Re: HOW DO MY LABS LOOK?

[Guest guest]

I could tell just from the labs that you were on T4 only meds. T4

was high with respect to T3 and TSH was really suppressed from high

T4. This is very typical of T4 only meds. I bet your doc thinks you

are perfectly adjusted. My only comment is that I am betting you

still have symptoms. T3 needs to be above the midline of the range

for most people to feel good on Lavoxyl or Synthroid and if you have

antibodies your T3 may be way too low. It depends on what they are

doing. I am also curious to know if you are having any memory or

brain function problems from high T4 with respect to T3.

Tish

[Guest guest]

TSH .184 (.35-5.0)

____________

Any TSH above 2 in someone on Lavoxyl or Synthroid is too high. To

be well adjusted on T4 meds such as Synthroid or Lavoxyl usually

means that the TSH is below 1.0. This is because T4 suppresses TSH

more than combination meds or T3 alone. So, most people don't feel

good on T4 untill they get below 1.0 on TSH. In the past it used to

take between 300 and 400 mcg of Levoxyl or Synthroid before the

patient felt well. After development of the TSH test doses dropped

to 1/3 of what they were before 1975. My point is that I certainly

wouldn't rule out low thryoid on your symptoms.

_____________

FT4 1.29 (.61-1.76)

__________________

The midrange is 1.18, so your T4 is above that, but not by much.

Typically someone who feels good on levoxyl or synthroid gets T4 up

to the upper end of the range.

________________

FT3 3.3 (2.3-4.2)

______________

The midrange is 3.3, so you are right in the middle. The trouble

with this is that lab ranges are skewed toward hypothryoidism. It

has to do with how the ranges are determined. They are determined by

the ranges of the people who take the tests and the highest and

lowest numbers are thrown out and then they figure out a curve. The

people who have tests tend to have much more hypothryoidism and

subclinical hypothryoidism than hyperthryoidism. As we age thryoid

function declines and if we are sick thryoid function declines. The

result is that the lab ranges get skewed toward hypothyroidism. So,

most people need to be above the midrange of T3 to feel well. But,

with Synthroid and Levoxyl, this usually makes T4 quite high. Some

research indicates that the high T3 with respect to T4 can interfere

with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some extent.

Getting T3 up where you feel good tends to almost totally or to

totally supress TSH. Armour on the other hand does not tend to

suppress TSH totally, but creates more normal numbers. TSH is only a

measure of Pituitary output of a thryoid stimulating hormone. About

40% of thryoid patients have pituitary problems and any thryoid

hormone overly suppresses it. The TSH test is not measuring your

thyroid output or how much hormone you have in the blood. My TSH

looked perfectly normal when I was sick as a dog with

hypothryoidism. Doctor's grossly put too much emphasis on a test

that is pretty worthless for a vast majority of people and they seem

not to have a clue of why it is so worthless.

________________

Weight gain (20 pounds), achy joints in hands and feet, especially

in the morning, watch and rings are tight and leave prints on me,

and depression (which could be " other " related).

_____________

These are classic low thryoid symptoms along with some low adrenal

caused by the low thryoid. I cannot think of another thing you could

attribute it to. You need to find a doctor who will prescribe a dose

based on your symptoms and metabolic rate rather than some lab

number. You are not a lab number. Studies done on healthy people

have found that they have huge ranges of thyroid levels in the

blood, many of them well above the so called normal range. You have

no idea what level of thyroid you were at before you got sick. It

might have been that you needed quite high levels. You need a doctor

who understands this.

Achy joints, hands and feet are symptoms of a dose that is too low.

I developed bursitis on 2 grains of Armour, which is about 150 mcg

of Levoxyl, and could bearly wear shoes. When thryoid goes too low,

it is difficult to get enough hormone in tight joints to keep the

tissue regeneration rate up high enough to prevent inflammation.

Also, when thryoid goes too low adrenal output slows down. Adrenal

hormone output is regulated by thryoid and the metabolic rate.

Adrenal hormones are what keeps inflammation in check and without

enough you have many problems including aches and pains,

inflammation, irritable bowel, and hypoglycemia. When you have

adrenal problems from low thryoid you also get palipitations or

racing heart. This is because adrenal hormones help to regulate

heart rythem. Also, if thryoid is too low, the heart can race

because you do not have enough oxygen in the blood (metabolic rate

too slow) and the heart races to try and get more oxygen to tissues.

