I've been hypothyroid for a long time. I've been taking Synthroid also a long time. I'm confused by my recent blood test. My TSH was 1.180 within normal range and my Thyroxine free 1.81 . The range should be 0.93-1.70. What does this mean. I'm I hypothyroid or hyperthyroid?
View 8 RepliesWondering if anyone has Hashimoto's disease? I saw a specialist a couple of weeks ago who told me I most likely have this. I went from extreme hyperthyroid to hypothyroid. Skinny and energetic to sluggish and heavy. I'm pretty miserable with it. I've just been sent a letter with my levels:
8 May - TSH .03, free T4 29.3, WBC count 5.1
15 June - TSH 15.95, free T4 9.9
6 July - TSH 12.38, free T4 8.3
Not to go into too much detail, but I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's last Dec (2012). I have seen MANY docs that have no idea what they are talking about. I have finally found a good Endocrinologist who understands hypo-thyroid....but she just wants to treat with synthetic T4 meds. I have also found a Great Holistic doc, that happens to also be a certified nutritionist as well....who understands for every action, there is a reaction. I use both of these docs to collaborate on my health and lab results...to decide how I WANT to treat my self so I can get back to optimum health.
Ready anything you can get your hands on...I repeat! Read anything you can get your hands on! Turn off the TV....and start researching your own health. It's worth it.
I am finding that docs just "treat" the already diseased body, rather than looking for the underlying cause of the disease. Your body is more than capable of taking care of itself if you have the right balance of vitamin/nutrients/minerals. It's when these levels get deficient...that's when you open the door for disease. Once that starts, your health will spiral out of control.
Find out what your deficient in and you can fix your health issues!
So, keep reading and learning. Hashi's patients....look for gluten free, fluoride free...look up iodine and it's effect on your thyroid health. (Dr. Brownstein-Iodine Loading test) Try to get back to the basics....rather than eating frozen foods and processed foods. Check into organic food (Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15). Do a Saliva test to check your adrenal hormones, check your Neurotransmitter levels too (Pharmasan Labs-run it thru your insurance). Read, "Stop the Thyroid Madness" to understand treating thyroid disease with natural desiccated thyroid, rather than just synthetic T4 medication.
There are people out there that understand how to read these results. All of the "goofy" people that tell you not to eat this, take this supplement, etc...may not be as crazy as you think. Look for a holistic, natural doc. Some are better than others...try a couple and see who you are comfortable with.
I've been told I have post surgical hypothyroidism (left side, 2010) but TSH is consistently low (0.1) or low normal (.396), I don't understand the hypothyroid diagnosis with a low TSH. Can someone explain? I also had left temporal lobe brain tumors (cancerous) and gamma knife radiation. Could this be affecting the TSH level. I have many hypothyroid symptoms, basal body temp is on avg. 96.5, weight gain, tiredness/fatigue....blah, blah, blah. My endo doesn't do too much. Currently taking 50ug of levothyroxine 6 days/week and feel horrible. There are also 3 nodules in the right side now that continue to enlarge. Any answers? Thanks.
View 2 RepliesI've been suffering with hyperthyroid and TED for over a year. My eyes are extremely dry. I can't sleep at night because they constantly run water and I find that I'm isolating myself from the world because of my weight gain and eyes that get as large as quarters at times. I was at a football game this past weekend when a stranger walked up to me and said every time the horn blows your eyes get as big as quarters it really comical to watch. I was mortified and felt that everyone was looking at me. I went home cried until I couldn't cry anymore. I guess I should have told her that I have a disease that causes this but at the time I was speechless. Has anyone else experienced this and what if anything have you done about it?
