Graves' Disease Support Group
Graves-Basedow disease is a medical disorder that may manifest several different conditions including hyperthyroidism (over activity of thyroid hormone production), infiltrative exophthalmos (protruberance of one or both eyes and associated problems) and infiltrative dermopathy (a skin condition usually of the lower extremities). This disorder is the most common cause of...
Graves disease (with TED) for 7 years now,
Still on low dose carbimazole (~MMI) 5mg/day and levothyrox
My levels are normally
FT3 bottom or just below range
FT4 within range but low end
TSH jumps around a bit but low end range
Following advice on the forum to aim for higher FT4 I got the endo to agree to increase levo from 75ug to 88ug/day. I think I feel better for it, but y'know, it's summer, I'm not known for having a lot of personal insight. I'm convinced the aches and pains the day after exercise are less, which is amazing.
The new labs 10 weeks after upping the T4:
FT3 (3.9-6.7) 4.6
FT4 (12-22) 18.56
TSH (0.27-4.2) 0.112
So I expect I'm going to have a battle about the TSH.
What do other folks think please, and if you think stick to this dosage what should I say to the endo to persuade them?
_______
I want to mention that the TRAC antibody finally went down from positive (ie you've got Graves) to uncertain in my last labs and has stayed low.
range 2 positive inbetween 1&2 uncertain
for years my labs have been between 4 and 9
The last two were 1.9 and now 1.6
Thanks
Steve
Still on low dose carbimazole (~MMI) 5mg/day and levothyrox
My levels are normally
FT3 bottom or just below range
FT4 within range but low end
TSH jumps around a bit but low end range
Following advice on the forum to aim for higher FT4 I got the endo to agree to increase levo from 75ug to 88ug/day. I think I feel better for it, but y'know, it's summer, I'm not known for having a lot of personal insight. I'm convinced the aches and pains the day after exercise are less, which is amazing.
The new labs 10 weeks after upping the T4:
FT3 (3.9-6.7) 4.6
FT4 (12-22) 18.56
TSH (0.27-4.2) 0.112
So I expect I'm going to have a battle about the TSH.
What do other folks think please, and if you think stick to this dosage what should I say to the endo to persuade them?
_______
I want to mention that the TRAC antibody finally went down from positive (ie you've got Graves) to uncertain in my last labs and has stayed low.
range 2 positive inbetween 1&2 uncertain
for years my labs have been between 4 and 9
The last two were 1.9 and now 1.6
Thanks
Steve
If you are having aches and pains or any other hypO symptoms from the FT3, I'd ask the doctor for a small wee dose (such as under 5 mcg) of Cytomel to get the FT3 to come up.
Elaine Moore mentioned that for me to try when I was sick with an infection a couple of months ago and a lot of my labs were wonky. However my holistic doctor wasn't ready for me to try this even though my Free Ts were lower than I'd like for them to be at. Hopefully the next set of labs in September will show improvement.
Good luck and {{{hugs}}}
Your FT3 is 4.6 with a range of 3.9-6.7 that is a bit low. Ideally we want our FT3 to be at mid range or slightly higher...for you...that would be around 5.5. I agree with mmz...adding a small amount of Cytomel would help with that.
When I had a slightly low FT3 I took 200mcg of Selenium with a small amount of Vit E...that helped my FT3 come up just enough to feel well.
Since you are on a small amount of T4 replacement and you need a small amount of replacement you may want to talk to your doc about taking Armour instead of the levo...Armour is a natural replacement with FT3 included...Big Hugs...Kathy