New Test Results...Make No Sense

[JudyAnn]

I just got another round of thyroid test results:

TSH .006 (.2 - 5.5)
FT4 1.5 (.8 - 1.7)
T3 90!?! (70 - 200)

Apr. 8

TSH .004
FT4 2.0
T3 127

These don't make any sense to me at all. TSH way low still, FT4 normal, where it's been for about the last 3 years, but the T3, what's with that!?! I started taking Cytomel about 4 days before the test but since it only has a 1/2 life of one day it should have raised my T3 not lowered it. In any case the day after I talked to my dr., before I started the Cytomel I started to get these weird pins and needles feeling all over my body. I started the Cytomel anyway and at 1st started to feel better, more clear-headed, not getting so worn out doing physical activity. But a few days later the the p'n'n started to get worse. It got so bad that I couldn't sleep, I would just lie there buzzing away. I had to take the Serax I had left over from vacation to relax me enough to fall asleep. I cut down on my Levethroid, then a couple of days ago I decided to stop taking any meds at all. Last night was the 1st night I slept w/o Serax. But this morning I got my test results and don't know what to think! I would have thought it was a reaction to the Cytomel but it started before taking it. The numbers seem really weird.

Could it be my low-carb diet? I've upped my carbs to around 30 after I read here about super low-carb messing with TSH and T3, and over the weekend I spent at my Mom's house, I pretty much went off it completely, eating sourdough bread and potatoes. And one night I layed in bed for an hour thinking about a bowl of Cheerios, I finally got up to eat some but we were out, so I had some natural Raisin Bran -type cereal we had. I've been having a lot of cravings for carbs lately. My husband thinks I should just go off low-carb altogether and just watch my portions. I'm thinking of upping to around 50 or 60 gs a day. I've lost enough to fit into just about all my clothes so if I were to maintain my weight now I would be happy.

Could this be caused by stress? I've been soooooo stressed out for the last six months. My Mom is very, very sick. She got out of the hospital for the 5th time about the time this started happening. She is very weak and lives in a two-story house. It's so scary to watch her go up the stairs. I've been splitting my time between work, home and my Mom's. My sister lives with her but she can't be there all the time.

Anyway, I just needed to vent. I don't know what to do right now. What should I eat, how much (if any) meds should I take. My Dr. is calling tomorrow morning, hopefully this can be resolved without me going hypo.

[Nancy LC]

Its probably not that unusual. I'm a non-converter too. i.e. I don't convert T4 to T3 very well. You should be getting your FT3 check, not T3. Ketosis may have something to do with it. Or maybe low calorie dieting, or both.

As far as weird little symptoms with T3, it happens. It goes away after awhile. You might also not be taking enough T3 and that is why your symptoms are returning.

I had some insomnia too when I first started on the T3.

[Ksrt]

Hi,

I think that stress can cause the lack of T4 conversion to T3 and taking in too few carbs can also do it. Any stressor whether it's emotional or whether it's physical can cause your body to want to slow your metabolism and it does this by not converting T4 to the active T3 but instead converting it to reverse T3. It looks to me like your thyroid is normal and you are stressing your body with your diet. Your carb cravings are your body's way of telling you that you are not eating enough carbs. Slowly raise your carbs 5 grams a week until you feel normal. Don't raise too fast or you will put lots of weight back on.

Good luck!

[JudyAnn]

I just talked to my Dr. and she said that the tingling pins and needles feeling is most likely caused by anxiety and stress. She said when you are over stressed a lot more carbondioxide (sp?) is circulating in your blood. So she said taking Serax for it was OK. And that my thyroid has nothing to do with it. So I back taking my normal dose of Levethroid and Cytomel and have to get rechecked in about 6 weeks. She also said it may take a while for my T3 levels to come up and if they don't she will increase my Cytomel dose. Now I have a new problem, my LDL is 217!!! She called me from her cell phone on the way to work so she didn't have all my numbers (she's mailing them to me) but this one stuck out. She's going to see if I can reduce it by diet before she puts me on statins. Now I have to figure out how to lower that number in 6 weeks!

I've been upping my carbs for the past couple of weeks slowly and I haven't gained any weight. I plan on going as high as I can and see how it goes. Now I'm off to the cholsesterol forum to see what to do about that. Thanks for your help.

[Nancy LC]

Well, 217 isn't that high and hypothyroidism is also associated with high cholesterol.

[JudyAnn]

I asked my Dr. about the connection and she said usually if TSH is very high and T4 is very low then it can affect your chol numbers. BTW my total chol is over 400, the 217 is just my LDL, that sounds very high to me. I did read on the Chol forum that LC can raise LDL at first but then it should go back down, but I don't think that is going to happen in the next few weeks. I'm not so concerned with my numbers as I am with my dr.'s reaction to them.

[Ksrt]

Judyann,

Has your doctor ever tested you for insulin resistance? I know hypothyroidism can cause insulin resistance and this keeps your insulin levels too high. Too much insulin in the blood results in bad trigliceride and cholesterol numbers. You might need to be on Actos or Avandia to help your insulin after she gets your thyroid correct if you have insulin problems.

KSRT