does the weather effect thyroid medication needs

[leather27]

hi am hypo with a tsh of 2.5, i am on 100g of thyroxine but still feel its underactive ,i have really cold hands and feet ,i have to drag myself out of bed at 11 pm in the morning i can still fall asleep in the afternoon though i can remember anything and cant concentrate,i have been back to my gp and she says i am on the right dose and wont do further tests as 2.5 is very good .i would like to know if you need more thyroxine in the winter months and this is why i feel so rotten,hope someone can help as i feel like putting my meds up by 25g daily    thanks and i hope to get some good replys from you as you seem to help more than my gp

[flyingfool]

By the way.

A TSH of 2.5 is normally listed as the upper limit of the reference range.  Many people do not feel well until their TSH is below 1.  But each person is different.

The critical values are not TSH.  But the Free T3 and Free T4. And of course your symptoms.  Most people seem to report feeling well when the FT4 is in the upper 1/3 of the reference range and the FT3 is in the upper half.  But again, everyone is different.

[flyingfool]

If you live particularly in the northern climates in the winter the amount of vitamin D is really low in a lot of people that can give you fatigue etc.  This is because the sun on the human skin creates Vit D.  Of course with the shorter days (less sun) and the fact that you are almost always covered, the amount of Vit D the sun produces is almost non existent.  

SAD's (seasonal attitude disorder I think) is fairly common.  They used to just call it "cabin fever" or the winter blues.  But taking a Vit D supplement can help.  I know I felt better in the winter when I started taking vit D.  Also it is common for people who are low thyroid to also be low in Vit D.

You definitely need to get the blood tests to check your T3 & T4 levels.

I think I've read somewhere on this site that the dosage of their Thyroid meds has to be raised a little due to the winter and lowered again in the spring.  Every person is different.

[gimel]

Trying to diagnose and treat a thyroid patient by TSH alone is just wrong.  TSH is a pituitary hormone that is affected by so many variables that at best it is only an indicator, to be considered along with more important indicators such as symptoms, and also the levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones, which are free T3 and free T4.  FT3 is the most important because it largely regulates metabolism and many other body functions.  Scientific studies have also shown that FT3 levels correlated best with hypo symptoms, while FT4 and TSH did not correlate very well at all.

A good thyroid doctor is one that will treat you clinically, by adjusting FT3 and FT4 levels as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not test results.  Many members here have reported that symptom relief for them required that FT3 was adjusted into the upper part of its range and FT4 adjusted to at least midpoint of its range.  

So the first thing I suggest is to get tested for FT3 and FT4, along with TSH.  If the doctor resists then you should insist on it and don't take no for an answer.  Remember that you are the customer.  While there you need to also discuss the inadequacy of TSH as a diagnostic and find out if the doc is going to be willing to treat you clinically, as I described above.  If not, then you will need to find a good thyroid doctor that will do so.

I don't know with the NHS what options you have for getting another doctor.  We have heard many horror stories about the difficulty of finding a good thyroid doctor in the UK.  I was given the name of one in Edwinstowe Mansfield.  If that is of interest to you, I'll be glad to provide the name.  

In your discussions with your doctor he might be impressed with the info in this scientific study.  The conclusions are in disagreement with the policies of the NHS on thyroid testing, but maybe it might get through to him anyway.

http://sz0102.ev.mail.comcast.net/service/home/~/FraserNoTesting.pdf?auth=co&loc=en_US&id=135360&part=3&disp=a

If that link doesn't work, try this one.       http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1341585/

If the doctor bothers to read the link he will find in there this conclusion, based on their extensive testing.  " We consider that biochemical tests of thyroid function are of
little, if any, value clinically in patients receiving thyroxine
replacement. Most patients are rendered euthyroid by a daily dose
of 100 or 150 ,tg of thyroxine. Further adjustments to the dose
should be made according to the patient's clinical response."