# Lab question



## brismom (Jul 7, 2011)

Hi all. I finished my RAI and body scan recently and just got the good news that there was no evidence of distant metastatic disease. At the same time I received the following lab results. I tried taking a look at the web sites that were posted but I really didn't quite understand everything.

TSH. 0.587. 0.358-3.740
T4,free. 1.5. 0.8-1.5
T3, total. 0.6.(low). 0.7-1.9
Anti-thyroglobulin. 19. 0-114

I am currently on levothyroxine 112 mcg. Would anything shown above make the endo want to change my medication dosage?

Thanks very much for your help, as always.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

How do you feel?

I think those labs make a pretty strong case for adding t3. Your free t4 is high and your free t3 is low. Both usually make you feel crummy.

Congrats on the clean scan!


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## brismom (Jul 7, 2011)

I don't feel any worse than I did before unless I just got used to it. Lol

Is adding T3 why some of you guys take more than one pill?


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> T4,free. 1.5. 0.8-1.5
> T3, total. 0.6.(low). 0.7-1.9


Total 3 tends to tract with Free T-3 and you clearly are not converting properly.

I for one feel horrible when my FT-4 is top of range as yours is.

I would suggest you speak to your doctor about adding 5mcg of Cytomel and reducing your Levothyroxine to possibly 100mcg or lower. With a high Ft-4 range, you will likely feel the "impact" of Cytomel when you add it. It might be a good idea to break the 5mcg pill in 1/2 to begin and take 6 hours apart. If you do npt reduce your levthyroxine and simply add the Cytomel your FT-4 will go even higher so you should reduce and test both FT-4 and Ft-3 in 4-6 weeks after adding Cytomel.


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## brismom (Jul 7, 2011)

Thanks for your advice. I will call my endo on Monday to make sure they have seen my results.


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## brismom (Jul 7, 2011)

Called my endo and he didn't want to change anything. Made an appt with a new endo and the only change she made was to up me to 125. I am going to try to give her the benefit of the doubt and try the new dosage for the two months until I see her again.


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## brismom (Jul 7, 2011)

I was finally able to talk the endo into 5 mcg of cytomel. Hopefully this will help. She remarked that it is "controversial". Come on!


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> She remarked that it is "controversial".


That is exactly what my DO told me. I arrived at his office already taking Cytomel so he let it be and continues to prescribe and even raised the dose early in our relationship.

If you feel hyper of feel anxious when adding the Cytomel you should break your pill and spread throughout your day - it will take time for your body to get used to it. I failed in my first attempt in taking it - my second attempt was 2 years after the first and it worked.

Be sure to insist on Free T-4 and Free T-3 when having labs and adjust doses accordingly. Since they did not reduce your levothyroxine - it is my opinion you will need a reduction at your next lab after you've added the Cytomel because FT-4 will tick up a but and you are already at top range. Your TSH will likely completely suppress once Cytomel is added.


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