Graves' Disease Support Group
Graves-Basedow disease is a medical disorder that may manifest several different conditions including hyperthyroidism (over activity of thyroid hormone production), infiltrative exophthalmos (protruberance of one or both eyes and associated problems) and infiltrative dermopathy (a skin condition usually of the lower extremities). This disorder is the most common cause of...
Hi everyone,
I need some advice regarding my recent labs. A quick recap:
I was diagnosed with GD in August 2011, Dr. overmedicated me with MMI and I became hypO. My MMI dosage was finally lowered in January 2012, and my new Dr. has been gradually lowering the dosage. I've been at 2.5mg a day for a little over 3 weeks now, but I still feel hypO.
Current symptoms:
fatigue
anxiety
hair loss
sensitivity to cold
***jittery/racing/fluttering heart
***swollen upper arms, legs (from thighs to ankles), face
***loose stools
The symptoms with the ***s are new; these started in the past 3 weeks, since I've been on the new 2.5 mg dosage.
My questions:
1. When I was initially diagnosed with GD, the MMI brought down my hyperthyroid symptoms fairly quickly (within weeks). Is it normal for it to take significantly longer for anti-thyroid-medication-induced hypothyroidism symptoms to be controlled?
2. From your experience, would you say I should stay at the 2.5 mg a day for now and see if my levels keep improving? Or should my dosage be lowered to 1.25 mg a day?
Here are my labs:
7/15/2011
Free T4 3.63 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH less than 0.01 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** Prior to starting methimazole.
8/5/2011
Free T4 3.39 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH less than 0.01 (Range 0.35-4.0)
T3 379 (Range 58-158)
TPOAB less than 3.0 (Range: less than 5.6)
ESR Westergren 8 (Range 0-20)
*** Prior to starting methimazole.
10/3/2011
Free T4 1.1 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH less than 0.01 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** 10mg/day of methimazole. Most hyper symptoms gone or decreased.
10/27/2011
Free T4 0.9 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH 0.01 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** 10mg/day of methimazole. HypO symptoms began and increased.
1/9/2012
Free T4 0.74 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH 9.24 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** 10mg/day of methimazole. Severe hypO symptoms.
2/20/2012
Free T4 1.03 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH 5.24 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** 5mg/day of methimazole. Severe hypO symptoms are mostly gone, but definitely still feel hypO.
3/15/2012
Free T4 1.18 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH 3.69 (Range 0.35-4.0)
T3 94 (Range 58-159)
*** 2.5mg/day of methimazole. Still have hypO symptoms; listed at the top of this post.
Thanks so much for reading this! :-)
I need some advice regarding my recent labs. A quick recap:
I was diagnosed with GD in August 2011, Dr. overmedicated me with MMI and I became hypO. My MMI dosage was finally lowered in January 2012, and my new Dr. has been gradually lowering the dosage. I've been at 2.5mg a day for a little over 3 weeks now, but I still feel hypO.
Current symptoms:
fatigue
anxiety
hair loss
sensitivity to cold
***jittery/racing/fluttering heart
***swollen upper arms, legs (from thighs to ankles), face
***loose stools
The symptoms with the ***s are new; these started in the past 3 weeks, since I've been on the new 2.5 mg dosage.
My questions:
1. When I was initially diagnosed with GD, the MMI brought down my hyperthyroid symptoms fairly quickly (within weeks). Is it normal for it to take significantly longer for anti-thyroid-medication-induced hypothyroidism symptoms to be controlled?
2. From your experience, would you say I should stay at the 2.5 mg a day for now and see if my levels keep improving? Or should my dosage be lowered to 1.25 mg a day?
Here are my labs:
7/15/2011
Free T4 3.63 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH less than 0.01 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** Prior to starting methimazole.
8/5/2011
Free T4 3.39 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH less than 0.01 (Range 0.35-4.0)
T3 379 (Range 58-158)
TPOAB less than 3.0 (Range: less than 5.6)
ESR Westergren 8 (Range 0-20)
*** Prior to starting methimazole.
10/3/2011
Free T4 1.1 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH less than 0.01 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** 10mg/day of methimazole. Most hyper symptoms gone or decreased.
10/27/2011
Free T4 0.9 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH 0.01 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** 10mg/day of methimazole. HypO symptoms began and increased.
1/9/2012
Free T4 0.74 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH 9.24 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** 10mg/day of methimazole. Severe hypO symptoms.
2/20/2012
Free T4 1.03 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH 5.24 (Range 0.35-4.0)
*** 5mg/day of methimazole. Severe hypO symptoms are mostly gone, but definitely still feel hypO.
3/15/2012
Free T4 1.18 (Range 0.81-1.54)
TSH 3.69 (Range 0.35-4.0)
T3 94 (Range 58-159)
*** 2.5mg/day of methimazole. Still have hypO symptoms; listed at the top of this post.
Thanks so much for reading this! :-)
Thanks so much for the super-fast response :-)
I truly sympathize with you having both Graves' and Hashi's antibodies. That must be really difficult to get your levels right.
My TPO level is 3, not 300. I'm waiting on my first ever TSI test results, so it will be interesting to see where my Graves' antibodies are at.
It truly stinks how Dr.s tend to overmedicate with ATDs for GD. I definitely do not like feeling hypO, but it's good to hear that it's normal for it to take longer to get out of the hypo hole.
The worst I felt was from November to January. Overall, I do feel improvement since one month ago, if I look at that time as a whole. But, some days are not great whereas others are decent -- so there's back-and-forth from day to day. Is that normal?