The achy joints are worse in the morning because it is related to

your slowed adrenals. The adrenals work in a cyclic manner and have

their highest output in the morning one hour after you get up and

lowest point is about 1:00 am. So in adrenal fatigue caused by low

thryoid, you feel terrible in the morning because adrenal demand is

double then and your adrenals can't do it. You also will tend to

wake up in the night somewhere between 1:00 and 3:00. Sleep is also

poor and unrestful and thyroid hormones drop too low in the night

giving oxygen deprived muscles that want to cramp.

Tight rings on your hands are edima caused by low thyroid. When

thryoid is too low kidney function is slowed and salt balance is

disturbed. This causes pooling of fluids in the outer extremities,

especially later in the day. Also, hypothryoidism causes a build up

of polysacharrides in tissues. Polysachaarrides are a sugar and

these sugars tightly bind water inside the cell. This is why low

thryoid patients often develop a puffy moon shaped face.

Before 1975 thryoid doses were adjusted by symptoms and the common

Synthroid or Lavoxyl dose was between 300 and 400 mcg and the common

Armour dose was 3 to 5 grains.

You can easily find out if your metabolic rate is too low. You can

measure your body temperature 3 times a day starting one hour after

you get up and then every three hours. Keep a chart and average them

after a week or two. Your average body temperature should be 98.6.

Body temperature is a measure of metabolic rate. Metabolic rate is

controlled by thyroid and adrenal. To read more on this go to Dr.

Rind's page: http://www.drrind.com/tempgraph.asp If you find you

have low body temperature, you can be pretty sure you thryoid dose

is too low. This was the most common test of thyroid function for at

least 50 years. It fell out of favor because it too too much time

for the doctor to explain to the patient and if they didn't do it

right there was error. You can also keep a record of your pulse. If

it exceeds 84 beats per minute, this is a sign of hyperthryoidism or

that adrenal has gone too low. In hyperthyroidism, your body

temperature will exceed 98.6.

Personally, I think your doctor is a cruel to let you suffer to keep

you in a number range. Why not go to http://www.thyroid.about.com/

and find a top doc on her list or go to the Armour site and find an

Armour doc. http://www.armourthyroid.com/ or find an open minded

logical thinking D.O. You should loose weight on the right thyroid

dose.

Tish

[Guest guest]

TSH .184 (.35-5.0)

____________

Any TSH above 2 in someone on Lavoxyl or Synthroid is too high. To

be well adjusted on T4 meds such as Synthroid or Lavoxyl usually

means that the TSH is below 1.0. This is because T4 suppresses TSH

more than combination meds or T3 alone. So, most people don't feel

good on T4 untill they get below 1.0 on TSH. In the past it used to

take between 300 and 400 mcg of Levoxyl or Synthroid before the

patient felt well. After development of the TSH test doses dropped

to 1/3 of what they were before 1975. My point is that I certainly

wouldn't rule out low thryoid on your symptoms.

_____________

FT4 1.29 (.61-1.76)

__________________

The midrange is 1.18, so your T4 is above that, but not by much.

Typically someone who feels good on levoxyl or synthroid gets T4 up

to the upper end of the range.

________________

FT3 3.3 (2.3-4.2)

______________

The midrange is 3.3, so you are right in the middle. The trouble

with this is that lab ranges are skewed toward hypothryoidism. It

has to do with how the ranges are determined. They are determined by

the ranges of the people who take the tests and the highest and

lowest numbers are thrown out and then they figure out a curve. The

people who have tests tend to have much more hypothryoidism and

subclinical hypothryoidism than hyperthryoidism. As we age thryoid

function declines and if we are sick thryoid function declines. The

result is that the lab ranges get skewed toward hypothyroidism. So,

most people need to be above the midrange of T3 to feel well. But,

with Synthroid and Levoxyl, this usually makes T4 quite high. Some

research indicates that the high T3 with respect to T4 can interfere

with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some extent.

Getting T3 up where you feel good tends to almost totally or to

totally supress TSH. Armour on the other hand does not tend to

suppress TSH totally, but creates more normal numbers. TSH is only a

measure of Pituitary output of a thryoid stimulating hormone. About

40% of thryoid patients have pituitary problems and any thryoid

hormone overly suppresses it. The TSH test is not measuring your

thyroid output or how much hormone you have in the blood. My TSH

looked perfectly normal when I was sick as a dog with

hypothryoidism. Doctor's grossly put too much emphasis on a test

that is pretty worthless for a vast majority of people and they seem

not to have a clue of why it is so worthless.

