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...
Hi,
I just got my new labs after being on levoxyl 37.5mg 3 going into 4th week. They are the following
FT4 1.42 Range 0.82-1.77
FT3 3.4 Range 2.0-4.4
TSH less than 0.005
I went to the doctor that was supposed to be helping me out. She has quit due to the TSH level even though I still have symptoms. Does anyone know if taking a beta blocker sporatically can falsely lower FT3? This level has dropped quite a bit but I did lower the armour 15mg when the levoxyl was raised per the doctor and I want to say the last level was around 3.8. I am still having palps, racing heart on and off, stomach issues, and nervousness. I am having to find another doc to even prescribe both meds. I have another one I will be trying soon. Does anyone think I should be going up with my armour again or will the higher levoxyl bring my FT4 and FT3 up gradually? I would rather ask the people on this board then any doctor in NJ but now I just have to find one that knows what they are doing!!!!
Feeling extremely frustrated,
Thank you,
Fran
I just got my new labs after being on levoxyl 37.5mg 3 going into 4th week. They are the following
FT4 1.42 Range 0.82-1.77
FT3 3.4 Range 2.0-4.4
TSH less than 0.005
I went to the doctor that was supposed to be helping me out. She has quit due to the TSH level even though I still have symptoms. Does anyone know if taking a beta blocker sporatically can falsely lower FT3? This level has dropped quite a bit but I did lower the armour 15mg when the levoxyl was raised per the doctor and I want to say the last level was around 3.8. I am still having palps, racing heart on and off, stomach issues, and nervousness. I am having to find another doc to even prescribe both meds. I have another one I will be trying soon. Does anyone think I should be going up with my armour again or will the higher levoxyl bring my FT4 and FT3 up gradually? I would rather ask the people on this board then any doctor in NJ but now I just have to find one that knows what they are doing!!!!
Feeling extremely frustrated,
Thank you,
Fran
Here's the deal with the dose adjustment your doctor ordered....
15mg Armour contains 2.25mcg T3 and 9.5mcg T4.
Therefore, decreasing your Armour by 15mg and increasing your Levoxl by 12.5mcg resulted in a net increase of 3.5mcg T4 which is almost a non-increase.
I remember speculating that your average FT3 level was 3.8 last time (based upon the fact that you took your Armour within 4-6 hrs. of the blood draw that resulted in a level of 4.2).
It's clear your Armour dose should have stayed the same when the Levoxyl dose was increased.....and you will probably need at least another Levoxyl dose increase.
For the immediate future, I'm sure you can deduce that I think you should be on the same Armour dose you were taking before the reduction....and continue with the 37.5mcg Levoxyl.
Then, get labs at 4-6 wks. and take things from there.
For whatever it's worth, sporadic use of a beta-blocker shouldn't have an effect on the FT3 level.
And, now that both your FT3 and FT4 levels are below 75% of range, I think you have confirmation that *all* of your symptoms are hyPO symptoms. They certainly can't be hyper - right?
Unfortunately, many doctors don't seem to realize that palps are more common in hyPOthyroidism.....same deal with nervousness and IBS-type symptoms.
On and off racing heart is also hyPO.
It's a sustained elevated heart rate that is hyPER.
Since symptoms can be confusing, it's really best to go by labs until our levels are "the most commonly comfortable" levels.
This means FT3 *and* FT4 both above 75% of range.
Once those types of levels are achieved, it's appropriate to "wear" them for awhile to see if symptoms dissipate. If they don't, it's a logical conclusion that the patient needs higher levels (we already know lower levels cause symptoms - right?).
For whatever it's worth, Graves' patients tend to need top-of-the-range FT4 levels and FT3 levels 75% or higher to be free from symptoms.
As you know, I'm a Graves' patient who joined the 20% that go hypo after remission.
My lab uses the same ranges as yours.
Here are my optimal levels:
FT4 1.8 - 1.89
FT3 3.8 - 4.4
As you can see, I'm comfortable with a "wider" range of FT3 levels but a "tight" range of FT4 levels.
That's because the levels are measured in different units. FT3 is like measurements in ounces while FT4 is like measurements in pounds.
When you think of it like that, you'll see that each of us has a relatively "tight" range of levels that keep us functioning well - these are called our "setpoints".
Best of luck to you with the new doctor!
How did you find him/her?