treating subclinical hypothyroidism with synthroid

[Mprtz]

Does anyone have any experience or concrete info on how to go about this? Pre-treatment TSH levels are around 4.2 (0.45 to 4.5). Some low thyroid symptoms are evident.

Dosage was started at 75mcg and slowly increased to full replacement dose as there were no felt effects (good or bad). Replacement dose calculated to be 125mcg.

This dose, however resulted in crushed TSH levels on testing and synthroid was discontinued.

No doctor. Only synthroid is available. Scold if you must, but constructive input from those with experience would be most appreciated.

 

[3J]

so you self medicated????

 

[Megatron28]

How much time passes. T4 takes a long time to build up.

And what were your numbers at when you got blood work?

 

[Mprtz]

It's not me, but someone I know.

Results after some weeks were:
TSH 0.037 LOW 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL
T4,Free(Direct) 2.27 HIGH 0.82-1.77 ng/dL

Clearly too high a dose... and I've read that synthroid has a narrow therapeutic window.

What confuses me is the total lack of perceived effect.

 

[Megatron28]

What were the person's symptoms prior to treatment?

 

[Mprtz]

fatigue, weight gain, dry skin

 

[halfwit]

It honestly depends on WHY their TSH was so high. I'd get a FT3 to see what's going on, once the synthroid is completely out of their system. Some folks just lose the ability to convert T4 to T3 (iodine deficiency can be the cause, or D3), in which case T4 will do absolutely nothing for them.

I would also look at the adrenals - the thyroid and adrenal glands go hand in hand, and one typically will have a strong impact on the other.

My .02c

 

[Mprtz]

It honestly depends on WHY their TSH was so high. I'd get a FT3 to see what's going on, once the synthroid is completely out of their system. Some folks just lose the ability to convert T4 to T3 (iodine deficiency can be the cause, or D3), in which case T4 will do absolutely nothing for them.

I would also look at the adrenals - the thyroid and adrenal glands go hand in hand, and one typically will have a strong impact on the other.

My .02c

Baseline from before starting T4:

Thyroid Profile II
TSH 4.080 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL
Thyroxine (T4) 5.3 4.5-12.0 ug/dL
T3 Uptake 32 24-39 %
Free Thyroxine Index 1.7 1.2-4.9
Triiodothyronine (T3) 86 71-180 ng/dL

Those are all the values I have.

 

[Megatron28]

Baseline from before starting T4:

Thyroid Profile II
TSH 4.080 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL
Thyroxine (T4) 5.3 4.5-12.0 ug/dL
T3 Uptake 32 24-39 %
Free Thyroxine Index 1.7 1.2-4.9
Triiodothyronine (T3) 86 71-180 ng/dL

Those are all the values I have.

He should probably bring for the more expensive Thyroid Panel if he is going to be self-treating.

 

[Alpin]

Spoke to few docs that said FT3 means way more than TSH when it comes to treating thyroid. Sure TSH is important....
But your thyroid could be working harder and still have ample FT3.

 

[Alpin]

How are you taking the synthtoid?
Empty stomach first thing in morning?
All at once dosing?

 

[Alpin]

There's a guy online that is really knowledgeable when it comes to thyroid. I read where guys took their am temp for a week and if below 36.7 for a few days consecutively...
They went on iodine replenishment therapy at relatively high doses and after a few weeks all their symptoms disappeared...

 

[halfwit]

Baseline from before starting T4:

Thyroid Profile II
TSH 4.080 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL
Thyroxine (T4) 5.3 4.5-12.0 ug/dL
T3 Uptake 32 24-39 %
Free Thyroxine Index 1.7 1.2-4.9
Triiodothyronine (T3) 86 71-180 ng/dL

Those are all the values I have.

That screams iodine and/or tyrosine deficiency to me. It would have been nice to see a free T3 result while on the synthroid though. Has hypogonadism been looked at as well? The thyroid underutilizing T4 can happen in a low testosterone environment.

 

[Mprtz]

Any recommendations on which privatemdlabs package for this?