Re:TISH, Curious FT3 number

[Guest guest]

> She told me at that time that this was 'as good as it gets'. I'd

> > never feel better than I did then. Any more hormones and I'd be

> > hyper (can you tell she was only focussing on the TSH?).

> ___________________

>

> This is the most monsterously cruel thing doctors do to patients.

> May she die and go to hell and become miserable hypothyroid and go

> around and be abused by doctors for eternity.

As bad as this was, it wasn't the worst I'd been dealt from doctors

this past year. I had one GP tell me to my face that her TSH was

higher than mine (which was only 4.27 at the time) and I should feel

lucky I was so well off. She further said that if anyone treated me

for hypothyroidism it would be malpractice and she's bet money that

no one would. She then offered me paxil.

I wrote a letter of complaint about her to the college of physicians

and surgeons - it's now sitting in her official file. It didn't

accomplish much by way of reprimand but it sure as hell made me feel

better.

> _____________________

> 125mcgs T4 and 7.5 mcgs

> > of time release bioidentical T3.

> ____________________

> This works out to about 155 mcg of Synthoroid. You could still

> safely go up more if you felt you needed it.

>

> >

> > TSH .03

> > FT4 18 (10 - 20)

> > FT3 4.7 (2.6 - 5.7)

> ________________

> Here is the reason that I think it is the same. It has to do with

> what happens in primary thyroid failure. As the thyroid is less

and

> less able to make enough hormone, it changes the proportion of T4

to

> T3 that it makes. As thyroid function declines, the thyroid makes

> more and more T3 as a way to give the body more energy. And T3

> requires less iodine and is easier to make for a sick thyroid.

> Studies that look at declining thyroid function have found that

the

> thyroid compensates by making more and more T3 to the point where

it

> is making almost all T3 in severe hypothyroidism.

>

> At the same time the body attempts to adapt to declining T4 levels

> and increases it's conversion of the dwindling T4 to T3. It does

> this in part by increasing cortisol production and there are other

> changes that occur. In this way, the body is able to adapt to very

> low thyroid levels and the person is often not aware they are sick

> for some time. Though, when T4 gets too low, the person has no

> capacity for stress and sickens easily and can't handle things.

>

> So, often when people show up at the doctor with progressive

thryoid

> failure, they have T4 that is very low at the bottom of the range

or

> way out of it but T3 will remaind near the middle of the range.

So,

> in many people, the body is able to maintain fairly normal T3

> levels, but because their bank account of T4 to convert in stress

or

> extra demands is low, they are having lots of trouble coping. They

> run out of sufficient thyroid in stress, illness and extra

activity.

Thanks for the detailed and informed explanation - you pretty much

described me to a T. I've had a FT4 of 12 for years, but didn't

feel anywhere near as sick as I did then. I got worse and worse as

the year went on until I think I stressed myself with excessive

exercise into this all the way.

>

> So, the reason your T4 has not changed much has probably a lot to

do

> with these mechanisms that kept T3 close to normal even when you

> were sick. Also, all the tests you ran were measuring thyroid in

the

> blood and not in the tissues. When thyroid levels decline, the

body

> lets some organs be deprived in order to have enough thyroid in

the

> blood to maintain heart function and other more essential

functions.

> Studies have found that blood levels of thyroid do not correlate

> with how much is in tissues and organs and they can be deprived

but

> blood levels are normal.

>

Right - we focus so much on serum levels that we forget about

resistance to thyroid hormones in tissue. And I was just reading

about this on the weekend.

Thanks again, Tish.

Nat