So I got a blood test today. I didn't get a full thyroid panel due to the cost.
My results are as below:
Total cholesterol: 183 mg/dl. Before starting thyroid it was 180, and Ray said for someone on thyroid even 160 is acceptable, so I'm good here;
Ferritin: 32.8 μg/l. I test that because one time I did get a result in the low teens and adding more iron helped somewhat. I need to eat liver more regularly, I felt better when it was around 50.
Vitamin D (25-OH): 22.8 ng/ml. This is what I get for being a cheapskate. When starting thyroid I reasoned that the test is expensive, and I already had a vit D supplement on hand, so I assumed taking 2000 IU daily will be enough to avoid this problem. Today I took 10 000 IU and there's already some improvement in my mood; I assume this might be the main reason for my recent difficulties;
TSH: 2.2 μU/mL. So I'm definitely not experiencing a thyroid storm and my TSH is not being suppressed by excess T3. However, this is puzzling because my TSH was actually lower (1.2) before starting NDT.
Does anyone know why taking thyroid might increase someone's TSH? Is it because exogenous hormones have suppressed my natural production, but due to vitamin D deficiency (or some other deficiencies) it fails to increase metabolism and thus the pituitary signals for even more? Or maybe my TSH was suppressed by cortisol (after all, 1.2 is kind of low for someone with waking temperatures in the low 97s), the NDT has lowered cortisol, so now TSH can reach its natural level? Or maybe NDT just isn't for me and I need more T3?
My plan for now is to eat liver at least once and preferably twice a week, blast Vitamin D like there's no tomorrow, and stay on the five drop dose until the worst issues go away.
