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...
Should I try for an increase? The weakness is gone, that was my most troubling symptom. My mood is good also.
I'm still no where near optimal but my TSH has dropped again this round, FT3 and FT4 stayed the same. I'm currently on 75 of Thyroid ( Canadian Armour).
I've no idea how I could convince my endo to up me if I am feeling good. He will only look at my TSH anyways and it's dropped again so HE'LL be happy :/
I'm still no where near optimal but my TSH has dropped again this round, FT3 and FT4 stayed the same. I'm currently on 75 of Thyroid ( Canadian Armour).
I've no idea how I could convince my endo to up me if I am feeling good. He will only look at my TSH anyways and it's dropped again so HE'LL be happy :/
Glad you're feeling a little better. You might be interested to know that to optimally treat someone with thyroid meds the TSH should be below 1. The armour and synthroid websites both state that the TSH should be below 1. Armour actually says that zero is acceptable (euthyroid state). So, I'm not sure why your endo is freaked out about TSH - but aren't they all?
Do you have your Free T3 and Free T4 labs to share? If so, perhaps we can guide you in the right direction....
Numbers aren't everything so, I suggest that you review the lists of possible symptoms and make sure you aren't dealing with any.
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/long-and-pathetic/
http://hypothyroidmom.com/300-hypothyroidism-symptoms-yes-really/
If you have absolutely no symptoms, then I suggest you ask your endo to run labs for you in another 4 wks. just to make sure you stay feeling good.
If you do have any symptoms, I suggest you make a list to share with the endo and ask for a dose increase.
Best of luck to you!
Please keep us posted.
"Please note change in methodology and reference intervals, effective sept 9/13. Results are approximately 20% lower with the new method"
TSH 0.51 (0.30-4.00) Last was 1.41 range then was (0.35-5.00)
FT3 4.5 (3.5-6.5) Same as last bloodwork at 60 Armour
FT4 12 (9-23) Same as last bloodwork at 60 Armour
I'm not quite sure how to interpret the new 20% lower results than before numbers, I'm not quite sure what that means.
It looks like my FT4 is still really low, but when I asked him last time for a small dosage of Synthroid he argued that I wanted dessicated hormones to be "more natural" and Synthroid isn't. He just really wants this to be easy for him.
I have a suspicion but, want to make sure...
Last test was August 21/13
TSH 1.41 (0.35-5.00)
FT3 4.5 (3.5-6.5)
FT4 12 (9-23)
Boy as I look at the dates this was a full 2 months ago! Hmm.
My suspicion wasn't all that exciting (and dummy me now realizes that you *did* make a note about your earlier labs within the context of the most recent labs you shared - sorry)
I suspect that lab note applied to the TSH test only since the lab is using a different range now. (ranges change when a lab uses a different testing kit aka methodology.)
Not surprisingly, since the lab is now using a "tighter" range, the result will show lower. We know TSH doesn't tell us much but, the math will show how this plays out:
TSH 1.41 based upon a .35-5.00 range comes out to ~ 23% of range
TSH .51 based upon a .30-4.0 range comes out to ~ .055% of range
Your most recent TSH result is ~ 20% lower than your previous one.
For whatever it's worth, the treatment section of the Armour website indicates that people optimally medicated will have suppressed TSH:
http://www.armourthyroid.com/treatment.aspx
In fact, that type of statement is in the prescribing info for most thyroid meds. Are you able to access that type of information for the product you take?
As you well know, the labs that matter are the FT3 and FT4.
Based upon your lab's ranges, your FT3 is ~ 33% of range and your FT4 is ~ 21% of range.
As you've recognized, most people would need those levels to be much higher.
Truly, a Thyroid dose increase just might accomplish this.
The big (and most important) question is: are you having *any* symptoms?
"Feeling good" is quite the relative statement. Some of us have had such horrid symptoms that, once the worst dissipate, we consider ourselves to be feeling good.
Yet, some people still struggle with aches and pains.....slowed digestion....feeling cold, etc.
Others have elevated glucose and/or cholesterol levels that might improve with a dose increase.
Only you know if *you* are feeling optimal.....numbers are just numbers.