Hey Malbers...this is good that your levels are better. Your about where Im at with my ranges while still on ATD's. So your 5 would be equal to 50 for me. 50mg is way to much for me...I get very sore muscles and go from freezing to sweaty hot in a matter of minutes...that sucks! I reduced down to 37mg for a few months and then down to 25mg. I still feel a bit achy at 37 but get hot flashes at 25. So I think somewhere in the middle is good for me. I think you should go by how you feel.

I looked back on my notes and the TPO shows the antbodies for Hash or graves or thyroid tissue damage. I think you could ask your doc to get tested for Hash once you know what your TSI test shows. Also, you do have a goiter and your high TPO could be from that. Did you also get a TRAb test?That will help give a greater picture of your graves. Hang in there Malbers...its just one more step in the stair case...Hugs...Kathy

Yes, TRAb or TBII and a TSI too. Your Free Ts are just a teensy bit too low. If these were mine I would want both of them at mid ranges to see where I felt my best at before making any judgement call to discharge from the Endo's care.

For you, your symptoms sounds hypO!

Take care... :-)

Malbers - yay! You are getting TSI done ! TPO can be a marker for bot Graves and Hashi so it's hard to say. I'm not sure how a goiter would factor in the high TPO (a good question to ask?) Freezing and gaining weight is definitely on the hypo side.

Yes, that's what my Endo did, too - as soon as I was inside the ranges (after RAI) they wiped their hands and shipped me off to my family Dr. Now I have to remember to be asking for tests because my GP never remembers anything:)

So I called my endo again on friday still confused by my symptoms. He says you cant argue with a good blood test, I should feel NORMAL. I explained how I have been feeling hes says its not my thyroid anymore. He says it may just be from the ATD, saying it causes bone and muscle aches, dizziness, frequent bms, muscle spasms, weight gain and an overall unwell feeling. So why do I only feel that way when my numbers are low? I asked him what anti body test he gave me in nov 2007 it was a TSH receptor test. It was 17 and he says it should be under one.I asked about hashis because of the high TPO he says it just indicates thyroid disese. Again he left me with more questions and now I dont have an endo.

malbers:

Look for another Endo. Check that the new Endo will look at the Free Ts and know that just because it's in the 'normal' ranges doesn't mean that either you or I or anyone else will feel our best there. We all feel differently from one another any where in the 'normal' ranges! :-(

You can even have your regular doctor monitor you in the exact same way.

I am glad I have doctors who understand where I need to feel my best at so I can have the Methimazole (MMI) adjusted accordingly!

Geez...some doctors just PMO'd!!! :-(

Hey Malber's....I think that once your TSH RAb test comes back...Canada's version of TSI....you will have a better picture. It took 3 weeks for my results to come back. You've been on ATD's for a while now and your TSI could show a lowering.

This is just my opinion...I think your in a good place. I look at your test results and I think your still on the hypo side. Your FT4 and FT3 is still a bit low in your normal range. I would shoot for your FT4 to be at around 12 and your FT3 around 5 or 5.5. Lowering your meds can help do that. Your at the point where tweaking your meds is up to you. You have to go by how you feel. I've had to do the same thing. Your doc cant tell how you feel.

malbers,
I think you're kind of doing what I'm doing, maybe moving into hypothyroidism. I would lower till you're down to 2.5 I have been doing that for 2 months and my tsh is 10.67! Even though my tsi is higher now than it was, Elaine has told me I have blocking antibodies (TRab) and it's causing me to be hypo on a small amount of meds. She thinks I should be on block and replace or even just replacement. See.. taking the meds is causing the thyroid hormones from rising so it's working against me. My gland is trying to work against this and is becoming stimulated, causing more antibodies. You can go read what I posted and what she wrote me on her site. I had an appointment with my GP today and he gave me my labs.See last time I thought he said my tsh was .14 On the phone) what he said was 14! I misunderstood. I had frees in the low normal range so i was a bit puzzled. Now I know why! The doc thinks I should stop taking the meth and so does Elaine, but I am scared! I do labs again in 4 weeks. I told GP I would go down to 1.25 instead and he said okay.I feel okay so this is weird. I do feel real tired after I take my dose though. other than that...my FT4 is 1.04 (.80-1.90) my total T-3 is 1.4(1.10-2.00) I had the FREE t-3 last time after being on 2.5 for 5 weeks.It was 2.9(2.3-4.2) I always tell the doc what labs to do and he does them...try doing that to an endo! I do have an appointment with one in April. Malbers, my anti tpo's are in the 5,000 range now!

Anti-TPOs doesn't necessarily mean anything other than the amount of inflammation the thyroid is doing. It would be a sign of autoimmune response that usually or eventually leads to thyroid dysfunction.

