New Labs what do they mean!

[sonnytabby]

My dr. upped my T4 to two tabs in the am and one in the early afternoon and my T4 at 100mcg daily.  I have lost my eyelashes, and alittle dizzy and very tired in the pm.

My new labs came back at TSH  <0.008 and my Thyroxine Free at 1.11 both are down a small amount from last lab 3 months ago?

What should I look for my dr. to do with this info.

[sonnytabby]

Yes sorry it was my T3 and he indicated by phone that my TSH was low but as long as I was feeling okay he would leave it.

[Barb135]

You said "My dr. upped my T4 to two tabs in the am and one in the early afternoon and my T4 at 100mcg daily."   Should one of those have been T3 tabs?  T3 medication is often split into multiple doses, such as morning and afternoon.

[flyingfool]

First you have to k now if you have a conversion problem.  But if so you start on a T3 medication or a medication with a T3 component.  

But you have to be tested for it too.  You may also want to request a reverse T3 test as well.  Some folks their bodies when converting make a lot of reverse T3 and that is also unusable.  

[sonnytabby]

What does a dr do to adjust the T3 to the higher end of the scale. How do they adjust the medication more T3, less T4??

[gimel]

I meant to also add that many patients taking T4 meds find that their body is not converting T4 to T3 adequately, resulting in Free T3 levels in the lower end fo the range, consistent with hypothyroidism.  Thus you always need to test for Free T3, along with Free T4 and TSH.

[gimel]

Patients taking thyroid meds frequently find that their TSH gets suppressed.  This does not mean that you are hyper, unless you have hyper symptoms due to excessive levels of thyroid hormone, which single test result does not indicate.  You really need to also be tested for Free T3 as well as Free T4 and TSH, each time you go in to the doctor.  Free T3 is the most important because it largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions.  Scientific studies have also shown that FT3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while FT4 and TSH did not correlate.  

A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypo patient clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results.  Many of our members report taht symptom relief for them required that Free T3 was adjusted into the upper part of the range and Free T4 adjusted to around the midpoint of its range.  

You can get some good info on clinical treatment from this link to a letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he consults with from a distance.  The letter is sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.

http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf

[sonnytabby]

I forgot to post the ranges on my lab report so here they are:
TSH .550-4.780 It flagged low.  My reading was .008

Thyronxine, free - range is .69 - 1.51 mg  My reading was 1.11