Hypothyroidism Support Group
Hypothyroidism is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyrohormone by the thyroid gland. There are several distinct causes for chronic hypothyroidism, the most common being Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism following radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Advanced hypothyroidism may cause severe complications, the most serious one of which is...
Secondly - I'll need your lab ranges if you don't mind for Free T3 and Free T4. List them like this:
Free T4 .8-1.8 (or whatever) and then the result
Lastly, we have a good group here and they're all quite helpful, but we are not doctors. We're patients like you who've either successfully balanced our thyroid health or are on the way to doing so.
TSH - 4.79 Range (0.25-5.0) uiu/ml
(FT3) 4.4 Range (4.0-9.0) pmol/L
(FT4) 15.67 (9.0-20.0) pmol/L
TOTAL T3 1.05 Range (0.95-2.5) nmol/L
TOTAL T4 84.40 Range (60-120)
Now, let's get down to brass tacks and what you should do to feel better, K?
I did some quick calcs on your labs, and while we are NOT our lab numbers, they can help cast some light on what's going on with our symptoms. So, there's two things you'll have to do from hence forth, K?
1) Keep copies of ALL your future labs along with this one (your doc did pull the right labs, thank goodness)
2) Keep a daily symptoms journal - it will be very important later. Nothing complicated, just scribble in a notebook or whatever is easiest for you.
Here's your breakdown:
Your TSH is 4.79. That's still quite high. To feel "well" a typical healthy person will have a TSH of 1 or below. So, you have a ways to go on your road to wellness.
Free T4
Range:9.000 -20.000
result: 15.670
Percent of range: 60.64%
A good place to shoot for: 17.25-20.00 (aka where *most* people begin to feel well)
Your Free T4 isn't awful, but it isn't great. And, if you still have symptoms (as I suspect) then you probably need a bit more medication depending on when you started your meds. I know you're currently on 100 mcg of levothyroxine/synthroid/thyroxine, right? How long have you been on that dosage? If you've been on it for more than 4 weeks prior to your lab draw (the one you listed), then you need to push for an increase of at least 25 mcg. What did your doctor say about your labs and symptoms? Have you discussed them with him/her yet?
Free T3
Range:4.000 -9.000
Result: 4.400
Percent of range: 8.00%
A good place to shoot for: 7.75-8.00 (aka where *most* people begin to feel well)
Your Free T3 is scraping the bottom of the range, and that's not good, but I'm also not surprised for two reason. One, your Free T4 is lowish - and Free T4 is converted to Free T3, so you most likely don't have enough to convert just yet. And,two, your TSH is still quite high which tells me you don't have nearly enough Free T4 just yet to produce enough Free T3.
Here's how this usually works: Both levels have to be optimized to feel "well" (Free T3 and Free T4). But, we have to start somewhere, so it's usually with Free T4, since Free T3 is largely derrived from Free T4. Meaning, your Free T4 needs to be optimized as much as a possible first. Then, if you're still not making enough T3...you may have to supplement that as well. But, one step at a time.
Balancing a thyroid takes a while. It's not like taking an aspirin for a headache. It takes 4-6 weeks for levo/thyroxine to get into your system...as do subsequent increases. So, here's the process to wellness:
1) Get labs drawn
2) Based on those labs and your symptoms - get a med adjustment
3) Wait 4-6 weeks and repeat steps 1-3 until you have no symptoms
This can be done. And you can do it. I know I threw alot at you, and asked alot of questions, but that so I can help you see what's going on with you more clearly.
Welcome...and we'll do our best to help you out.