too much thyroid meds?

[shestew]

I have been on thyroid meds for about 8 years and my thyroid has been up and down and meds were ok. In Nov.2014 had blood test and tsh was 2.7 with doctors range of (.4-4.50) and the doc said levothroxine  88 mcg was good still good for my tsh level. A few weeks ago I started having anxiety, insomnia, gitters, and felt like heart was beating harder against my chest. Normally I'm a good sleeper so I knew something wasn't right. Went to the doctor to check on my thyroid since I read these can be symtoms of too much thyroid. My new test results were :
T4-10.6 ( docs range 4.5-12.0)--- tsh went up to 3.94 since last test 2 months ago. According to the doc range I'm normal high.  The doc said it was all normal and meds were ok too. My body tells me something different. My question:: Is 88 mcg levothyroxine the right dosage for my thyroid levels or is it too much?

[goolarra]

Do you know if you have Hashi's?  If not, do you know the cause of your hypo?

TSH is really nothing but a screening test for asymptomatic individuals.  Once on meds, it often becomes quite useless.  If that's all your doctor has been testing, I'm surprised you've felt as well as you have for 8 years.  Have you had many meds adjustments in that time?

I was in a similar circumstance to yours.  My labs didn't look hyper (overmedicated), but I was experiencing hyper symptoms.  Now, it can get tricky, because some of the same symptoms can be both hypo and hyper.  I knew what hypo felt like and had been hypo recently enough to know that my symptoms were different (hyper).  Any other symptoms?  Diarrhea?  Elevated BP and/or HR?  

So, while symptoms are very important, knowing FT3 and FT4 levels can help to distinguish hypo from hyper symptoms, when the symptoms can be both.

Your TT4 is on the high side.  However, your TSH, which I take with a grain of salt, is a little high and did go up a bit from November.  That could indicate that while your TT4 is on the high side, you are not converting that T4 to T3 efficiently, and your FT3 could actually be low.

So, the best thing you could do right now is another blood test, this time to include FT3, FT4 and TSH.  While your symptoms definitely speak to me as hyper, I think we really need more information.

Will your doctor order those tests on request?      

[shestew]

This doctor is a general med doctor.

[shestew]

This was the first time I ever had t4 done.

[goolarra]

If you're having hyper symptoms, then it's too much for you.  Not everyone has to be above range in T4 to feel hyper.  Trust your instincts.

Your doctor has ordered total T4, which isn't as good a test as FREE T4.  However, your TT4 is 81% of range, quite a bit above the 50% guideline.  

He didn't order FT3.  

A good thyroid doctor will order FT3 and FT4 every time blood is drawn.  He will also listen to your symptoms.  Did he orderT4 in November?  It would be interesting to compare the two.