________________

Weight gain (20 pounds), achy joints in hands and feet, especially

in the morning, watch and rings are tight and leave prints on me,

and depression (which could be " other " related).

_____________

These are classic low thryoid symptoms along with some low adrenal

caused by the low thryoid. I cannot think of another thing you could

attribute it to. You need to find a doctor who will prescribe a dose

based on your symptoms and metabolic rate rather than some lab

number. You are not a lab number. Studies done on healthy people

have found that they have huge ranges of thyroid levels in the

blood, many of them well above the so called normal range. You have

no idea what level of thyroid you were at before you got sick. It

might have been that you needed quite high levels. You need a doctor

who understands this.

Achy joints, hands and feet are symptoms of a dose that is too low.

I developed bursitis on 2 grains of Armour, which is about 150 mcg

of Levoxyl, and could bearly wear shoes. When thryoid goes too low,

it is difficult to get enough hormone in tight joints to keep the

tissue regeneration rate up high enough to prevent inflammation.

Also, when thryoid goes too low adrenal output slows down. Adrenal

hormone output is regulated by thryoid and the metabolic rate.

Adrenal hormones are what keeps inflammation in check and without

enough you have many problems including aches and pains,

inflammation, irritable bowel, and hypoglycemia. When you have

adrenal problems from low thryoid you also get palipitations or

racing heart. This is because adrenal hormones help to regulate

heart rythem. Also, if thryoid is too low, the heart can race

because you do not have enough oxygen in the blood (metabolic rate

too slow) and the heart races to try and get more oxygen to tissues.

The achy joints are worse in the morning because it is related to

your slowed adrenals. The adrenals work in a cyclic manner and have

their highest output in the morning one hour after you get up and

lowest point is about 1:00 am. So in adrenal fatigue caused by low

thryoid, you feel terrible in the morning because adrenal demand is

double then and your adrenals can't do it. You also will tend to

wake up in the night somewhere between 1:00 and 3:00. Sleep is also

poor and unrestful and thyroid hormones drop too low in the night

giving oxygen deprived muscles that want to cramp.

Tight rings on your hands are edima caused by low thyroid. When

thryoid is too low kidney function is slowed and salt balance is

disturbed. This causes pooling of fluids in the outer extremities,

especially later in the day. Also, hypothryoidism causes a build up

of polysacharrides in tissues. Polysachaarrides are a sugar and

these sugars tightly bind water inside the cell. This is why low

thryoid patients often develop a puffy moon shaped face.

Before 1975 thryoid doses were adjusted by symptoms and the common

Synthroid or Lavoxyl dose was between 300 and 400 mcg and the common

Armour dose was 3 to 5 grains.

You can easily find out if your metabolic rate is too low. You can

measure your body temperature 3 times a day starting one hour after

you get up and then every three hours. Keep a chart and average them

after a week or two. Your average body temperature should be 98.6.

Body temperature is a measure of metabolic rate. Metabolic rate is

controlled by thyroid and adrenal. To read more on this go to Dr.

Rind's page: http://www.drrind.com/tempgraph.asp If you find you

have low body temperature, you can be pretty sure you thryoid dose

is too low. This was the most common test of thyroid function for at

least 50 years. It fell out of favor because it too too much time

for the doctor to explain to the patient and if they didn't do it

right there was error. You can also keep a record of your pulse. If

it exceeds 84 beats per minute, this is a sign of hyperthryoidism or

that adrenal has gone too low. In hyperthyroidism, your body

temperature will exceed 98.6.

Personally, I think your doctor is a cruel to let you suffer to keep

you in a number range. Why not go to http://www.thyroid.about.com/

and find a top doc on her list or go to the Armour site and find an

Armour doc. http://www.armourthyroid.com/ or find an open minded

logical thinking D.O. You should loose weight on the right thyroid

dose.

