BLOOD RESULTS PLEASE EXPLAIN

[A11NEL]

HI I am diagnosed as being Hypothyroid. My THS is 5.33 mU/L   fT417 pmol/1 and fT3 is 4.1 pmol/1.
I have aching joints, tiredness, mood swings, and generally feeling under the weather with zero energy and memory problems. I have high blood pressure and take medication for that also.

I have been told to increase Levothyroxine to 125 from 100. after these blood results.

I also had previously had primary hyperparathyroidism and had some of my parathyroid removed surgically - which corrected my calcium levels and got rid of the awful leg pains.

I cant make head nor tail of the results can't work out whether they are normal or high or low. Would really love someone to explain these to me.

Also i purchased some T3 on the net because of all the info i have read says I need T3 but doctors don't
agree with this. I have recently had a gastric band fitted and have lost weight before the band, which could have been the T3. I have lost weight slowly because i find if i eat around 600 calories i can loose weight. But couldn't stick to this before the band.
So if someone could explain the results i would be very grateful. As in my opinion the doctors can't sort illness like they can others.

[Barb135]

Forgot to ask what dosage of T3 you've been taking...

[Barb135]

I hadn't noticed, before that you are in U.K and we sometimes find that they are reluctant to give patients their lab reports, but if bothered enough, they will do so.

I don't think you understand how thyroid medicine works in the body.  T4, levothyroxine, is a slower acting med that takes 4-6 weeks to reach full potential in your system.  T3, on the other hand, is fast acting, in that it gets into your system quickly, peaks within 3-4 hours and is gone in a few hours.  If you take it prior to a blood draw, it will give false high readings.  

Additionally, T3 med is, typically, taken in multiple doses (at least 2), throughout the day in order to keep levels steady.  Not taking it correctly, or taking too much, without knowing what you're doing can cause over medication and can easily land you in the hospital.

Since you don't have the reference ranges to the lab results, you don't know where your levels fall within the ranges and that's what determines the need for T3.  Sorry to tell you this, but just reading on the internet that everyone needs T3 med, doesn't make it so.

You have to understand how the thyroid, as well as the meds, work, so you can make intelligent decisions about your treatment. If you learn about the thyroid and talk to your endo, you'll likely have better luck.

If you ask for a copy of the results "for your records", they're likely to give them to you, even if they initially object.  Keep asking!!

[A11NEL]

hi thanks for replying so quickly.  Sorry i think this is the problem they dont give me copies of the bloodwork results. Just these figures that i put up.
Hense my confusion. In answer to your question yes i did take the T3 before the test but I did tell the endo. and he said i should stop it probably for the reasons you said but he just said the blood test wouldn't give true readings if i continued. I might try to get a copy of my report but i bet they will object.

[Barb135]

We need to know the reference ranges for the FT3 and FT4.  Ranges vary lab to lab and have to come from your own report.

Not everyone needs T3 medication and it's very dangerous to self medicate when you don't understand your test results.  You could send yourself into hyper active very easily.

You can only know if you need T3 med, if your FT4 levels are good in the range and your FT3 is lagging way behind.  Had you taken the T3 med, prior to having your blood work done?