Graves' Disease Support Group

Because your doctor is likely dosing you according to the TSH, to get it to come up. Free T4 corresponds with the MMI (Methimazole) and this is what it must be dosed according to.

Call the doctor and insist you lower down the MMI now so you can bring the Free Ts back to mid ranges, at least. Also find out how this doctor is dosing you by.

If your latest labs shows you with a high number for the TSH and very low numbers for the Free Ts, that is why!

If you find your Free Ts below range, you will likely need to stop the MMI for a few days to get the numbers back up and restart on a much smaller doses.

You should've been lowered down six weeks ago, not now.

Take care... :-)

I think tomorrow I will start taking 20mg until I here from the Dr on Monday or Tuesday
is that safe to do? The Dr is gone till Monday.

Have any of You lowered Your dose Yourself will the Dr get mad at Me lol

Hi junski517...mmz is right. You should have had your meds lowered right after the results of these tests...aaarrrggg...docs make me so mad sometimes. I truly believe that a lot of our suffering is due to poor decisions by the people who are supposed to help us. Okay...rant over!. Yes, once I understood how to read the blood test...thanks to all the wonderful people here...and learned to listen to my body talk...I took my dosing into my own hands. I did my own reducing based on the blood results. You have to be careful though...you dont want to do it to slow or to fast. I waited usually 8 weeks between reductions....but in hindsight I went to slow...I suffered terrible hypo symptoms. If I were to do it again I would do it every 4 -6 weeks and go with a little larger dose reduction. I reduced 25mg PTU every 8 weeks.

Now, I didnt tell my doc I was doing this at first. It wasnt until I was down to 50mg PTU a day before I let her know. I was still hypo so she didnt get mad at me, but I think some docs dont like it. But, its your body and only you know how you feel. If you feel awful and your tests show hypo...then reduce a bit. Remember that MM! is 10x stronger than PTU so you may want to reduce smaller amounts and wait until your next blood test. You can always check in here if your not sure you need another reduction. Big Hugs...Kathy

Oh...and keep an eye on your FT3...its a bit low. If your med reduction dosnt bring it up a bit..you may have to talk to your doc about conversion problems. Sometimes especially as we get older our conversion slows down. You may just need a little help in that department. Are you taking Selenium...that will go a long ways in helping your body convert. If your not on it maybe start taking 200mcg per day and see if there is a change in your next blood tests. It cant hurt and you have a lot to gain by taking it...Big Hugs...Kathy

Like dairy says and if your doctor insists on dosing by the TSH...run away!!! Look for another doctor who will look at the Free T4 as well.

I would suggest you know what your latest labs are to know how to dose properly. I have a big feeling that your Free Ts are below normal ranges and your TSH has shot up high. :-(

{{{hugs}}}

Thanks to this site and all of You I knew the answer to My ?..I just don't understand why our Dr's don't know all this..So is going to 20mg from 30 too much of a jump? Or should I wait till Mon or Tues to see what the Dr was planning on doing..I kinda want to start tomorrow I feel so fat!

Thanks You so much..

Hi junski...I agree with mmz..I would wait the next few days and see what your doc says and what your recent blood tests say. This will give you a more realistic view of where your at. For me...remember a reduction of 10mg MMI is equal to 100mg of PTU....that is a large reduction. Hang in there and wait until Monday or Tuesday just to be sure. The results you show here are from 6 weeks ago, a lot may have changed and remember your TSH has a 6 week lag time. So, the TSH that is showing on the test results you just posted are actually accurate 12 weeks ago. I know I know..this stuff can be so confusing..it took forever for me to get my head around this stuff... Big Hugs...Kathy

Your right I should wait..It just sucks waking up every morning with puffy eyes with bags. I never looked like this before in the AM.. I guess that is from being hypo:( I am feeling back pain too all this while I work 40 hrs a week at a very physical Job..I am on Vacation next Week so one more day of work to get though. I am too old for this sh#t lol

My Dr just called..He said My t 3 was normal but My t 4 was hypo so He cut My MMI down to 15 mg from 30..I have to go back for more labs on July 30th..Anyone know how long the hypo symptoms will take to get better on a lower dose?

Post your labs and the ranges for us to get an idea...