# Possible Hashimoto's and Roaming around in the dark



## Rachinator87 (Feb 21, 2013)

Hello everyone i am new here to this forum and am super excited to be here. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 4 or 5 years ago(my aunt has it and so does my mom). I have been on medicine since i was diagnosed and this past year i have felt like crap, back to the original symptoms and i get tired every day about mid day regardless of how much i sleep. I also had a bout of insomnia. 
Now i don't have health insurance so i've been going to a urgent clinic that is affordable and they refill my prescriptions and take blood and do labs. The doctors have told me i might have hashimotos. and they just keep raising my dosage but its not working. 
I finally have an appointment with a endocrinologist and i am so excited. I did some research online and found all these foods i shouldn't be eating and that i should be eating 5 small meals a day and i feel like i have been roaming around in the dark when it comes to my hypothyroidism. I really just wanna get down to the bottom of it and start feeling better. i have a list of questions i am going to ask and i wanna make sure i don't leave out anything.

1. Levo vs. other medications like synthroid
2. small meals vs. 3 large meals
3. best vitamins 
4. t3 plus t4 
Thanks so much for listening


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Do you have copies of the labs they have run on you? If so please post with ranges.

The best labs to dose by are Free T-4 and Free T-3.

What is your current dose of replacement?


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## Rachinator87 (Feb 21, 2013)

I'm at 175 mg levo
the most recent lab here are the results:
TSH w/reflex to TF4 >150.0 H
T4, Free .2L

I have no idea what any of that means though


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Your TSH is 150 while you are on 175 mcg of levothyroxine?! Yikes. Something is up here. You should be getting your Free T3, Free T4, and Reverse T3 tested. Also, get antibodies such as Thyroglobulin Ab and TPO Ab's tested. If you can, get TSI (Thyroid Stimulating *Immunoglobulin*, not to be confused with TSH) tested. And an ultrasound for a baseline is probably a great idea. FYI: Beware the doctors who only dose your medications by TSH alone. The Free T3 and Free T4 tests are crucial.

1. Levothyroxine and Synthroid are interchangeable. One is just a generic term for the hormone (and used on generic drugs), while drugs like Synthroid, Levoxyl, Tirosint, etc. are brand-name. Stick with brand names if you can; generics can vary in potency (up to plus/minus 10%) and manufacturer. Most knowledgeable docs and pharmacists will steer you to brand names for consistency. And that is the key; being consistent.

2. Small meals can be easier on your body and especially your blood sugar. Also look into Paleo. It's more of a lifestyle than a diet plan. Basically, it's how folks ate for thousands of years. Also investigate going gluten-free; it's an all-or-nothing approach, but some of us here have a nasty gluten intolerance, or have Celiac disease (not one in the same). There is testing you can do for both.

3. Best vitamins -- ask your doc to test you for things like Vitamin D-25, B-12, Ferritin, etc. Chances are you are low in some of those. Also, Selenium is supposed to be good for quieting the antibodies as well as encouraging conversion of T4->T3 in the body. Stay away from big box store vitamins and supplements; the quality is usually lesser. Thorne, Now Foods, New Chapter, Carlson's, Source Naturals, Jarrow -- these are all good brands. You typically get what you pay for with vitamins and supplements; cheaper is not usually better.

4. Taking T3 with T4 can be done a few different ways. One way is to simply add a small dose of T3 (such as Cytomel) to your existing T4 (aka levothyroxine) medication. Most folks start with around 5 mcg of T3. You may wish to drop your T4 dose a little, as T3 is *four times* as potent as T4. The other way is to switch to a desiccated product such as Armour or Nature-Throid. (Docs are squeamish about these, but there is nothing to worry about, they are USP pharmaceuticals, too.) The desiccated products are dosed in "grains" and contain a fixed ratio of T4 & T3 in a single pill. The last way to get T4 and T3 is to have a compounding pharmacy make you a medication themselves, which means you can tweak the ratios if you and your doc feel it is necessary.


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Rachinator87 said:


> I'm at 175 mg levo
> the most recent lab here are the results:
> TSH w/reflex to TF4 >150.0 H
> T4, Free .2L
> ...


Please post the lab ranges, too. Thanks in advance!


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## Rachinator87 (Feb 21, 2013)

TSH w/reflex to TF4 >150.0 H
T4, Free .2L

That is all that is on the lab results


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Rachinator87 said:


> I'm at 175 mg levo
> the most recent lab here are the results:
> TSH w/reflex to TF4 >150.0 H
> T4, Free .2L
> ...


Oh, my dear!! How long have you been on 175 mcg.? I presume mcg. as mg. would be like for a horse or buffalo. LOL!

Since your T4 is in the basement and your TSH is sky high; I do have to say that something is really really wrong.

I hope that you can convince your doc to run your FREE T3.

Here is info...................

Understanding the Thyroid: Why You Should Check Your Free T3
http://breakingmuscle.com/health-medicine/understanding-thyroid-why-you-should-check-your-free-t3

Dr. Mercola (FREES)
http://www.mercola.com/article/hypothyroid/diagnosis_comp.htm

Free T3 and Free T4 are the only accurate measurement of the actual active thyroid hormone levels in the body. This is the hormone that is actually free and exerting effect on the cells. These are the thyroid hormones that count.

An ultra-sound of your thyroid would be a good idea as well.

Has your doc run any antibodies' tests?


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## Rachinator87 (Feb 21, 2013)

So i went to the endo and she said basically i don't have to cut anything out of my diet, i don't need to eat 5-6 small meals, my body doesn't care if i eat like a pig or a bird...blah blah blah, im more confused now than ever. Just waiting on my lab results, she actually thinks something is wrong with my insulin, my mom is a nurse and she says that doesn't sound right


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