I am living between France and the UK. I have been hypothyroid for 12 years now and have always used the NHS in the UK to monitor my blood levels. My dose has risen to 150mg a day and I have felt well.
However I recently failed to get my bloods tested on a trip to the UK and so thought I would go to the doctor in France for a referral to have bloods taken and tested.
The results only showed TSH level and it came in at THSus 0,05mUI/1 ( I am copying this from the results)
I am pretty sure that in the UK my GP looks at several measurements.
The french doctor said my dose was way too high and wanted to bring me down to 50mg over a month.
This I have done and the follow up blood test read THSus 2,06mUI/1 and his response was 'perfect!'.
However I dont feel so good and my blood pressure reading was high at 160/90 for the first time ever. I am feeling tired and my stamina is low where I was exercising every day. My thinking is foggy but most noticeably my mood has plummeted.
I am going to the UK in 2 weeks and have an appt for a blood test again and to talk with my GP there but I am not sure what I should do in the meantime. Would be grateful for some thoughts, perhaps some knowledge of the difference in testing here.
Thanks
It does seem to depend on the country.
In the UK, this is the general guidelines...
though the range for TSH (which is the main thing they look at - along with what symptoms you have) does seem to get revised every so often.
When I had my test done originally, I was considered "borderline" at the top end (indicating an underactive thyroid), however because I had no symptoms that related to underactive thyroid the doctor just wanted to monitor it. I did have symptoms of something else (confirmed by a consultant at hospital who said it was of unknown cause, incurable and just had to have the symptoms managed) but was told it wasn't related to thyroid (though logically to me I could see how it could be).
After some research on the internet about the TSH levels, I saw that in the U.S. their range for considering treatment was slightly different. For example, in the UK, we wouldn't necessarily get treatment if we are borderline 4.5, but in the U.S. they would consider that slightly underactive and treat with a low dose thyroxine, as their range for "not treating" was less than ours. After consulting with my doctor, she agreed to try a low dose of levothyroxine though suggested that I had no symptoms and that she didn't think it would do anything. Within a week, my incurable non-thyroid related symptoms started to clear, and after two weeks had completely disappeared. She couldn't believe it, but accepted that all indications were that there must be some correlation that medical science had not yet known about, and therefore kept me on the low dose (and those symptoms have never returned since).
So, yes, different countries (and even different doctors) can use different reference ranges for diagnosis. Many nowadays rely on what their computer tells them, which is based on some standard set somewhere, but if you are experiences any symptoms, whether related to thyroid or not, you're best going to your GP and getting them checked out. I would have expected the doctor in France to have required monitoring your bloods over a couple of tests with a couple of weeks between to ensure that it wasn't just a false result or a temporary difference, before changing your meds for you.
I am quite surprised it got altered so much. Generally they step down by 25mcg increments.. When you are hypothyroid its getting the balance right so you you have enough TSH to keep your natural thyroid production up. I don't think you should do anything until you have consulted another doctor. You could always ask the french doctor to check T4 and T3 levels. You could also tell the french doctor about your symptoms. But Thyroxine has a very long half life so it takes over 4 weeks for the level to stabilise after a dose change. So if it is less than that, then the symptoms you are experiencing may not be anything to do with the change in thyroxine dose.
Thanks for your responses. I did bring it down by 25mg over a month from 150 to 50 and so am not surprised that I am noticing a difference now. I am monitoring it but will be straight to GP in the UK. I think my lesson to learn here is not to mix up treatments. If it ain't broke , don't fix it.