View 37 RepliesMy 12 yr old son is experiencing no BM after 4 days of switching him to this GFDF diet ... Before he was IBS .... Not sure what to do
View 7 RepliesHere are my lab results from 2/7/14:
tsh- .028 range- .45-4.5
t4 free direct- 1.86 range-.82-1.77
t3 free serum- 3.2 range- 2.0- 4.4
Last year:
lab results from 3/26/13:
tsh- .096 range- .45- 4.5
t4 free direct- 1.53 range- .82- 1.77
t3 free serum- 3.1 range- 2.0-4.4
It looks like I might benefit with the addition of t3 meds. (cytomel) to lower my free t4 and raise my free t3. I feel fine, and anytime I've tried to lower my dose of levothyroxine (.125) even a little bit (.112), I get brain fog, lethargy and GI symptoms. I've been on the same dose for 13 years and my tsh has been low since I started medication. I've only recently requested the free t3 & free t4. My main concern with adding cytomel is that it will further reduce my tsh & the dr will be concerned. This is my 3rd dr in the 7 years since I moved south & every one has been concerned about bone density & heart issues. Any suggestions when I talk to the dr? btw- no hyper symptoms :-) Thanks!
Have been on L-Tyroxine probably 30 years. When I weighed 120, cholesterol was 190, now that I am 68 and 30 lbs more, 150 at 5'4", my cholesterol is 416 (LDL in 300 range). I eat clean, no breads, cereals, carbs, etc (except only once in a while) eat wild game, game hen, fish, chicken, loads of fruits, veggies, etc., every thing super lean, fresh. take loads of supplements. I lift weights, do yoga, stretches, heavy gardening. Therefore, I find it absurd that my LDL is that high! I have absolutely no health issues except high cholesterol. Would Armour be better?
View 1 RepliesI have regular blood tests and have been given Metformin for Type 2 for the past six months. I often feel the need for a nap mid-afternoon but I put that down to the after effects of lunch! I have been morbidly obese for years and considering that, my energy levels are good. I am 65 this month and still work full-time and intend to continue. I also take Tamsulosin for an enlarged Prostate. Recently I was summoned by the doctor after routine blood tests and told I had mild Hypothyroidism for which I was prescribed 50g per day of Thyroxin. They made me feel terrible - every day for two weeks so I've stopped taking them and feel fine again. Seems like the Thyroxin gives me the symptoms of Hypothyroidism - loss of sex drive, tiredness, headaches. What's the likely outcome of not taking these awful pills? Any advice gratefully received.
View 5 RepliesI am a 50 year old woman who was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid 18 years ago. I have never been right as the Dr keeps changing my dose every time I have a blood test. He says this sometimes happens, but I constantly feel lousy, tired spotty, overweight, high blood pressure (now medicated) and IBS. I work all week and spend the weekend in bed.The mood swings are also awful. Since another reduction I am now on 100mcg and have developed an unusual pain in the lower front right hand side of my neck (can't feel a lump or anything) but get aching through shoulder and side of head.
am really getting a bit fed up now as the Dr just doesn't seem to understand how I feel and has offered anti-depressants. I have seen a specialist in the past but he was a diabetic man rather than thyroid and actually commented on the wrong set of blood results!
i guess my plea is twofold first is there anyone else out there who has had similar symptoms and 2 can anyone recommend a good specialist? I'm thinking of going privately now even though it's so expensive and thought about the Birmingham Thyroid Clinic?
When taking ADCAL -D3 for Osteoporosis and THYROXINE for underactive thyroid, there should be a space of at least 4, yes 4 hours between these medications as side effects could be upset tummy, wind and constipation etc.
So tomorrow I will leave off the ADCAL-D3 for a few days to see if this is the problem.
I am on 150mcg Thyroxine and have a fasting blood test on Friday. I take thyroxine at night as it makes me feel better the next day - like my thyroid is already working/functioning as it should be. Lots of speculation about whether to take meds before a test - fasting or not and if it could give a false reading. Wish doctors could be consistent with their thyroid diagnosis, and have not published their findings on whether or not to take meds before a blood test.
View 1 RepliesI had RAI done long ago and been on Synthroid 175. My test always come back with low TSH, high free T4, and low Free T3.
My last results were 1 week ago...
TSH .012
Free T4 1.48 (range .52-1.21)
Free T3 2.09 (range 2.20-3.80)
I have depression and would like get my thyroid ranges in a more normal profile to see if it had a positive effect on the depression.
