# New labs after switching to Naturethyroid



## Isthmus123 (May 19, 2016)

I switched from Synthroid to naturethyroid and I now have my energy back! It's amazing to be able to go to work, run, errands, or work out and not have to lie down afterward 

My dose has varied from 1/4 grain to 1/2 grain to 1.5 pills of 1/4 grain. I'd like to stay at the 1/2 grain but my heart was pounding all day and I felt it mostly in my neck. Has anyone else had heart palps from this med? The heart palps subsiding when I reduced the dose.

TSH= 2.1

Free T4= 0.86 (.82-1.77)

T3 = 134 (71-180)

I feel so much better. Am I still a tad hypo though?


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Do you know if that's total t3 or free t3?


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

Funnily enough, heart palpitations can be a sign of needing a dose increase (as well as being on too high of a dose).


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Were these labs taken prior to your dose reduction?

When in relation to taking your NDT were these labs drawn?

Your labs do look a bit hypo. When on NDT one would expect FT-3 ( I believe you posted total 3) should be closer to 3/4 of range. Your total 3 isn't even at 3/4 of it's range which is 153, although FT-3 is the better test to determine free and unbound thyroid hormone in system, along with FT-4.

It does not look like you have far to go -


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> My heart rate is not elevated when I was having the heart palps. Just pounding/pulsating that I would feel mostly in my neck. I do have a history of anxiety though it is quite under control at this point. Just curious- why would my body have trouble adjusting to T3 when it clearly needs more of it? I did only give it 3 weeks.


WHo knows? It may just be because you have been hypo for a long time - or you may be adding too much at once and your body is having difficulty adjusting.

Maybe starting on a lower dose and easing yourself up will make the difference.

I remember when my palps were happening my endo thought I was crazy because there was no medical reason for them to happen.

Getting them to test both FT-4 and FT-3 will help straighten things out the quickest. TSH is more diagnostic and does not reflect current unbound thyroid hormone in your system but rather a snapshot of thyroid in general - plus it's known to lag up to 6 weeks.


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## Isthmus123 (May 19, 2016)

Do you think going up to 1/2 grain of naturethyroid in 2 months (coming from less than .025mcg levothyroxine is too fast? I did the 1/4 grain (smallest dose) for 1 month, then 1.5 pills for 2 weeks then I went to the half grain.

My Free T4 is above so at least I do see that is at the bottom range! I'll make sure I get free T3 next time as well.

I appreciate your thoughts, thanks so much.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> Partial thyroidectomy 12/20014 (benign tumor)


I just noticed this in your signature, You have 1/2 a thyroid left, did it have nodules as well?

You have a unique situation in that you have 1/2 a functioning thyroid left which makes it harder in some cases to stabilize. In your case, your palpitations are impacting your ability to get out of hypo lab ranges.

Have you considered going back on the levothyroxine and adding Cytomel? I wonder if that might work better for you. I used to break the cytomel into 1/4 and spread out over the day. I am now able to tolerate 12.5mcg daily when in the beginning I struggled with 2.5mcg or 1/2 a pill split in 2 doses.

The lab's you share are somewhat incomplete in that the FT-4 and FT-3 have not been run enough while taking medications to get a trend of what's happening. I cannot stress how important those labs can be for reaching stabilization.


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## Isthmus123 (May 19, 2016)

Actually I have more than that left! The nodule was very close to the center so they removed the isthmus and a tiny piece of the right side. Overall, my surgeon said he removed somewhere between 10-30% of my thyroid. Turned out the nodule was benign.

Yes I'll get Ft3 and Ft4 from now on. My Endo isn't big on ordering those even though he tests for other important things like Vitamin D and Ferratin levels (of which I just found out I am low on both, even though I take 1,000 IU of D daily!), and he's big on being gluten, soy, and dairy free. But if I ask him to order those labs he will.

I thought about going back on Levo but the problem with Levo for me is that as soon as I went up to .025mcg my ear ringing become intolerable. I have tinnitus from a hearing loss 15 years ago. The ringing is ok but it got too loud on Levo. It has been ok with Naturethyroid.

How long do people usually stay at a dose before going up?


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## jenny v (May 6, 2012)

To be honest, 1,000 iu of Vitamin D is pretty much nothing. I take 5,000iu a day to keep my levels in the 60's. Some people even take 10,000 or more, depending on how low their levels are (and with doctor supervision).


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