Please help-think ND is giving wrong information!

[Dawnmarie97]

I have been Hypothyroid for nearly 9 years.  I was put on Levoxyl to start out.  Lab tests continued to be low so doctor kept increasing and then new doctor changed my brand to Levothyroxin.   I went downhill fast.

I was put on Armour 60mg - then 120mg but I was getting a rash from this.  New ND did labs recently and my results:

DHEA Sulfate:  164 (range 25-220mcg/dl) - I am taking 10mg of DHEA daily
Free T4: .6 (range 0.8-1.8 ng/dl)
Free T3: 159 (range 230-420 pg/dl)

*Lab was Quest Diagnostics

My ND was extremely concerned with results and gave me 150mcg of Levothyroxine and 20mcg of T3 (wants me to take T3 twice a day).  My pulse is just racing at 120-140 beats per minute.  My blood pressure was always low but is now elevated.  I feel I am taking too much medicine.  Any help would be very much appreciated!!

[aussiekim]

Hi Dawn, I'm hashimotos and also my daughter (16).  We are still going through a lot of probs with her (lesions, thyroiditis etc), but in my researching I came across information that may suggest that your body is not converting T4 into T3 properly...just check it out.....it couldn't hurt.

[Dawnmarie97]

Thank you Dr. Lupo.  My tsh was extremely low at .01 and my bloodwork was done at 11am.  I will talk with my doctor to see if we can try just T4.

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

You did not post a TSH -- this is more helpful than the T4 (which will be low in patients taking armour or high levels of T3) and the T3 (which will fluctuate significantly depending on timing of labs and med dose).

So, the current dosing is very high -- the equivalent of 230mcg of T4.  It may be necessary, but would be unusual.  With your symptoms of high heart rate, the T3 is the likely culprit and would consider treating with T4 alone and seeing how things go.

Regarding conversion from T4 to T3 - most people (over 99%) do this perfectly fine and there is more hype than truth out there.