Sorry to see you are suffering. Please post the lab ranges to go with your Free Ts before we can comment further. It looks like your FT3 is very high out of range which can be the problem for what you mentioned about.

You ask why you now have to take a replacement med once you've had an RAI. It is because the RAI slowly kills off the thyroid and there is no working thyroid any more. So the replacement med would now act as your thyroid.

{{{hugs}}}

This is something I have read about, but not experienced, as I haven't had RAI treatment...but apparently one of the effects of the treatment can be that as your thyroid is being taken out of action by the RAI, the damaged cells release the thyroid hormone that they have stored inside them. So your thyroid hormone levels (FT4 and FT3) can actually go up immediately after the treatment. They will of course come down once things settle down. (meanwhile your Tsh level will be low because of the high hormone levels) One point to note is that the Tsh level and the FT4/3 levels will tend to move in opposite ways, eg when FT3 and 4 are high Tsh will tend to be low, and when Ft3 and 4 are low Tsh will come up.

So once your FT4 and FT3 drop below the normal range they will need to start you on the hormone replacement. At that time, your Tsh level will have come up...but that does no good unless you have a working thyroid. Well, it may do some good elsewhere in the body, but it won't be able to get your thyroid to make FT4 and FT3

I don't know that there is much they can do to help bring the levels of FT4 and FT3 down into the normal range, other than things like a beta blocker to help with the heart rate, and maybe something to help you sleep. The levels will drop as the hormones are used up. If they are too low, they can give you replacement hormone, which is what you are likely to need long term.

But from my own experience of how long it took to get my FT4 and FT3 within range, you should actually be there by now, and maybe below. I was quite hyperthyroid about the beginning of last November, was at my worst about mid month, and once the treatment (Antithyroid drug in my case) kicked in, I was into the normal range by about Christmas. So I went from three times the normal maximum fior Ft4 down to about normal between mid November and Christmas. Your mileage, as they say, may of course vary.

So check what the ranges are supposed to be for the FT4 and FT3. If you are using the same units as me, those figures would mean that you were under range and therefore need some replacement hormone. But since we don't know the normal range, we don't know if this is the case. Check this out with your endo or doctor since you really don't want to be under or over.

regards
John

Seem to be having an ok day and then a feel like sleeping all day one after the other but I also deal with chronic pain so my sleep is very disturbed.

NORMAL LAB RANGES

TSH (0.4-4.0/ml)
FREE T4 (0.8-1.9 ng/dl)
FREE T3 (1.5-4.1 pg/ml

MY LATEST RESULTS 1/9/12 (see new endo on wed this week)
TSH 0.05
FREE T4 1.14
FREE T3 4.34

And I'm not sure what this means? Antibodys maybe?

Hi JenLeigh,
Well, lets talk about what the measurements mean. The FT4 is the thyroid hormone that your thryroid gland produces. That seems to be in range.
The FT3 is the active state of the thyroid hormone, produced from the FT4 by various glands in your body. That seems to be a little high. Since you have had the RAI treatment, we would expect both the Ft4 and Ft3 to eventually drop down below the normal range, usually to the point where you need some supplementary thyroid hormone provided, but it does not look as if you need that yet.

The Tsh is the signal from the pituitary gland that would tell your thyroid to produce more FT4 if it was needed. SInce the TSH level is very low, it tell us that you pituitary thinks your levels are high enough, which we can see is true from the levels shown above. If your thyroid hormone levels drop below the normal range the Tsh level will come up as your pituitary tells your thyroid to make more hormone, and at that point you might need to start on a hormone supplement to maintain the right levels.

So... I am not a doctor, but this seems to suggest that either your thyroid is still working well enough, even after the treatment, to keep your thyroid hormone levels within or near range, or else you are still using residual hormones from before the treatment. This could change, eg the levels might well fall a bit later on. The FT3 being a little on the high side might explain why you are having trouble with sleep, but on the other hand that might be caused by the pain that you mention. You are certainly likely to have had sleep problems earlier when you would have had much higher thyrroid hormone levels.

So probably you need to wait a little longer for the hormone levels to come down, however that is not necessarily going to help with the sleep problem if that has other causes. You might want to talk to your doctor about that.

regards
John

I saw new endo Wed. Wow, what a difference like night and day from the first guy I saw. I feel much safer and informed already!

Blood work was taken and I call into a special numer on Monday and get my results. I almost feel like something is changing but don't know what or why. Still losing my hair, I thought that had stopped. Doc said this treatment could take up to 6-8 months to keep working and may even need another?

Thank you all for replying and sharing your knowledge! Oh, guess my right eye is starting to bulge a bit. Saw an eye specialist that same day too. I've always had big eyes so I don't notice it at all.

{{{{hugs}}}} and thanks again. I"ll be back!!!

Hi:

Please follow up with your eye doctor. Getting an RAI will have some people begin developing TED (Thyroid Eye Disease).

If your Free T3 is too high, you can experience the mess up sleep patterns.

{{{hugs}}}