Take care... :-)

Brans, that really sucks!! I was really hoping that you were on the mend. I do feel hypo but not really bad. I dont want to lower the meds too fast as I have ended up hyper again a few times. I lower from 7.5 to 6.25 to 5mg now after the last blood test, I am thinking that at the end of this week it will be 3.75.

Dairy, Is the TSH Rab the same test I had? Endo called it a TSH receptor test.


Mmztcass, the endo is the one discharging me. My reg doctor and I discussed being reffered to another endo but decided against it. She is willing to keep testing me every 6 weeks insted of 3-6 months as the endo wanted. We thought it would be good to get the refferal to a surgeon before he lets me go as that is my next option. He was reluctant be is going to do it. There is about a one year wait here in alberta for surgery, that gives me enough time to try for remission still.

Thanks all for you input!!! I am so glad that I have someone to get good advice from. It helps that there are a few of us going thru the same things at the same time.HUGS

Hey Malbers...that is a very good question. I didnt know the answer so I looked it up. From what I can see it is. When I asked for a TSI test...the results cam back on my lab sheet as TSH Rec Ab...thats when I learned the difference. The TSH Rec Ab test covers all blocking, binding and stimulating antibodies. From what I have learned this test is a better test than the TSI. Normal is less than 10...mine came in at less than 5. For a positive in graves it comes in anywhere between 10 and 100. This test will tell you a lot Malbers. It takes a while for the results though. I hope yours comes in at under 10.

In the U.S. the range for TRab is 0.0-1.0 mine is 6 which means from what I can figure, half of these are stimulating and half are blocking(for me) So I don't need meds because the other antibodies are blocking the tsi ones. I don't see an endo till April so I don't know what to do, my doc thinks I should stop along with Elaine but I am kind of scared to, like trying was. Her case is different though. My thyroid is under attack! I cut the 2.5 to 1.25 last nite.I mean are people on that low a dose???if it's down to that, I would think it's not needed.Although mm, you were on 1.875 or something, right? How the heck do ya split that? How long were you on that, a long time, right?

Hey Malbers..I asked Elaine Moore about the TSH Rec Ab test. This is her reply. The TSI test is better but if the TSH Rec Ab comes in low its telling you the same thing.....So, Im guessing that Canada just dosnt do the TSI test period. That sucks! My endo told me that it is a TSI but just a different name. My Endo sucks too! Im feeling a bit defeated with the whole Endo thing!

I think we are in the same boat. My levels are in a very good normal range, and I've noticed that my athritis has dramatically gotten worse over the past month or more, I have a lot of trouble now just cutting up my kids' food. And my muscles are very sore. My legs spaz out when I lay down and I get night sweats again all the while I cannot ever get warm in our 70 degree house and I have like no energy right now. Also, I get pretty constipated and I have bleeding hemroids now because of it. I thought I might be hypo, but I'm still in normal ranges. But at least my endo isn't cutting me off cause I'm normal, I am still scheduling appts for every 3 months with the bloodwork and all.

I don't know, this sucks, but my heart feels better, I feel calmer, I feel overall happier while I feel like I have some kind of flu. Some things feel better, while others feel worse. Is there no happy medium for us?

Sorry I don't have any advice, Malbers, just thought I'd tune in and let you know you're not alone. *hugs*

Meeshell, thats exactly how I decribe it. My body aches so bad just like the start of the flu. It is getting better tho, slowly. I think the selenium is helping with that. What really sucks is that I will feel good for a few days or weeks and then one day I wake up feeling like death. It lasts days and slowly start feeling better again. I dont have the constipation in fact its the other way. My hubby is really frustrated with me, he gets mad and says well if you just did the RAI last year you would be better. I feel its unfair because I dont know for a fact if indeed I would be better. I asked him what he would do and he doesnt know. My biggest problem is that I listened to my endo and not my body and have spent the last year yo yoing like a fool. Now that I understand things better I hope I can continue to feel better. Flax seed oil is really good for constipation, my grandpa swore by it after prostate cancer.HUGS

See, this is exactly why I didn't even want to consider the RAI, among many other reasons. So, we kill our thyroids, whose to say that we will be better? Because I have heard enough people say they still suffer from these same symptoms or worse. Like, my thyroid is in normal functioning range, but I am not "cured" of my symptoms. So how can RAI cure our symptoms. Thing is, we still have Graves even if we don't have thryoid problems anymore or thryoids at all. That's why I consider RAI and other permanent treatments as last resort choices for me. Don't let your hubby get you upset, you have enough on your plate. Let him read some RAI stories and determine why you chose not to do it. My husband got pretty pushy with me when my last endo wanted to do RAI. In general, men don't think outside of the box when it comes to risks and consequences. Good luck to you!!