Yes I have made an appointment for a consult with a DO who is hypothyroid himself, and takes Armour . I'll see him in about 2 weeks.
I personally like the idea of lowering your Armour and adding in T4 med.
But that is just my opinion.
I think the FT3 level is likely not that high for you as you live your day. You had the blood draw at about the exact hight and peak of the T3 medication.
Yes T4 is storage hormone, but you need enough of it so that your body can convert it into T3 as it needs it. Also remember that throughout the night your body has very little T3. Then you ramp it up throughout the day and then the roller coaster down through the night. If your body had T4 available, then your own body could help minimize these peaks and valleys a little more. Even between dosages if need be.
You said that you are unsure of going against the Dr's orders. Well generally that is good advice. But you also have to ask yourself is your Dr fixing and addressing your concerns? It appears not. So it may be time to do something different. Have you considered looking for another Dr for a 2nd opinion?
Just some thoughts and theories to consider.
I've thought about taking my lab draws before meds. thank you. Just wasn't sure if I should go against what my doctor expects. I will email him and make sure. There are different schools of thought on the subject. Also, I feel like I'm sensitive to t3. If he raises the armour dose enough to increase my Ft4, my Ft3 could be off the top of the range....not good for me. I have asked him to consider letting me lower my armour and adding some t4. So far it has been no. He says T4 is merely storage and not nearly as important as T3. Yes. I am splitting my dose actually 3xdaily 15mg. The last one is at 2:00pm. Ahmee, I started a thread. The link is listed by Barb just a few posts above. It has more of my history. Thank you again.
I would avoid taking thyroid meds before the blood draw. Even if it's 4 hours after, T3 will still be active and inflate test results as you said, and we won't be able to get a good idea of where you're actually at. Furthermore, your doctor will probably be hesitant to recommend a raise seeing inflated T3, but judging by FT4 you may in fact benefit from a raise in dose. As gimel mentioned, it is also very important to split dessicated into two or more doses during the day for best effect. T3 is short-acting and will spike and wear off long before the end of the day if it's only taken in the morning.
Just to save some work and confusion, here's a link to the thread that Napzzz referred to, in which labs were listed:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Thyroid-Disorders/Here-are-my-labs-Do-you-think-Im-converting/show/1993821#post_9409199
Another thought for you. I have a link to an article listing over 300 symptoms that can be related to hypothyroidism. Among them are the following:
Pain:
Migraines
Chronic headaches
Chronic back and loin pain
Wrist pain
Muscles and joint pain
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (hands or forearms)
Tarsal Tunnel syndrome (legs)
Joint stiffness
Tendonitis
Heel spur
Plantar fasciitis
Arthritis
Gout
Painful soles of feet
Muscle cramps
Aching bones
Aching muscles
Joint pain
TMJ
Fibromyalgia
So, even though your Free T3 result is high enough that it should not be a problem, the tests were done 4 hours after taking your med, which is the peak effect for the T3 portion. So, your FT3 would be at highest level. Also, do you split your dose and take 1/2 in the morning and the other half in the afternoon? If not, that would further inflate your FT3 result.
Another possibility is that you might have a high Reverse T3. A high RT3 can cause hypo symptos. Have you been tested for that? If not, I recommend for you. Also, have you been tested for Vitamin D, B12 (as mentioned by ahmee) and ferritin? If so, please post. If not, it would be a good idea to do so.
Thanks for your reply ahmee my recent labs as of 7-12-13:
Ft3 4.3 (1.8-4.6)
Ft4- 0.98 (0.9-1.7)
TSH- 2.22 (.27-4.2)
B12 -779 (180-914)
The thyroid panel was taken 4 hours AFTER my hormones. I know it gives an inflated T3 but that is how my doctor has been doing it. I have another post on this site showing all of this.