Tish

[Guest guest]

TSH .184 (.35-5.0)

____________

Any TSH above 2 in someone on Lavoxyl or Synthroid is too high. To

be well adjusted on T4 meds such as Synthroid or Lavoxyl usually

means that the TSH is below 1.0. This is because T4 suppresses TSH

more than combination meds or T3 alone. So, most people don't feel

good on T4 untill they get below 1.0 on TSH. In the past it used to

take between 300 and 400 mcg of Levoxyl or Synthroid before the

patient felt well. After development of the TSH test doses dropped

to 1/3 of what they were before 1975. My point is that I certainly

wouldn't rule out low thryoid on your symptoms.

_____________

FT4 1.29 (.61-1.76)

__________________

The midrange is 1.18, so your T4 is above that, but not by much.

Typically someone who feels good on levoxyl or synthroid gets T4 up

to the upper end of the range.

________________

FT3 3.3 (2.3-4.2)

______________

The midrange is 3.3, so you are right in the middle. The trouble

with this is that lab ranges are skewed toward hypothryoidism. It

has to do with how the ranges are determined. They are determined by

the ranges of the people who take the tests and the highest and

lowest numbers are thrown out and then they figure out a curve. The

people who have tests tend to have much more hypothryoidism and

subclinical hypothryoidism than hyperthryoidism. As we age thryoid

function declines and if we are sick thryoid function declines. The

result is that the lab ranges get skewed toward hypothyroidism. So,

most people need to be above the midrange of T3 to feel well. But,

with Synthroid and Levoxyl, this usually makes T4 quite high. Some

research indicates that the high T3 with respect to T4 can interfere

with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some extent.

Getting T3 up where you feel good tends to almost totally or to

totally supress TSH. Armour on the other hand does not tend to

suppress TSH totally, but creates more normal numbers. TSH is only a

measure of Pituitary output of a thryoid stimulating hormone. About

40% of thryoid patients have pituitary problems and any thryoid

hormone overly suppresses it. The TSH test is not measuring your

thyroid output or how much hormone you have in the blood. My TSH

looked perfectly normal when I was sick as a dog with

hypothryoidism. Doctor's grossly put too much emphasis on a test

that is pretty worthless for a vast majority of people and they seem

not to have a clue of why it is so worthless.

________________

Weight gain (20 pounds), achy joints in hands and feet, especially

in the morning, watch and rings are tight and leave prints on me,

and depression (which could be " other " related).

_____________

These are classic low thryoid symptoms along with some low adrenal

caused by the low thryoid. I cannot think of another thing you could

attribute it to. You need to find a doctor who will prescribe a dose

based on your symptoms and metabolic rate rather than some lab

number. You are not a lab number. Studies done on healthy people

have found that they have huge ranges of thyroid levels in the

blood, many of them well above the so called normal range. You have

no idea what level of thyroid you were at before you got sick. It

might have been that you needed quite high levels. You need a doctor

who understands this.

Achy joints, hands and feet are symptoms of a dose that is too low.

I developed bursitis on 2 grains of Armour, which is about 150 mcg

of Levoxyl, and could bearly wear shoes. When thryoid goes too low,

it is difficult to get enough hormone in tight joints to keep the

tissue regeneration rate up high enough to prevent inflammation.

Also, when thryoid goes too low adrenal output slows down. Adrenal

hormone output is regulated by thryoid and the metabolic rate.

Adrenal hormones are what keeps inflammation in check and without

enough you have many problems including aches and pains,

inflammation, irritable bowel, and hypoglycemia. When you have

adrenal problems from low thryoid you also get palipitations or

racing heart. This is because adrenal hormones help to regulate

heart rythem. Also, if thryoid is too low, the heart can race

because you do not have enough oxygen in the blood (metabolic rate

too slow) and the heart races to try and get more oxygen to tissues.

The achy joints are worse in the morning because it is related to

your slowed adrenals. The adrenals work in a cyclic manner and have

their highest output in the morning one hour after you get up and

lowest point is about 1:00 am. So in adrenal fatigue caused by low

thryoid, you feel terrible in the morning because adrenal demand is

double then and your adrenals can't do it. You also will tend to

wake up in the night somewhere between 1:00 and 3:00. Sleep is also

poor and unrestful and thyroid hormones drop too low in the night

giving oxygen deprived muscles that want to cramp.

Tight rings on your hands are edima caused by low thyroid. When

thryoid is too low kidney function is slowed and salt balance is

disturbed. This causes pooling of fluids in the outer extremities,

especially later in the day. Also, hypothryoidism causes a build up

of polysacharrides in tissues. Polysachaarrides are a sugar and

these sugars tightly bind water inside the cell. This is why low

thryoid patients often develop a puffy moon shaped face.