I have tried cytomel which made me feel hyper at only 5mcg, but only tried it for a few days...
Thanks for any suggestions....
I'm 30 year old women, with hypothyroid and pcos. I lost almost all of my hair few years ago when i stopped the bcp for few months. Then i was told i had pcos due to high testosterone. Went back on the pill. I have been taking 50 mcg of levaxin for 3 years. My tsh is 3,5 and my free T4 is 12,3 (range: 10,5-23) and free T3 6 ( range 3-6,5). I have never regrown my hair and i'm TIRED all of the time.
View 1 RepliesUsually people with hypo are cold but I'm always hot & sweaty even when the temp is chilly. I'm 37, have PCOS and hypothyroid. Since having kids I've gained a lot of weight and can't lose a pound no matter what I do. I'm on Synthroid but I feel like nothing helps.
View 1 RepliesHello All- I have so many symptoms of hypothyroidism and my mother and grandma are as well so I asked my Dr. to test me. She said everything came out perfect, but I still have so many true Hypo symtoms after doing some research on here. Can anybody tell me how normal these ranges are:
TSH- 2.16 (0.3-5.0)
FT3- 3.2 (2.3-4.2)
FT4- 1.02 (0.8-1.8)
Vitamin D- 18
Has anyone heard of a special hypothyroid diet?
I would be grateful for any information please as to what foodstuffs to avoid and which ones would help.
Gas anyone heard of any medications that can cause or worsen hypothyroidism?
Many thanks
Jean x
I have hypothyroid and am taking 175 mcg of thyroxine everyday. I eat low fat diet and exercise regularly. But still my cholesterol levels are rising especially triglycerides.
Is there a connection between them? My blood reports show that my thyroid levels are normal with the current medication. Then why is my Cholesterol increasing?
What measures should I take to stop this?
hi, my gf is under treatment for PCOS and hypoThyroid and take Harmoni - F (Cyproterone Acetate, Ethinylestradiol & Folic Acid) and Femella tablets from a week. We had sex last night with protection (condom) i ejaculated outside but i found that the condom was punctured with 4-5 holes . will she get pregnant? Should she take any contraceptive pills to avoid pregnancy?
View 1 RepliesI have recently been experiencing symptoms of raynaud's so I'm wondering if there's any link.
Last check all my thyroid numbers were good and been feeling good with that.
My thyroid antibodies were in the normal range when diagnosed, so not sure if that means mine is not autoimmune or if Raynaud's is auto immune?
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's postpartum about a year ago. I was complaining of excessive fatigue/inability to return to running, and pretty bad carpal tunnel. At the time my TSH was 6.893 and Free T3 282.1 pg/dL [230-420] and of course high antibodies. My primary care put me on NatureThroid 32.5mg (25 mcg T4/T3). I felt better within the week and my carpal tunnel completely resolved in about 2 weeks. I felt great on this for a year. I had my TSH tested once during this time and it came to 2.785. I trained for a 50 mile race, including hard training with back to back long runs on the weekend. I then started training for a marathon in January with a goal time of 3:15-3:20. I was training hard but felt great. I did a half marathon March 20th at a 7:04min/mile pace. I felt on top of the world and was on track to run what I had termed my "comeback marathon". The next week I still felt good, but then the following week I came down with a minor respiratory tract infection. I was completely better in 3 days and just thought it was a small blip. I went out for a long run that weekend and felt good for the first 6 miles, and then got progressively worse and felt like I had no energy, completely flat, defeated. It was not normal but I just chalked it up to a bad run. The following week, I had a strange inexplicable flair of wrist pain/carpal tunnel for about 3 days, but then that resolved, so again I kind of dismissed it. I was able to do my weekly workouts and hit my paces although they did feel a little bit harder than normal. But every time I tried to do a long run, I crashed after just a few miles and finished feeling like complete crap. I started to get worried about my race but again just figured I needed a good taper and I would feel better. Well, my race came it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I ran the first half at my goal pace but after 8-10 miles I started feeling sort of ill, dizzy, and had no energy. Again, I have run several marathons and have had bad marathons, and this was above and beyond anything I'd ever felt. I am not prone to cramping, and by the end I could barely walk and my muscles were just spasming uncontrollably.
