When my levels get off which is quite often, because I'm under constant stress...my heart rate sky rockets. My typical heart rate is very fast anyway, but yes this can be a side effect based on my personal experience.

If you are having heart rate increase tell your dr....that is not good...I was under a lot of stress at my job and when I was on Levo up the heart rate went and blood pressure also which in turn affects the kidneys and heart. I am assuming you are on synthetic meds. If you read up on thyroid meds they will tell you that you are overdosing when you get those symptoms. Of course you can do what you want but I would take better care of all my organs. Ask the pharmacist about the atenolol...that stuff put me to sleep at the stop light...could not take it. It is for people with heart trouble I was told.

I never wanted my TSH that low....no wiggle room then. Not sure who you want to listen to but don't wait to find an answer.

Sorry I missed where you said you were on Levo.....

Sorry to hear about the stressful events!

Since your FreeT4 level is over-range, I'm inclined to agree that you don't need an increase in your levo dose.

I can appreciate your concerns about your FreeT3 level, though. Stress can do a number on our levels - blech.

Do you take selenium? It's a vital part of the conversion process so, supplementing 100-200mcg/day might help to boost your FreeT3 level.

Another idea might be to consider some rhodiola rosea to help mediate your stress.

The following website contains much of the information found in "The Rhodiola Revolution - Super Herb of the 21st Century" that was written by two doctors who use it in clinical practice and take it themselves.

http://rhodiolarosea.org/



You can find many articles about rhodiola rosea on PubMed, too:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=rhodiola+rosea



I've been taking 100mg daily for several years now and find it keeps me feeling more "even". At times of significant stress, I've bumped up the dose to 200mg daily. The maximum daily dose used in the studies was 400mg.

And, you just might want to broach the subject of T3 with your doctor to see what he thinks. This doesn't mean I'm suggesting that you need to start T3 right away. It's more to know just where your doctor stands on the topic in the event your FreeT3 level doesn't "recover".

There's nothing wrong with just sitting tight and getting labs in another 4 wks. to see how you're trending..

No matter what, I hope you feel better!

Thanks for all the advice. I have wondered about taking Selenium before but I thought I read somewhere that I needed to test to see If I was deficient. Is that not the case?? I definitely have to find a way to cope with stress better. I also don't know what to think about my Free T4. Is it actually over range since they changed the reference range? I spoke to the lab and could never get a clear answer on whether my lab value changed or just the reference range. If my lab value did not change then I still feel that I am within range because this is the reference range they have used since I started getting labs in 2009.
Cd I will definitely check into the Rhodiola. I have been taking Klonopin .5 mg to1 mg for several years. I really don't want to increase this as I was hoping as my hypo improved that I would be able to wean off of this.
Thanks again for all of the advice. I really appreciate it.

I've read that selenium deficiency is common in autoimmune thyroid disease and doses as high as 400mcg can usually be taken without incident.

However, I like to err on the side of caution - especially with something like selenium that can be toxic when taken in excess.

I asked my doctor to check my selenium blood level before I started to supplement....my level was below mid-range so I felt comfortable supplementing with 100mcg selenium which brought my level to the upper third of the range.

My last selenium blood level check showed that my level had dropped back to below mid-range so I upped my supplement dose to 200mcg.

My thoughts about your FreeT4 level and the new reference range are different than yours. I learned that our levels need to be interpreted within the context of the lab's reference range.

Lab reference ranges change when they use different testing kits.

I learned some math formulas on another thyroid forum that will prove useful to me if my lab changes its ranges (or I have to use a different lab that has different ranges).

One formula helped me to identify "where" within the normal range my optimal range of FreeT4 levels fall. (thankfully, I had identified my optimal range of FreeT4 levels and my lab never changed its ranges)

The other formula allows me to figure out what my optimal range of FreeT4 levels would be if my lab changed its ranges or I had to use another lab (with different ranges).

So, I used the first formula to figure out "where" within the range my optimal range of FreeT4 levels fall....my optimal range of FreeT4 levels is 1.7 - 1.84 (range .82-1.76).

Using that formula told me that my optimal range of FreeT4 levels is approx. 95 -105% of range.

However, if my lab changed its range (or I used a different lab) and the range was the same as your current lab's range (.76-1.46), my optimal range of FreeT4 levels would be 1.425-1.495. That's quite the difference - right?

(On a side note, the old FreeT4 range you said your lab had (.6-2.0) looks more like the range my lab uses for the FreeT4 Index which is an obsolete calculation)

Now, it's possible you feel well with an over-range FreeT4 level like I do but, I know I wouldn't feel well with my level as over-range as yours is.

However, your FreeT3 level might be too low for you (it would be too low for me).

No matter what, something doesn't sound right because you are having symptoms.

Unfortunately, the symptoms you've shared can be either hyper or hypo so that's when labs can help us figure out what's going on.

Having "unbalanced" FreeT4/T3 levels (one slightly hyper and the other slightly hypo) can cause a mixture of symptoms and I suspect that's what's happening with you.

For whatever it's worth, doing something like yoga or tai chi can really help mediate our stress response. I find yoga to be very "grounding".

Cd, thanks for your explanation on the lab range. The only thing I have to base it on is that twice i have been at a Free T4 of 1.8. Once with old range and once with new range and both times I felt great! I was guessing that to be my sweet spot.

I am guessing that my free T3 dropping so quickly in 5 weeks cannot be good for me. It went from 4.2 to 3.5. I felt great at the 4.2. I still don'f feel too bad right now. I just had a few symptoms starting and I just assumed it was time to increase my levo. I was shocked when my T3 dropped that much but should have expected it.

I really thought I was almost at the point of being at the right dose. I will see the Dr. on Tuesday and until then try to keep myself calm. I will watch my heart rate. I take the antenolol daily at 12.5 mg because my heart rate is always in the 80 to 90 range. I can increase as needed.

Cd, how much does your Free T4 have to change for you to notice symptoms?

Thanks again!

Good luck with everything moving forward!

In regards to your question about how much my FreeT4 level needs to change before I develop symptoms....

As mentioned, my optimal range of FreeT4 levels is 1.71-1.81.

I've felt fine if it drops to 1.68 but, if it goes down to 1.65, things can start to go "off" (digestion slows down....or I start to feel achy....or I wake during the night, etc.)

I've had a FreeT4 as high as 2.0 and developed achy knees (which I thought was a classic hypo symptom for me lol). I had no problem accepting my doctor's offer for a 6.25mcg reduction in my levo dose.

I've never had a FreeT4 level in the neighborhood of 1.9 so I have no reference point on that.

My most recent FreeT4 level was 1.84 and I've had a level like that many times in the past. It "fits" me well :)

Wow! I had no idea that with that small of change in our levels that we start to feel off. I am clearly still figuring this all out. Digestion is definitely one of the first things I notice also when my numbers have dropped.

Thanks everyone! It is always very comforting to know that I can turn to you all for help.

If you think about the fact that a healthy thyroid produces hormone on an "as needed" basis, it makes sense that we need relatively consistent hormone levels if we are to stay free from symptoms.

The levels at which any person (healthy or with thyroid disease) functions best are called "setpoints".

Also, thyroid hormone is quite powerful (think about it, we are taking micrograms of it.....it takes 1000mcg to equal one mg.....and 28mg equals one ounce).

I think understanding the true power of thyroid hormone helps us to understand why we need optimal levels vs. any level within the normal range.