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Hashimato's Thyroid ?

Hi there,
according to these test results, do you think I have Hashimato's thyroid ?
Female 54 yrs old
Test                    Result                  Units                  Reference Range
TSH                     4.2                  mIU/I                       0.3-5.5
Free T4                1.8                  ng/dI                        0.7-1.8
Free T3                2.6                  pg/ml                       1.4-4.2
Anti TPO Ab         222.6              IU/ml                        1-16
Anti-Thyroglobulin 134.6              IU/ml                         5-100
Thyroglobulin        0.73                ng/ml                        0.2-70
Ferritin                 211.2              ng/ml                        4-104 (female)


I also have sonography test result. If you want I can upload that too.


Thanks in advance
8 Responses
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Avatar universal
Your high FT4 could be causing hyper symptoms, like weight loss and increased HR.  Of course, there's no way to know that for sure, but I think lowering your meds would help.  

Sorry, I don't know where I was when I was doing my math yesterday.  Your FT3 is actually at 43% of range, which is still low relative to your FT4.  It's quite possible that you are converting fine and just need to get your FT4 down a little.  I'd drop my dose a bit and see if the hyper symptoms go away.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
thank you
do you think I have to blame FT4 for my abnormal weight loss and increased heart rate during nights? I also take metformin (for blood sugar),
losartan (for HBP),osteoporosis meds,atrovastadin (for clostrol).
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
thank you for your informative reply. I've lost weight since last couple of months (from 56 to 48 kg) . do you think I have to blame FT4 for this ?
when I want to sleep I have increased heart rate. I think I have hyper symptoms.
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Avatar universal
Yes, a good part of conversion takes place in the liver, but lesser conversion sites are throughout the body.  

Selenium deficiency can cause conversion problems.  Selenium is necessary fro the conversion of T4 to T3.  Do you know if you live in an area where selenium deficiency is prevalent?  If you supplement selenium, be careful.  Selenium can be toxic in high doses, so follow label directions.

We usually feel better with a better balance of FT4 to FT3 and with FT3 higher in its range than FT4 is in its.  FT4 often has to be about 50% and FT3 50%+.

Your FT4 is at 100%, and FT3 is at 7%.  You need to ask your doctor about lowering your levo a little.  Lowering it might actually raise your FT3 some.  If I were you, I'd ask my doctor to lower my levo dose, retest in 4-5 weeks to see what the change has done to your labs and then decide (once your FT4 is closer to 50%) if you need to add T3 to your meds.

Good luck!
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Avatar universal
thank you for the reply,sorry I don't check my email so often.
I think I have hypo symptoms.
cold hands
tension headaches(sometimes, jaw muscles locks)
lost weight alot (anormal)
sometimes feel a rapid decrease in blood sugar ( I take metformin too) and I eat whatever in nearby.
why my body has conversion problem. shouldn't my liver handle much of conversion?

thanks

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
High FT4 and low FT3 could also be a reverse T3 issue. But more likely it is a conversion issue as that is a bit more common of a situation.

The mineral Selenium is said to help conversion.  But you really don't want too much either so you should consider getting it tested.

You may want to get some other blood tests as well.

Vit D3
Vit B-12
Iron
Ferritin
Selenium

Many times people who are low Thyroid are also low in one or more of these vitamins/minerals.  Also many of these have huge reference ranges.  And many people report they need to be WELL up into the range if not towards the very top.  All bud selenium of those listed above if deficient can cause fatigue. Which is one of the most common symptoms of low thyroid.

As mentioned above, you will want to add a T3 component into your treatment protocol.  In order to do that you will want to reduce your T4 med.  You can get t3 two different ways. One is to add a 2nd synthetic T3 medication the other is to change over to natural dissected thyroid medication.  Since you are already on a T4 medication, you may be better off reducing that dosage and adding a T3 medication rather than a complete change.

you are averaging 75 mcg a day of T4. And that has totally maxed out your FT4 levels.  So again it seems fairly obvious that a conversion problem is going on.

Thyroid 101.  Free T4 is converted in the body into T3.  And the body only uses the free T3 molecule.  A conversion problem can be one of two things.  The first is a simple efficiency problem. That is for whatever reason your body doesn't convert the available T4 into T3 like it should.  Therefore in order to get sufficient FT3 to your body's cells to use, you will need a direct source of T3 since you can not rely on your body to convert the T3.  The other type is where the body for whatever reason (stress is a big factor) converts the T4 into REVERSE T3.  This is a mirror image of the proper Free T3 molecule. But it is biologically inactive.  So while it is there it can't be used.

The fact that your body may be starving for T3 but the fuel tank is completely full of FT4 would tend to suggest you have a conversion problem of the efficiency type, rather than the RT3 type.  Otherwise you'd think that the body would have used up much of the FT4 in attempts to obtain Ft3 but instead only gets RT3. Thus the tank would be empty. But since yours if full.  That would seem to leave only one other option.

Sorry for the rambling.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Both your TPOab and TGab are elevated.  Those are the markers for Hashi's, so, yes, it does look like you have it.

Your FT4 is very high in the range.  It's right at the top of the range.  Usually, people feel better when FT4 is closer to midrange.  On the other hand, your FT3 is low, especially relative to your high FT4.  This indicates slow conversion.  You might feel better with your levothyroxine lowered and a little T3 meds (Cytomel and generics) added in.  

How do you feel?  Hypo of hyper symptoms?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
P.S. I also take levotyroxin on a daily basis. (1 day full tablet, 1 day half tablet) , a tablet is 0.1 mg.
Helpful - 0
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