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I have no idea why this is happening

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Pandamonium14
Pandamonium14

I was diagnosed as Hypothyroid at the age of 7 and am now 63.    My dose of Throxine was started at 300 mcg which I stayed on until I was pregnant with my first child at age 21, it was then suddenly dropped to 200 mcg which caused huge problems until my body eventually adjusted.   Over the years the dose has been cut down until recently it was set at 100/75 on alternate days.   I just had another blood test to see what is going on only to find that my TSH is now 6.39 and my T4 is 25.9, both readings are raised and everyone is very confused about what to do.   Meanwhile I am suffering terrible bloating and discomfort in my abdomen.    Any thoughts from anyone please 

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • dave64969
    dave64969 Pandamonium14

    Posted

    Yes, get the dose increased again. Don't take no for an answer!

    • Pandamonium14
      Pandamonium14 dave64969

      Posted

      Thanks, but wouldnt increasing my dose again make the T4 levels go up even more?

  • dave64969
    dave64969 Pandamonium14

    Posted

    Agreed your T4 is high, but your TSH indicates low thyroid, so I agree this is confusing. It sounds as if you need other tests to find out what these results are showing.

    Bloating is not one of the more common symptoms of thyroid problems so again, you and your physician might want to look further. What other symptoms do you have that are making you suspect thyroid?

    • Pandamonium14
      Pandamonium14 dave64969

      Posted

      I have had no thyroud function since I was a small child so there is no debate on that. Its just that

      my annual blood test in January flagged up a high T4 level and a low TSH so the dose was adjusted accordingly and now its gone haywire as you can see from the readings i posted first.

      I have had many tests to try and identify the cause of my bloating but they all came back negative so my GP now wonders if the two problems are related somehow.

  • sweetmelissa
    sweetmelissa Pandamonium14

    Posted

     There are a few things that can cause a high TSH and a high T4 level.   The most common is when patients do not take their medication as prescribed.  Say.. you don't take it for a few days and then a day or two before your blood test.. you take a few pills in order to "catch up".  Definitely not saying that you are not taking your meds as prescribed.. just naming things that can cause your situation.  Second thing is (RTH) Resistance to thyroid hormone.  Now this one is pretty rare.  It is a heterogeneous group of disorders caused by mutation in the thyroid hormone receptor (THR) gene.  Third.. your doctor may check your TSH antibody level.  Another thing that can cause your results.. which is the rarest of them all, but worth looking into, is a TSH secreting pituitary tumor.  For this.. your doctor can run other test, one of which includes, FT3 and T3 test.  If you look up Non-surpressed TSH with a high FT4, you will find a lot of useful information.  Hope this helps ..

    • Pandamonium14
      Pandamonium14 sweetmelissa

      Posted

      Thanks Melissa, i can discount the first possible cause as I use a daily pot to make sure i don't forget my tablet - i know its easily done.The other two causes sound a little scary but I will discuss them with my GP as possibilities. Do you know if it makes any difference what time of day i take my tablet?

    • sweetmelissa
      sweetmelissa Pandamonium14

      Posted

      Well.. most people take their medication in the morning because it's just the easiest time to take, as you can't take your pill for 4 hours after eating or 1 hour before eating.  If you take other pills as well, you must wait and not take them with your levothyroxine, as levo has a very sensitive absorbtion rate and most meds and food, can interfere with how much is actually being absorbed.   Some people like to take it at night right before bed to help with any side effects, and is great to do.. again, as long as you have not eaten for about 4 hours before taking it.  I would say 3 is safe though.  I would imagine any other time during the day would just be too hard to take properly and would cause you to have to be on a very high dose, in order to get what you need.  

    • Pandamonium14
      Pandamonium14 sweetmelissa

      Posted

      Ok, thanks for all that info. I have always taken it in the morning but think i might try it at night to see if it makes any difference.

  • TingleandGlow
    TingleandGlow Pandamonium14

    Posted

    Hi, do you know what your free t3 levels are? It could be that your t4 is high because you are not converting it to t3. Increase your selenium, magnesium and potassium levels to help with this. The bloating could also be due to leaky gut which again causes issues with nutrient absorption. You can do autoimmune paleo diet and bone broth to help heal it.

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