Synthyroid

[PrincessV]

So, long story short....don't be surprised if it takes a while to find the right dose, but insist on treating the symptoms and don't just go by the numbers on your TSH test.

I've been on the generic (levothyroxine) for years; started with TSH of 7ish untreated and have been anywhere between 0.337 and 5 as we've adjusted doses trying to get it "right." The key is that TSH doesn't tell the whole story - even at 0.337 I was feeling hypo symptoms because my body doesn't convert T4 (levothyroxine) into T3 properly. I had to BEG my Dr. to try adding a small amount of T3 last week... and I feel an improvement already. You have to reduce levothyroxine some when you add T3, so I'm now on 50mcg levo. and 5mcg liothyronine (T3) a day. You really need to get labs done on Free T3 and Free T4 to know what's going on, not just TSH. You also may feel better at a different number than someone else; the only way to find out is to keep tweaking doses and re-test every 6-8 weeks. That's how long it takes for Synthroid to have gained full effect. T3 hits much faster, within a week or two.

Here's the thing - research, research, research, research! There's a ton of information on the web because the vast majority of Drs. don't understand thyroid functions at all. My Dr. tried to just swap equal amounts of T4 and T3, not knowing that the same dose of T3 is equivalent to 4 times that amount in T4 - I would have overdosed had I not insisted on a lower amount.