Help understanding latest blood test

I'm no scientist so I can't tell you for a fact how any of these meds work in the body but I did believe my psychiatrist when he told me that about the conversion. Based on my taking both drugs separately and how I felt on them, I felt normal on T3 but not on T4. I did not feel good on T4 at all and wouldn't thank you for it. My cousin who had thyroid cancer and had her thyroid removed is not getting energy from T4 despite taking a higher than average dose. I can understand that. Her Endo made her decrease the dose and will not give her T3 because he says it acts quickly on the body and then goes. That was not my experience on T3. I did not feel jolts and then less energy but mind you I had an active thyroid with my own hormones at the time and no Graves.

I had to stop the T3 completely when I got diagnosed with Graves. I checked with the psychiatrist who prescribed it originally if any of his patients got Graves from taking it and he said not at all.

My thyroid antibodies are gone now and that happened with the addition of the L-carnitine.

Linda, how much T3 were you on when you got the Graves? and did you get to taper off, or did you have to stop it all at once?

I had the Graves' before I was diagnosed with any other thyroid problem. It was very difficult to get treated for the low free T3 and hypothyroid symptoms I had after going off the anti thyroid treatment. Now that I go to an Endocrinologist again, it is the same thing. I am told to get off the LT3, (as well as the LT4.)

I wanted the T3 because I knew it was fast acting, and fast leaving. I noticed it acting practically immediately when I started, but it may have been because I was very low to begin with. And even knowing it has a half-life of about 24 hours, my symptoms were not nearly so bad 48 hours after taking the first 1/2 pill as they were before I ever took any. (I liked it, and felt I needed it, but thought 2.5 mcg was overkill, so I let it go longer before taking another dose, which was 1/4 pill that time.)

I believe there are patients and conditions when the T4 is not well converted if at all, including myself and my sister, but I have never heard of T3 being converted to T4, and know that the T4 to T3 conversion is what is mostly talked about in the scientific literature I have read and what the doctors expect to have happen.

I was on 2.5 mcg but when I got my lab results showing elevated T3 and T4, I stopped it altogether.

Linda, I see. You are right, that would not be too big of a step down for most people.

Why were you on T4 and then T3 if you weren't hypothyroid after Graves'?

I was never on T3 or T4 AFTER I was diagnosed with Graves. I took a small dose of T3 for many years when I had a normal thyroid. It was given to me to boost the action of the antidepressant I was on. This particular antidepressant had horrible side effects if you took a therapeutic dose and by combining the T3 with a low dose of it, you got the desired effects without the side effects.

At one point when I was on it, my gynecologist suggested I take a T3/T4 combination or Synthroid. He may have tried both but I didn't take it for more than 1 or 2 days. When I did, my psychiatrist/psychopharmacologist told me "Tell him to call me", that T4 worsens depression and that T3 converts to T4 but not the other way around.

Ok, I guess I remember you told me that before. sorry.

I guess the side effect of the antidepressant was to lower the thyroid... ???

No the antidepressant had nothing to do with the thyroid. It was prescribed for depression. This particular antidepressant while very effective as an antidepressant at a therapeutic dose also had side effects that made it difficult to take a therapeutic dose.

It was known that T3 could work with the antidepressant to cause a lower dose of antidepressant to work as effectively as a higher dose but without the side effects. So the T3 was prescribed to boost the action of the antidepressant and had nothing to do with my thyroid. I was on it for 14 years without any detrimental effect to my thyroid. I had normal thyroid results.

I developed Graves because of a period o stress at work. I checked with the psychiatrist who prescribed the meds originally and asked him if any of his patients had Graves as a result of taking this combination and he said he had not heard of any of his patients having this happen to them.

I think the fact that I had normal thyroid tests for14 years is fairly indicative that it was not the meds that cased my Graves.

Ok. I have known that depression is a side effect of low thyroid and that some antidepressants have side effects of lowering the thyroid function as well. I wasn't suggesting that it caused Graves, although I wouldn't rule out the possibility that having untreated low thyroid for a long time might lead to Graves, or that the antidepressants could affect the pituitary in lowering TSH which would make hypothyroidism less detectable.

My thyroid tests were absolutely normal before taking T3 and during the time I took it with the antidepressant for 13 or 14 years. The T3 was not given for any thyroid reasons whatsoever but only for causing the antidepressant to do its job better with no side effects. In Psychiatry, the combination of the two drugs was used for many years for this reason. My depression had nothing whatsoever to do with my thyroid. It was due to other reasons. Sometimes in Medicine they use drugs "off label" which means they use a drug that was made for one purpose for another purpose entirely. This is a case of using T3 "off label" for another purpose other than to treat thyroid disorders.

Ok.

Screwball I don't know if you are still watching this thread but I just got some Acetyl L-Carnitine from Dolphin Fitness online. They do regular L-Carnitine as well and were pretty competitive on price when I was shopping around. They offer free delivery but it takes a few days to come through.

Thank you Karen; I will check them out. Holland and Barrett did eventually get me some and I have been taking it for two weeks now. It would certainly worth comparing prices though especially if it is with free delivery. I just need to see what happens at my next blood test to see if there is any improvement in my TSH.

TSH ref value 0.4-6ulU/ml

FT4 ref value 0.8-2.0 ng/ml

Results:

TSH  2.914

FT4   1.569