Before 1975 thryoid doses were adjusted by symptoms and the common

Synthroid or Lavoxyl dose was between 300 and 400 mcg and the common

Armour dose was 3 to 5 grains.

You can easily find out if your metabolic rate is too low. You can

measure your body temperature 3 times a day starting one hour after

you get up and then every three hours. Keep a chart and average them

after a week or two. Your average body temperature should be 98.6.

Body temperature is a measure of metabolic rate. Metabolic rate is

controlled by thyroid and adrenal. To read more on this go to Dr.

Rind's page: http://www.drrind.com/tempgraph.asp If you find you

have low body temperature, you can be pretty sure you thryoid dose

is too low. This was the most common test of thyroid function for at

least 50 years. It fell out of favor because it too too much time

for the doctor to explain to the patient and if they didn't do it

right there was error. You can also keep a record of your pulse. If

it exceeds 84 beats per minute, this is a sign of hyperthryoidism or

that adrenal has gone too low. In hyperthyroidism, your body

temperature will exceed 98.6.

Personally, I think your doctor is a cruel to let you suffer to keep

you in a number range. Why not go to http://www.thyroid.about.com/

and find a top doc on her list or go to the Armour site and find an

Armour doc. http://www.armourthyroid.com/ or find an open minded

logical thinking D.O. You should loose weight on the right thyroid

dose.

Tish

[Guest guest]

I mixed up my terms in one sentence in my last post. In this

sentence:

Some research indicates that the high T3 with respect to T4 can

interfere with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some

extent.

T3 and T4 need to be reversed. It should read:

Some research indicates that the high T4 with respect to T3 can

interfere with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some

extent.

I apologize. I get in too big of a hurry sometimes.

If you'd like to read a little more on adrenal and thryoid

interaction and why the TSH test is really not too usefull here are

two good links.

http://thyroid.about.com/library/derry/bl11.htm

(article about doses and their effect on adrenals)

http://thyroid.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?

zi=1/XJ & sdn=thyroid & zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thyroid-info.com%2Farticles%

2Fdavid-derry.htm

(Excellent article on Why doctors shouldn't rely on the TSH test.)

Tish

[Guest guest]

I mixed up my terms in one sentence in my last post. In this

sentence:

Some research indicates that the high T3 with respect to T4 can

interfere with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some

extent.

T3 and T4 need to be reversed. It should read:

Some research indicates that the high T4 with respect to T3 can

interfere with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some

extent.

I apologize. I get in too big of a hurry sometimes.

If you'd like to read a little more on adrenal and thryoid

interaction and why the TSH test is really not too usefull here are

two good links.

http://thyroid.about.com/library/derry/bl11.htm

(article about doses and their effect on adrenals)

http://thyroid.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?

zi=1/XJ & sdn=thyroid & zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thyroid-info.com%2Farticles%

2Fdavid-derry.htm

(Excellent article on Why doctors shouldn't rely on the TSH test.)

Tish

[Guest guest]

I mixed up my terms in one sentence in my last post. In this

sentence:

Some research indicates that the high T3 with respect to T4 can

interfere with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some

extent.

T3 and T4 need to be reversed. It should read:

Some research indicates that the high T4 with respect to T3 can

interfere with the brain and with conversion of T4 to T3 to some

extent.

I apologize. I get in too big of a hurry sometimes.

If you'd like to read a little more on adrenal and thryoid

interaction and why the TSH test is really not too usefull here are

two good links.

http://thyroid.about.com/library/derry/bl11.htm

(article about doses and their effect on adrenals)

http://thyroid.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?

zi=1/XJ & sdn=thyroid & zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thyroid-info.com%2Farticles%

2Fdavid-derry.htm

(Excellent article on Why doctors shouldn't rely on the TSH test.)

Tish

[Guest guest]

I apologize. My brain was not working or I got in too big of a

typing hurry. I think I missed the decimal point. A lot of people

who post results have TSHs above 2. But about as many also have very

low TSH results.

T4 only meds like synthroid are more suppressive of TSH and it

doesn't take much T4 to suppress it quite low. Synthroid is more

suppressive of TSH than for those on all T3 replacment. Often in

many patients, T4 especially or any thyroid medication taken will

overly suppress TSH. This can happen on very small doses. Dr.

