Hypothyroidism Support Group
Hypothyroidism is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyrohormone by the thyroid gland. There are several distinct causes for chronic hypothyroidism, the most common being Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism following radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Advanced hypothyroidism may cause severe complications, the most serious one of which is...
I hope ya'll don't mind, but I have come here looking for some encouragement. My hypothyroid journey started last summer. I'm on my third doctor, and I have learned to not get too excited by what doctors say because the results may be very different. Or maybe I'm just not being patient enough.
I was excited to be seeing a doctor (#3) who prescribed Nature Throid for me, stated a goal of getting TSH below 1, and FT4 in the mid range and FT3 above that. All the right words, right?
After switching to Nature Throid from Levo, my dosage has been increased twice. I am now at 1.25 grains of Nature Throid.
Here are my labs from last week
TSH: 4.61 (up from 3.64 in January) - Range .45 - 5.5 ulu/mL
FT3: 2.4 (down from 3.2 in January) - Range 2.4 - 4.5 pg/mL
FT4: less than .70 (down from .72 in January) - Range .75-2.0 ng/dL
Antibodies: over 1,000 (not tested in January) - Range 0.0 - 60 U/mL
I have an appointment this Monday to go over the results with the doctor. My lab posts results on line.
The killer is that I actually thought that I was improving. I was looking forward to good thyroid hormone results. But the improvement must be because of increases in Vitamins D and B12 levels. I'm taking vitamin supplements and both levels increased from January.
I'm discouraged because I'm already feeling a little "wired" on my current dosage of Nature Throid.
Ugh!
I was excited to be seeing a doctor (#3) who prescribed Nature Throid for me, stated a goal of getting TSH below 1, and FT4 in the mid range and FT3 above that. All the right words, right?
After switching to Nature Throid from Levo, my dosage has been increased twice. I am now at 1.25 grains of Nature Throid.
Here are my labs from last week
TSH: 4.61 (up from 3.64 in January) - Range .45 - 5.5 ulu/mL
FT3: 2.4 (down from 3.2 in January) - Range 2.4 - 4.5 pg/mL
FT4: less than .70 (down from .72 in January) - Range .75-2.0 ng/dL
Antibodies: over 1,000 (not tested in January) - Range 0.0 - 60 U/mL
I have an appointment this Monday to go over the results with the doctor. My lab posts results on line.
The killer is that I actually thought that I was improving. I was looking forward to good thyroid hormone results. But the improvement must be because of increases in Vitamins D and B12 levels. I'm taking vitamin supplements and both levels increased from January.
I'm discouraged because I'm already feeling a little "wired" on my current dosage of Nature Throid.
Ugh!
Please keep us in the loop.
Hope you feel better!
I'm no doc and you're seeing yours soon but with antibodies that high I might hazard a guess you are having a major episode of thyroiditis, meaning not just Hashi's but an actual inflammation...
What dosage of levothyroxine/synthroid were you on BEFORE this switch and how long have you been on your current dosage of Naturethroid?
Here is my medication history:
July 29, 2015 to December 12, 2015: 50 mcg Levothyroxine
December 13, 2015 - Feb 6, 2016: 3/4 grain Nature Throid
Feb 7, 2016 - Feb 14, 2016: 1 grain Nature Throid
Feb 14, 2016 to present: 1 1/4 grain Nature Throid
The quick jump from 1 grain to 1 1/14 grain followed the instruction from my February 7, 2016 doctor appointment that I take 1 grain for 1 week and then increase to 1 1/4. If there were no hyper symptoms (jitters and heart palpitations) at 1 1/4, I was to keep taking 1 1/4, which is what have been doing.
Any light you can shed on this would be greatly appreciated!
They started you off just a tad bit above the normal conversion, which makes sense since they're actually shooting for the targeted ranges listed above (again, good doctor!)
To sum things up: You've made steady progress on increasing your naturethroid, and that's a good thing, but your numbers (lab wise) are plummeting.
Your Free T3 is at zero percent of range and your Free T4 is below range, add to that an increase in TSH and you've got a witches brew going on there. I'm glad you're feeling better, but sorry you lab numbers suck. However, we are NOT a lab number. We use them as guide-posts to help us along the way, but you have to factor in your symptoms - which is why the symptoms notebook is so important. If you're feeling ok at these numbers, I wouldn't worry too much. However, if you're already feeling wired or wired and tired then there's a problem that needs addressing.
B and D vitamins are essential and B vitamins can absolutely give you a boost in energy.
I see that some kind of antibodies were tested, but weren't tested in january, so there's no way to tell what's up...if they're on the rampage or not.
If you have Hashi's you should have had TWO lab tests done - anti-TPO and TgAb. Did you have both of those? If not...get 'em.
Now for my theory about what's up with you:
As you can see here: http://centraldrugsrx.com/pdf/Thyroid_Conversion_Chart_08-13a.pdf
You're on the equivalent of 125-137 mcg of synthroid/levothyroxine at 1.25 grains of NatureThroid.
However, In Naturethroid there's about 47.5 m cg T4 and about 11.25 T3 mcg in 1.25 grains. So, as you know, not all is equal (it's not all T4 as it was before...and you're getting slightly less T4 than you were to begin with when you were on levothyroxine ONLY).
So, it makes sense that your Free T4 would fall on your current dosage. You would expect your Free T3 to go up, but I think you have two things going on here:
1. Your free t4 is slightly below where you were to start with
2. Your TSH is indicating you have an issue going on at 4.61 - most likely a hashimoto's attack (thyroiditis) which can cause your thyroid to produce LESS than it was before and I think that's probably the root cause of your short-fall in both Free T4 and Free T3. There's no way to tell from your labwork, but it would make perfect sense if that were the case...so get those labs, K?
Here's the other thing....I wouldn't give up yet, and I would ask your doctor for another gradual increase (this is where the patience you mentioned comes in...it took me a good 8 months to get transferred over to armour from synthroid...and then I ended up supplementing with synthroid anyway). I'm not saying it will take you 8-12 months, but I think it will require a few more adjustments.
So, keep plugging with the increases, and keep us posted, K? Let us know what the doc says.
PS Here's more on Hashi's just in case you have it and have tested positive for both things:
You might want to get tested for food allergies - they seem to be fairly common in people with a/i conditions.
More on that:
http://hypothyroidmom.com/90-of-people-taking-thyroid-hormones-will-fail-to-feel-normal-why/
http://hypothyroidmom.com/10-reasons-why-hashimotos-patients-dont-get-better/
Now, I don't advocate going on a strictly gluten free diet unless you're allergic to it. However, if you cannot afford to get allergy testing, then eliminating foods for several weeks then reintroducing them while keeping a food journal can help identify the culprits.
Be aware that if you have one a/i condition...you might develop another. I have five. Once you have more than 2, it's really hard to discern which thing is causing which symptom....which is why I mentioned food allergies and why MY symptoms journal is absolutely necessary....as is yours.
Hang in there!
On the antibodies, I have had the following tests:
November 3, 2015
Peroxidas AB Range: 0.0 - 60.0 U/mL My result: over 1,000
Intraoperative PTH Range: 14.0 - 72.0 pg/mL My result: 48.4
March 11, 2016
Peroxidas AB Range 0.0 - 60 U/mL My result: over 1,000
So, my Peroxidas AB was over 1,000 in November 2015 and it is still over 1,000.
To be honest, I don't even know what Intraoperative PTH (also referred to as PTH Intact) is. Do you? It isn't the same at TgAb, is it?
Thanks again!