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...

1,470 Members
6,907 Posts
0 Online
Endocrine System
/ Hypothyroidism Support Group

Levels-need advice

franda123
franda123
Blood work for the past month
6/15/15
FT4-1.72
FT3-2.7
Levoxyl 62.5 armour 90 was on this dose about 6 weeks

7/1/15
FT4-1.63
FT3-3.5
changed dose and raised armour to 105 levoxyl 62.5

7/15/15
FT4-1.88
FT3-3.3
Staying on this dose but consider lowering levoxyl by 12.5

I'm not sure what to do because the dose has not been in me for four weeks. Just happened to get bloodwork done at this point because I was having other bloodwork done. I think it was butterfly who said you need to wait 4 weeks with dose adjustments or it's a false reading. Is this true when raising armour as well. Also FT3 is too low I think. I have been having continuing symptoms the entire time as I have not reached optimal. Some of the symptoms have gotten better over this journey while others stay status quo. Palps, digestive, restless sleeping, moodiness, and mild depression.Prior to the dose change I was having better sleep so I'm not sure if it's related to high t4 or low t3. However sleeping has always been up and down with thyroid. This is a tough one. Any advice would help me out a lot.
Thanks,
Fran
MButterfly
MButterfly
Do you have the lab ranges?
franda123
franda123
Lab ranges are FT3 2.0-4.4 and FT4 0.82-1.77. I lowered the levoxyl12.5 being I was so over. I'm having really bad insomnia for the past 4 or 5 nights. Can't tell if it's hypo or hyper. And really bad palps especially at night doesn't help matters. Doc wanted me to lower but she is flexible. Not sure what to do. I don't want to go backwards as I have other times. I'm sure I need more T3 since it only slightly above 50%. It seems to be taking its time to raise either that or there is another issue. Thanks so much for answering.
MButterfly
MButterfly
With levoxyl (or any T4 med) you have to wait 4-6 weeks for the med to actually "hit" your system. So, with that in mind, here's the breakdown:

Free T4
Range:0.820 -1.770
Result: 1.880
Percent of range: 111.58% (it's not that much over - just 11%, so we're not talking about alot)

Free T3
range:2.000 -4.400
result: 3.300
Percent of range: 54.17%

Again, Free T3 isn't -that- high. You usually want to see something over 50-60% of range to "aim at" when trying to balance your thyroid.

Then, other things come into play with tweaking. First, change one thing at a time, and do it slowly. Second, don't rely on labs that are not reliable (ie your meds haven't been in your system long enough (4-6 wks)).

So, before lowering or raising anything, you should wait four weeks from the date you took your first med increase, get your labs, then based on those labs AND YOUR SYMPTOMS JOURNAL - decide if you need an increase or a decrease.

Symptoms can be tricky because we sometimes have to "wear" our dosages before our bodies adjust. So, if you're still suffering from insomnia at four weeks, and your levels are a tad high (T4), then you might consider shaving off a bit, but 12.5 mcg is ALOT. I'd probably tick off half of that to begin with, but again, go by your symptoms journal.
franda123
franda123
So it's ok to split half of a half levoxyl or 12.5 in half. This could be slightly challenging. I just tried cutting a half. It's nearly impossible. Any advice on how to split it without it falling apart.
franda123
franda123
Also I saw the discussion on melatonin. Elaine Moore claims it is safe to take and a powerful antioxidant. In other words seems ok with Graves and that's all that I have so would it be safe to give a trial for sleeping.
MButterfly
MButterfly
I use a pill cutter (the teeny ones with really sharp razor cutter). And...reading glasses come in handy when performing that procedure. :)

Of course, if you have a kid handy...they seem to be able to handle it much better than I (fewer mistakes). But, yes, it's perfectly all right to split your meds as long as you have labs and a symptom journal to guide your decision.

As I said, though, make sure the med level you were on has been in your system (you've been on the current dosage for four-six weeks) to ensure it's not titration symptoms causing the issue (and they pass) instead of the actual dosage.