I truly believe in being honest with the doctor--after the fact. It was essentially what I did when my endo refused to lower my MMI dose. Twice he did lower my dose while warning me that "I would probably go hyper again" and he was wrong both times. The next time I was hypo so his office called and lowered the dose.

Being truthful about our dosages will help the next patient the doctor treats. He can't be allowed to think that it was his crazy dosing that kept you in the normal range.

So, had bloodwork again last week, and Endo's Nurse called to advise that he wants me to go back to the dose of 200mg PTU 3 times a day.... says that my TSH is still suppresed.

My FT4 is 15.3 (normal 9.0-23.0) was 15.0 last labs
My FT3 is 7.6 (normal 3.5-6.5) was 6.4 last labs
TSH is still less than 0.03 (normal 0.20-4.00)

I don't want to increase my dose! Especially not that much! I'm currently quartering my 100mg dose and taking a quarter, 3 times per day. What should I do!

Also, the coconut oil is AWESOME!

Thanks!

MMouse:

You might want to look at the Coconut oil as it will raise the metabolism. Ideally the oil is better for those who are hypO and not hypER.

{{{hugs}}}

Regarding the Coconut Oil, I'm actually just using it on my skin! :-) it makes my skin feel fabulous!

I know.

Think about this, what we put on our skin is absorbed by the body and can eventually be too much to handle. The skin on the bodies are the largest organ to absorb anything.

For an example, I am on the LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) rx which is in the form of a cream. When I put it on my skin, the medicine is absorbed and I feel the effects within minutes.

So, I've had to be careful not to go wild with the Coconut oil both taking it orally and on the skin. Even bathing with it as a body wash in the form of Coconut oil soap had me also switching with other types of 'natural' and organic soaps such as Olive oil soap, Jojoba, etc.

And also I've had to look into what I used for shampoo/conditioner as well what was used in the laundry, the kitchen, and the bathrooms.

Makes one stop and think, I know.

{{{hugs}}} :-)

I like to read what the traditional medical reports have to say rather than those things from non-traditional sources.

I read part of the reports from the AACE and ATA, and I understand where they are coming from when they suggest focusing on the TSH. Still there was another document that counters that somewhat:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1119014/

It is actually talking about "central hypothyroidism" which refers to those of us who may have low or normal TSH but lower levels of the thyroid hormones than would be expected. So the pituitary is malfunctioning, usually as a result of small, even microscopic tumors.

"The cases of the six patients described here highlight the fact that offering testing only for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) may be inappropriate."

"Each year about 20-30 people per million population develop pituitary tumours. The onset is usually insidious: symptoms of insufficiency are non-specific and progression of the disease is slow. The patients described here presented with symptoms or problems that prompted their doctors to suspect hypothyroidism...."

"If a patient has a low concentration of thyroxine and a normal TSH concentration the need for further assessment is more likely to be apparent than if the patient is only tested for TSH. In cases in which only the TSH concentration is used for first line testing, thyroxine measurements are performed only if TSH is clearly too high or too low. This approach saves money for the laboratory...."

"However, it is essential to consider the implications of delayed diagnosis for patients with undiagnosed pituitary tumours or hypopituitarism and the consequential long term morbidity and mortality. This must be weighed against any benefit gained from implementing a first line strategy of offering only a single test. Any comparison needs to take into account the patient's quality of life and the decrease in morbidity associated with early identification and treatment."

"First line thyroid testing of TSH and free thyroxine concentrations should be offered for all likely presentations of thyroid disorders including central hypothyroidism and central hyperthyroidism. A policy of testing only for free thyroxine concentrations in patients with hypopituitarism would seem to be more sensitive than testing only for TSH. However, this policy may be inappropriate in some clinical situations because of the small proportion of falsely raised results that are inherent in the design of the assays.

"Caldwell et al proposed a testing strategy based on what was then the recently introduced second generation TSH assay. They suggested that if TSH concentrations were normal then no further action was needed. However, others pointed out that cases of hypopituitarism would be missed by such a strategy." [Exactly!] "Patients with central hypothyroidism occurring secondary to pituitary disorders may have low serum thyroxine in combination with normal or high concentrations of TSH. This is thought to be the result of the discrepancy between the biological and immunological activity of TSH."

"...if TSH testing is the only test used then central hypothyroidism has to be suspected clinically otherwise the diagnosis is likely to be missed. Since many patients with central hypothyroidism are likely to be elderly, routine thyroid evaluation in this group should also use combined testing."

This is why I am traveling about 1000 miles to Denver in a couple of weeks to see an Endocrinologist who focuses on the thyroid and the pituitary and not on diabetes. She also teaches at the University.

I felt a need for a second opinion when my current endo (#2) hasn't seemed to notice that my TSH, while normal, isn't as high as it "should" be, given that my thyroid hormones are consistently as low as they are since attaining "remission" from the GD.