Ok, fast forward to the following week. The next day I called my doctor and moved my 6 month follow-up to the next week, and got blood work done (unfortunately he only tested my TSH). That week, I developed progressively worse carpal tunnel. I decided to double up on my thyroid dose, and after a few days of that, I then tripled it (so now I was taking 97.5mg (75 mcg T4/T3). I felt fine energy-wise (although was not running), but still had carpal tunnel. Then I went in to see my doctor. My TSH came to 2.94. He saw that and said my symptoms were probably not thyroid-related but that we could increase my dose by 16.25mg to see if that would help (I knew it wouldn't because I was already taking more than that but I didn't want to say that, and I started second-guessing myself that I was hypo). So I dropped my dose down to 65 mg, then back to 32.5mg. Well a few days later my carpal tunnel got so bad I was waking up in excruciating pain even wearing my braces. I was having shoulder impingement pain as well. I couldn't use my right arm in the morning for 30 mins after waking. I called my doctor asking for further testing and for him to test my free Ts. I did that bloodwork and it came out to TSH 2.58, free T4 0.71 ng/dL [0.6-1.6], free T3 3.59 pg/mL [2.39-6.79]. Seeing that my T4 was on the low end and T3 not super high, I figured that confirmed I was having hypo symptoms, even though they were technically within normal. So I started taking the 97.5mg dose of thyroid again. That weekend I upped my dose, I still felt terrible. I had a horrible run, couldn't move after, my whole body ached, and by Saturday evening I couldn't lift my right arm due to the shoulder impingement. I felt the same Sunday. But Monday (day of three of higher dose), I was SO much better.
Well my doctor looked at my results on Wednesday and said, "Your T3 is excellent." When I protested, he said rather condescendingly, "I've been doing this 30 years." Mind you, he's not an endo, he's a naturopath MD. I argued with him until he agreed to up my dose to 81.25mg. I knew this would not eliminate my musculoskeletal issues, but figured it was at least a move in the right direction. (note: he also tested for RA antibodies and sed rate and that was normal, and I don't have any joint tenderness)
I've still been taking 97.5mg dose this week, but won't be able to continue this once I run out of the extra Rxs from dosage changes. Still have carpal tunnel and morning stiffness, but my arm got better throughout the week, and then Thursday, I had a great run. However, today (Friday), I suddenly developed this shoulder impingement really bad again where I can't lift my arm. I'm thinking somehow running is triggering it, but I've never had a shoulder problem before.
Ok, so now for my question. I cannot think of any possible thing this could be other than hypothyroidism. I've scoured the internet and scientific papers for anything at all. But I'm just confused by how suddenly my symptoms worsened, and how my levels are not super low, but even tripling my dose hasn't completely alleviated my symptoms when I was great on a low dose for a year. I'm seeing a new primary care soon and am going to make an appt with an endo instead of continuing to see my current doctor who I'm really p*ssed with. But this will all take time (the endo I'm planning on takes months to get into), and I'm just curious if anyone has any insight into this or has experienced something similar. I'm nervous that I'm going to have to drop down to 81.25mg again and that I'm just going to be miserable, and that when we test my levels again they will be higher, but that I will still be having symptoms, and so my doctor will not listen to me. I know people say that it takes time to have symptom relief with dosage changes, but in my experience it seems like it happens very quickly. Like when I first started on the NatureThroid, I was almost completely better in a week. Is it normal to feel changes so quickly? And does anyone have experience with exercise worsening symptoms - like maybe free Ts are lowish and then exercise is an added stress that sort of depletes the body if it's not able to compensate with normal thyroid function? I'm not completely sure of the biochemistry (I don't know that anyone is actually), so I'm just kind of postulating.