Derry has written that small doses of thryoid hormone taken can turn

off the th thyroid almost completely in many people. The result is

that you can become more hypothryoid on small doses of thryoid.

The healthy thyroid makes 4-1/2 to 5 grains of Armour equivelent a

day. Theoretically, any thyroid you take below that level, your

pituitary should sense and adjust it's output of TSH to tell your

thyoid to make up the difference. This is so you have adequate

hormone in the blood. So, suppose you take 1 grain of Armour? Your

pituitary should sense that and put out enough TSH to tell your

thyroid to put out the other 3-1/2 to 4 grains you need, so that

blood levels of thyroid are normal and high enough for proper

health. But, for some reason now fully understood, it doesn't work

this way. Many people who take thyroid will have pitiuitary output

overly suppressed and this will supress thyroid function. One theory

is that because we take our thyroid in one lump twice a day, which

is not how a normal thryoid works, this causes a big spike in blood

thyroid levels temporarily in the morning and evenings. The thought

is that this big spike turns off the pituitary and it does not have

enough time to recover before the next dose in the evening that

turns it off.

Another thing that causes low TSH is that many people who have been

hypo for some time have caused their pituitaries to become

dysfunctional from having constant low thyroid levels. Over time, it

is thought that the pituitary becomes insensitive to low thryoid and

quits responding. This causes it to always put out too little TSH

when hypothryoidism has gone on a long time.

Still another thing that can happen is that the pituitary can be

damaged by the same auto-immune condition that is damaging the

thyroid. Many auto-immune thryoid patients also have damage to other

organs from the condition. The ovaries, the adrenals, the pituitary,

and the hypohtalamus are also targets of autoimmune damage in about

20% of thyroid patients.

One pretty recent study found that about 40% of thyroid patients

have some degree of pituitary dysfunction. For this reason, TSH

tests are really unreliable for many people. Measuring TSH is not

measuring thyroid hormone directly. It is just measuring thyroid

stimulating hormone put out by the pituitary. TSH is an indirect

measure of thryoid output. Why doctors have become so fixated on

using this test to the exclusion of others is a mystery.

Anyway, my pituitary TSH levels were normal when the rest of me was

falling to pieces with hypothyroidism. Free T3 and Free T4 are

really the most reliable tests. And still, they have their problems.

The amount of thyroid hormone that is needed for different people

varies tremendously. Many healthy people fall outside the range of

what is said to be normal. So, the thyroid replacement dose needed

for one person that is pegged in the middle of the ranges might be

so low as to make life a total misery for another.

If you have very low TSH and at the same time low T4 or T4 levels at

the low end of the range, then you can be pretty sure that your

pituitary is not working properly and the TSH test is not useful for

you. I think that if T4 is low TSH should be showing it by being at

least above 3.0.

A good article about the TSH test is:

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/david-derry.htm

Another good article about not putting up with poor thyroid treament

is:

http://thyroid.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?

site=http://www.thyroid%2Dinfo.com/articles/docdon.htm

Hope I haven't confused you too much.

Tish

[Guest guest]

Weight gain is a classic sign of slowed metabolic rate. This is

controlled by thryoid and adrenal function. So, you either need to

raise T4 or switch to Armour and maybe raise that, too. You can

check your temperature using Dr. Rind's info to get an idea if your

metabolism is too slow. http://www.drrind.com/tempgraph.asp

If the problem lies with you being unable to convert Synthroid

adequately to T3, then switching would be the solution. But, it is

typical for people on Synthroid to have T4 out of proportion to T3.

These are considered normal for Synthroid (but it isn not normal for

healthy humans not on thryoid). People on Armour have much more

normal labs, with T4 and T3 closer together and TSH is less

supressed in general.

So, either your dose is a little low and your needs for thyroid have

increased a little or you are having a mild conversion problem with

Synthroid. Some things that can change thyroid needs:

-increase in physical acitivity

-moving to a colder climate

-poor diet and lack of good nutrition

-dieting

-stress, which lowers adrenal function. Lowered adrenal output slows

conversion of T4 to T3. Stress also increases thyroid needs

-very low carb diet. It slows converion of T4 to T3.

-poor sleep. It really stresses the adrenals and slows the whole

system. It also increases needs for thyroid hormone.

-lots of dental work. Can alter pituitary function.

-sickness. Causes low thyroid levels temporarily.

-liver problems.

I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them right now.

Tish