Lab Results Help

[bfinger]

Hi All,

I got my labs done last week after lowering my Synthyroid dosage from .100 to .75 because of hyper like symptoms, and then I was off of my medication for about a month now (Doctor's orders) My doctor then prescribed me 30 mg of Armour, so about a 1/2 grain. I've been waiting to take it though till after I got my results. Here they are:

TPO - 15 (0-34)

Thyroglobulin - <1.0

FT4 - 0.98 (0.82-1.77)

FT3 - 2.8 (2.0-4.4)

TSH - 3.28 (0.45-4.5)

Cortisol blood - 18.5 (2.3-19.4)

D - 25.8 (30-100)

Ferritin - 29 (15-150)

My TSH has gone up from 0.45 which I expected because I've been off my Synthyroid for a month now, but I will be starting to take my Armour soon. My doctor also advised me to supplement with vitamin D, but should I also supplement iron since my ferritin was low?

I got super puffy and retained water when they upped my dosage to .100, and the water retention still hasn't gone away, even though I've been off Synthyroid for a month now. I read somewhere else that this could because adding more t4 didn't help me as it the added T4 down regulates T4 to T3 conversion. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Barb135]

Just because your levels are "in range" doesn't mean they are right for you.  We're all different, so of course, being too low in the ranges has an effect on how you feel.  If you aren't converting adequately, it doesn't do any good to to just keep running FT4 higher and higher without adding a source of T3.

Also not sure where you're getting the 0.25 iron - it's usually not dosed that way.  I think a typical dose is around 325 mg/day, but should be supervised by your doctor as too much is just as bad as not enough.  Be sure to get one that doesn't cause constipation.

Don't worry about the questions; we're here to answer them.  Yes, forums are great and we can all learn a lot from them.  There are a lot of us who have to live our lives with hypothyroidism and the best thing to do is learn all you can about it and what works best for you, so you can advocate for yourself.  Make sure you sift through the information and learn what's proven scientifically to work and what hasn't been.  There are a lot of ideas floating around out there that are promoted, even by doctors, that have never been proven scientifically, so beware of statements such as "everyone with hypothyroidism must....." - it probably isn't true.

[bfinger]

It was the ab tests, sorry I forgot to mention that. I think I mistyped the downregulation part, it was on another forum where it was just saying that adding more t4 wasn't helping symptoms, and they needed to add a source of t3. I think that's what my issue was, as increasing my dosage made me feel way worse.

I'm currently taking D, Selenium, Ashwaghanda, C, Magnesium. I'll ask my doctor if I should add .25 iron to increase my levels a bit. Do you think my levels being low but not too low are affecting my thyroid too?

Sorry for all the questions. These forums are way helpful and I wish I would've found them when I got diagnosed a year ago. I'm only 25 and it kinda freaks me out I'll have this whole life of taking meds and living with hypothyroidism ahead of me :/

[Barb135]

Fluid retention is a symptom of being hypothyroid.  Your labs indicate hypo, as would be expected after being off med for a month and even though you've recently stopped birth control, you may not start a normal cycle right away, because lack periods is also a hypo symptom.

Were the TPO and Thyroglobulin actually that or were they antibody tests, as in TPOab and TgAb.  TPO is an enzyme used in the production of thyroid hormones.  TPO is found in thyroid follicle cells where it converts the thyroid hormone T4 to T3.  The thyroglubulin test is used primarily as a tumor marker to evaluate cancer treatment. Typically, it's the antibodies to TPO and Tg that are tested, as they are the markers for Hashimoto's.

I'm not sure where you read that adding more T4 down regulate T4 to T3 conversion.  That's not correct.  Some of us simply don't convert adequately and have to add a separate source of T3, either via a dessicated hormone such as Armour or a synthetic such as cytomel or its generic.

You should definitely talk to your doctor about supplementing the iron.  While there's some controversy about what the exact level should be, the very minimum is 50 and the level should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-80 and some say higher.  Ferritin is necessary for the conversion of FT4 to the usable FT3.  Iron is best taken under the supervision of your doctor, but that isn't always possible, because some doctors believe that "in range" is good enough.

[bfinger]

I'm a female. I actually haven't had my period for two months because I just stopped my birth control after taking it for 5 years and I'm waiting for my cycle to regulate itself again.

[scaredandconfused84]

Are you male or female? If you are female and got the test done before your period or during that is why your iron is low. I had the same problem.