Vince's Thyroid Labs from 8/29/2018

[Vince]

My labs were done 12 hours after I took my meds. Thyroid protocol Synthroid 62.5mcg and Liothyronine 37.5 mcg. I also take Tiomel 25mcg in the afternoon, these labs were done before that dose.

 

[dnfuss]

My labs were done 12 hours after I took my meds. Thyroid protocol Synthroid 62.5mcg and Liothyronine 37.5 mcg. I also take Tiomel 25mcg in the afternoon, these labs were done before that dose.

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How do you feel? All things being equal, if those were my labs I would consider asking my doctor to up my Synthroid considerably. What does your doctor think?

 

[Vince]

How do you feel? All things being equal, if those were my labs I would consider asking my doctor to up my Synthroid considerably. What does your doctor think?

I see my doctor on Tuesday. The issue I have with increasing my Synthroid, will it increase my reverse T3?

 

[dnfuss]

I see my doctor on Tuesday. The issue I have with increasing my Synthroid, will it increase my reverse T3?

I've never subscribed to the notion that rt3 must be beaten into submission (somewhat similar to the case of e2 in trt). My view is closer to that of the sponsor of the Tired Thyroid site. Alleviate symptoms and try to have both free t3 and free t4 usually somewhere between 2/3 and 90% of their respective ranges and at a similar relative level (and not to stress too much about rt3 unless you're trying to figure out why your protocol isn't working, in which case rt3 lab could provide helpful clues). For most patients with thyroid issues that will likely require some combination of levothyroxine/liothyronine. In my case the ratio that works seems to be about 9:1, which is similar to the typical ratio of t4 to t3 in the human thyroid. Some people need to have relatively more levothyroxine, some need relatively more liothyronine. A few need exclusively one or the other.

 

[Vince]

I've never subscribed to the notion that rt3 must be beaten into submission (somewhat similar to the case of e2 in trt). My view is closer to that of the sponsor of the Tired Thyroid site. Alleviate symptoms and try to have both free t3 and free t4 usually somewhere between 2/3 and 90% of their respective ranges and at a similar relative level (and not to stress too much about rt3 unless you're trying to figure out why your protocol isn't working, in which case rt3 lab could provide helpful clues). For most patients with thyroid issues that will likely require some combination of levothyroxine/liothyronine. In my case the ratio that works seems to be about 9:1, which is similar to the typical ratio of t4 to t3 in the human thyroid. Some people need to have relatively more levothyroxine, some need relatively more liothyronine. A few need exclusively one or the other.

I would like to have my reverse 3 under 15, but I believe I'll never get it there. It may be from donating blood which I no longer do. But I really don't want to get my iron levels checked because I'm not going to supplement with iron. I don't want my HCT to rise and have to start donating blood again.

 

[dnfuss]

I would like to have my reverse 3 under 15, but I believe I'll never get it there. It may be from donating blood which I no longer do. But I really don't want to get my iron levels checked because I'm not going to supplement with iron. I don't want my HCT to rise and have to start donating blood again.

I hear you. I crashed my ferritin by donating blood. I'm now cautiously supplementing with low-dose iron while keeping an eye on hematocrit and hemoglobin. So far, so good, but yes, it's a delicate balance.

You might want to consider pulling your ferritin and other iron labs, and if they're indeed less than optimum consult with your doctor about the risk/benefit of a very conservative protocol to improve them with regular labs for monitoring your trends. As you've alluded to, managing hypothyroidism is extremely difficult, if not ineffective, with suboptimal iron labs.

 

[Canada878]

What’s your most recent iron/ferritin labs? My ferritin was at 70 a few months back. Been supplementing iron since then and holy man did it ever help me feel better. I’m still not 100% but it made a huge difference. Still waiting to see what my new ferritin numbers say however

 

[Joey786]

Did you speak with your dr about your results Vince?