The reason I posted here is because sidneywoot was having foot pain calf tightness in response to Armour (or what appears to be). This is my BIG PROBLEM!!! too and why I joined this board to begin with. I am dealing OK with the other multiple side effects of Armour but FOOT and CALF pain is terrible and affecting my life badly. I'm athletic! But not anymore. Please tell me you have heard of this or direct me somewhere about it. My thyroid doctor is in denial, went to a podiatrist...atypical plantar fasciitis. The only thing that correlates is the thyroid treatment. One day 4 weeks ago this problem just started both feet and both legs. See thyroid doc next week. New labs tomorrow. Starting to get to me.
You may want to consider trying a different brand of dessicated (NP by Acella, Naturethroid, Westhroid-P is a new one with few fillers, just to name a few). This may reveal whether the problem is the brand of dessicated and its inactive ingredients. What are your most recent lab results for Free T3 and Free T4, along with reference ranges? It would also be good to know where your vitamin B12 is at as a deficiency may be a contributing factor.
I have had calf pain on Armour plus severe plantar fasciitis both feet. I am on 45mg for 14 weeks now and don't feel like I am handling the high levels of T3 either. I wasn't terribly hypothyroid to begin with. It has been hard to find anyone with this SAME problem in all of my searches. This is very incapacitating!!! It is the most significant problem I have in trying to take these hormones. I'm unable to exercise so therefore am gaining weight!! Weight hasn't been an issue for me being hypothyroid just fatigue and skin problems until now. I know this is an old post. Hope you're still out there sidneywoot and that you have found an answer.
I couldn't handle Armour not could.
I am whafiling back and forth because my doctor is saying you don't have a RT3 problem but a conversion problems. I guess what I need to do is stick with his plan run the test in two weeks and go from thier as he put it I will start chasing my tail if I am trying to treat myself.
In my heart I stronly feel the a straight T3 would be the right thing to do for six weeks I feel this was the reason I could handle taking Armour. I am still confused however why my calfs would hurt and it seems its when I have more T3 in my system. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this.
I also know by taking T3 this would give my Adrenals a charge up and rest. I still however need to stick with the program.
Stella and Laura,
I couldn't agree more I am going on (not today) tomorrow a complete T3 and hope I survive because my feelings are that if I take T4 that will only become RT3 so if its only T3 then it can't produce any RT3. I think this is the way to go please let me know if you think their is a reason this shouldn't be the case my fingers a crossed. The other fear is the Adrenal them selves shutting down without T4. I am a praying.
Oh - TSH supression will still be there with T3 treatment too.
but......... ( Love ya Laura) - If it IS a RT3 issue and she is still pumping T4 into the body then her levels for Free T3 will drop even more - causing her more problems.
After a whole year bouncing around with my Free T3 and seeing that I improve for a certain amount of time then drop again some with no weight loss ---
I called yesterday myself to get RT3 done. I thought - What the heck?? I might as well take advantage of seeing IF the RT3 is an issue. I will be getting it Monday.
You mention weight as an issue and fact is - that taking a T3 Cytomel- or Armour SHOULD help with that if you are not having a RT3 issue. If you are not seeing some decrease at all - AS I - it doesn't hurt to have RT3 labs.
Your low Free T3 could indicate a RT3 issue. especially if you are on cytomel.
The connection with RT3 is Lepitin - a metobolism hormone - so if you are storing your Free T3's in RT3 components, we can pump any amount of T3 in us and still gain weight! If the lepitin is blocked by RT3 we are still suffering.
Run the test... if you find out RT3 is high then T4 meds is a no - no for 6 to 8 weeks
If you are having a conversion issue, then you need to take a t3 med with your t4 med as your doctor has put you on. There are many reasons for conversion issues...especially with women and our hormones. You also need t4 med increase with a level that low.
Yeah, that is what I said. No he didn't test my RT3 and he believes as well that its a conversion problem and I have had this problem from the get go but no one addressed it as he has. What causes a conversion issue and what can I do best to correct it?
Most often it is due to a conversion issue not a reverse t3 issue. Did your dr test your reverse t3 to see if this is the case?
You said your free t4 level is .39??? That is low.