Am I overmedicated? I honestly can't tell.

[Sunshine_67]

I know that sounds dumb, but I'm not feeling shaky, no heart palps, not overly tired. The only symptoms I'm having that are making me wonder are that I'm losing more hair in the shower, sometimes I feel warmer in the afternoon, I have more inflammation in my throat and sinuses and my boobs hurt. My basal temp is still below 97.7 (this morning it was 96.5) and my bp is still normal. I'm currently on 100mg Tirosint and 20mg Cytomel and just started 10mg HC. I don't know what to think.

[Sunshine_67]

I've only seen this doctor twice, but I got the feeling she doesn't like it when her patients act like they know more than she does. She did saliva testing for 8 years and suddenly decided blood testing was more accurate. I disagree, but I have no more money to find another doctor, so for now I'm stuck with her. I'm working with another doctor for thyroid, but she doesn't know anything about hormones. So changing everything all at once hasn't helped, but I was off hormones for 2 months already and was afraid to be off them longer. Also, estrogen levels change depending on what day of the month you have them taken. I told her I"ve had them checked 3 times recently and they ranged from 50, 90 and 250, but I guess anything above 20 to her is high enough. I'm not having hot flashes either so I'm not menopausal.

[gimel]

As we all know here on the forum, just being within the so-called "normal" range frequently is inadequate.  The ranges are typically too broad to be functional.  Maybe you need to find for your doctor, some info about the best levels for the  hormones in question, in order to avoid being told they are "normal", nothing further needed.  

[Sunshine_67]

Thanks, that's interesting. My ferritin has actually gone up and down over the years. Once when it was over 80 I was still having the same hypo like symptoms and had high RT3. I think my RT3 is fine now though. The lab did the wrong test last time so I'll have it rechecked in a couple months.

As far as the hormones go, the only reason my doc even put me on any hormone supplements is because I'm still having bone loss. She only goes by blood tests, which I've read that saliva is best for testing estrogen and progesterone, but she won't hear of it. I'm afraid if my levels are still normal when I get them rechecked in Sept, she'll take me off all hormones. I've been on hormone replacement since I was 17 when a gyno tested my hormones because I hadn't started my period yet. I was diagnosed with osteo in my early 30's, so how can my estrogen suddenly be normal at the age of 45 when it's been low my whole life?

[gimel]

I think I would be more suspicious of the dose change for estrogen and progesterone.  Probably a good idea to discuss with your doctor.

I do think you will find this info I found to be interesting in light of your ferritin level.  


"I  frequent another board where the role of iron in the metabolism of thyroid hormone is discussed. Along with selenium, iodine, L-tyrosine, zinc and other vitamins/minerals/amino acids, iron plays an important role in the conversion of the less inactive T4 form of thyroid hormone to the more bio-active T3 form.

I've seen iron discussed a bit on this board but not so much about ferritin . I thought you might be interested in what I found. Ferritin levels often begin dropping before serum iron levels become critically low or before full-blown anemia becomes apparent.

Many hypothyroid patients find that having good ferritin levels improves their use of thyroid hormone (their own body's or supplemented). The range of 70-90 is quoted as optimal for hypothyroid patients. Someone on another board asked me if I knew of any research she could show her doctor to support this. He wanted her to stop supplementing iron when she raised her ferritin from 17 to 44.

Here's some of the research I found that suggests a minimal ferritin
range of 50-70 and an optimal range for hypothyroid treatment of 70-90. I have read that in Dr. Gillespie's book, "You're Not Crazy, It's Your Hormones", she advises a ferritin level of around 100. I haven't read her book, so I can't confirm the research basis for her recommendation, but the experience of many hypothyroid patient certainly bear her out.

Improving ferritin levels can be beneficial for both reducing or eliminating hair loss & unexplained fatigue. Both of those are also frequently associated with hypothyroidism."  

[Sunshine_67]

TSH .008 (.35-4.5)
FT3 4.0 (2.3-4.2)
FT4 1.54 (.80-1.80)

Vit. D 88 (?? range)
B12 633 (200-1100)
Ferritin 47 (10-232)

I always take my thyroid meds after my labs. I also have hormone imbalances and cortisol imbalances, so I don't know if this is all thyroid or not. I just know that these new symptoms started after taking more cytomel and changing my estrogen and progesterone doses.

[gimel]

Please post and date the latest of your thyroid test results and their reference ranges.  Also, since you are taking T3, did you take your Cytomel before or after the tests?  Have you been tested for Vitamin A, D, B12, and ferritin?  If so, please post those along with reference ranges as well.