. This whole thing is so strange, I guess I'm grateful that he's supporting me doing what I want, but I definitely also have the feeling of not really having a doctor.

He asked me what my current dosage is... How strange, he doesn't even know! I'm afraid he'll tell me to just go up by a 1/4 grain. I suppose I'll tell him I'm at 2 grains and hope he's okay with my going up to 2.5.

If you recall, I get my Naturethroid from a different source... An old doctor who is just happy to send me whatever supplements I order including Naturethryroid. Part of the strangeness... I could really just take whatever I want! Though having a doctor's support feels much preferable.

I'm a little distressed that I had to fight for this increase when I'm still below range. I had expected to have to start fighting once I got to low-mid range. This is making me think I need to consider changing doctors... Maybe resume with the one who is sending me the Naturethroid anyhow.

Marigold

I understand your frustration. Still, I'm glad you got the dose increase ;)


needhelp4

Scroll to the bottom of the following link for a list of the 300 possible symptoms a person with hypothyroidism might have:

hypothyroidmom.com/300-hypothyroidism-symptoms-yes-really/

The symptom you described I had when I was at my worst. I'd go into a bed that had been preheated on high with an electric blanket....and I'd be wearing the thickest possible fleece pajamas and have 4 blankets on...and I'm still have the shaking chills.

Unfortunately, these infections can do this to us as well....including messing with our thyroids/adrenals.

That's why I'm always asking people if they've had their thyroids checked. Adrenals are important, too but doctors are even more lame with them.

Hello team thyroid,

I have a subsequent thyroid update and another question..

My last blood tests were the beginning of April, after my first thyroid hormone increase. They were...

T3 is 1.8 (range 2.0-4.4). Had been 1.7
T4 is 1.04 (range .82-1.77). Had been .85
TSH is .018. Had been .128

At first my doctor said hold steady there, but as I was still below range and feeling awful I petitioned for an increase so he said okay to going up another 1/2 grain on my Naturethroid. We then had an appointment where it seemed like we were on the same page again.. He said something's awry with my endocrine system as my t3 is below range, yet my pituitary is acting like I have too much t3. He said TSH isn't useful in my case, and to keep increasing my Naturethroid based on how I feel. He also tested for Epstein Barr, which came back positive, because apparently Epstein Barr virus is something that can cause this sort of endocrine confusion. I'm doing an Epstein Barr treatment right now. I ended up increasing my Naturethoid by one more 1/2 grain. At that point, I started to feel some of my hypothyroid symptoms decreasing and it was thrilling!! I had some metabolism back, I could eat protein again (albeit only vegetable protein powder, but this was still a MAJOR victory), I felt more alert. Then a couple weeks ago it was like the hypothyroid symptoms all came back. I wondered if maybe this just indicated that I'd adjusted to the new increase and it was time to increase again. I just emailed my doctor and inquired about increasing again and he suggested now alternating between my current dose and a 1/2 grain higher, every other day. (Beside the point, he seems to think I'm at 2 1/2 grains of Naturethyroid but I'm actually at 3 grains, which I'm hoping is just an oversight on his part and not a real issue.)

Current protocol:
Levothyroxine 50 mcg
T3 20 mcg
NatureThroid 3 grains. Doctor suggesting I alternate between this and 1/2 grain higher. I'm curious about maybe simply increasing to 3 1/2 because why create more unsteadiness by alternating?

Thanks for any thoughts!!!

Thanks so much for the reply, so helpful. Did your doctor think there was a connection between your EBV and thyroid trouble, too? Did you have to do anything to treat a lingering EBV infection?

I appreciate the encouragement to go with my gut. I think I'm going to try 3 1/2 every day, and as you say, see how that feels, decrease if I feel hyper. I get insecure feeling like I'm being defiant, but it seems hypothyroid treatment is so much a matter of increasing until you find that sweet spot...

Astroman, Thanks so much for the thoughts!

I agree that my thyroid protocol is distressingly complicated. The history is this: many years ago (pre lyme-diagnosis) my physician put me on levothyroxine for low t3 and t4. I then realized more was wrong than my thyroid.. I went to an integrative doctor and he put me on Naturethroid instead. My body seemed to miss the levothyroxine so we added that back as well. Still thinking that more was wrong than was being addressed I went to a thyroid specialist... She preferred straight t3 to everything else, and wanted to put me on that, with the idea of weaning off the Naturethroid simultaneously. I took the t3 though I never liked it... felt jarring... AND I wasn't able to come off the Naturethroid without consequences. Thus the mess of been on 3 things.

But at that point my levels were stable and stayed that was for a couple years. And I got diagnosed with lyme. Started seeing a lyme literate integrative doctor. He basically didn't want to address simplifying my thyroid protocol, because I was stable, and he though it best to focus on treating lyme disease. So we backburnered the thyroid. So much so that we forgot to test for a year. And when we tested, we saw that my levels had dropped back down to below range. No wonder I felt awful! That was where I was when I wrote a couple months ago. Upon suggestions from the forum and my doctor, we decided to try to get me in range again by increasing my Naturethroid. (My doctor wanted me to increase my straight t3 initially, but I told him I didn't really like the way the t3 feels, and maybe Naturethroid would be better as I needed more t4 as well.) I would like to get off the straight t3, but as my t3 is what is so low, it seems like perhaps an inopportune time.

I guess the goal right now is to get my levels to where I have some relief, while going after the EBV, which my doctor feels could be the root cause. He knows EBV to create such confusion as low TSH AND low t3 / t4.

The idea that my protocol is what's confusing my pituitary is haunting me! I always have this concern that I'm somehow what's making me sick. But I'm not sure why different forms of t3 and t4 would make the pituitary stop recognizing a lack of t3 and t4. I also just hate going in the direction of more medication.. I wish I didn't have such a hangup about that because I don't know that it serves me, given that I probably need the support of medication right now. I'm telling myself that without thyroid hormone, I probably don't have as good a shot at eradicating the lyme disease.