Radha Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 (edited) for those of you who have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism, can you tell me what your TSH value was? i think mine is high but my doctor says its in normal range, its 4.26 and i was just wondering how it compares with others.........i want to try armour thyroid but dont need more problems, thanks for any input,Radha Edited June 1, 2009 by flop Typo in title corrected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futurehope Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 (edited) Different doctors have differing opinions as to the "number" that they want your TSH to be. Was that the only test they did, or did they do a Free T4?You are at the high-end of normal and may benefit from additional hormone, but be aware that POTS people are sensitive to any changes to anything, and my doctor always tends to go real easy when changing my dosing schedule, knowing that I overreact to everything. So, to sum up, some doctors may want your TSH to be a bit lower, whereas, some are uncomfortable changing anything when you are in the normal range, although at the high end.There is no clear cut answer and you will have to discuss this with your doctor.Best to you. Edited June 1, 2009 by flop Quotation removed, please use the "add reply" button at the bottom of the page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerbella Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 i am, and i don't know what i was but the cardio at one point wouldn't allow my PC to go higher as this would make my fast heart beat ever faster. i have to be careful not to take anything extra to cause my heart to beat extra fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futurehope Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 i am, and i don't know what i was but the cardio at one point wouldn't allow my PC to go higher as this would make my fast heart beat ever faster. i have to be careful not to take anything extra to cause my heart to beat extra fast. What's PC? Is that a medicine or a pulse?Yes, we can overreact in the hormone department, and our pulse can go higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthMother Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 There are a few different "standards" for TSH ... but most labs still are using ~5 as the upper limit. While many physicians respect that many of us do better at a 1 or a 2 when we are supplementing. I try and keep my TSH under 3, and my Doctor and I tweak my synthroid dose (actually Levoxyl in my case) if it seems to creep much higher.Did you ask your Doctor about a smidge of thyroid med? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoGiuliana Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 There is an established range of "normal". What is tough is that not everyone's normal TSH level is the same. I feel best when mine is close to 2.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radha Posted June 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 thanks for all your replies, my T-3 is 2.6 and T-4 is .91, does that make any difference? i am thinking of just buying armour online without a prescription to see if it helps, i know that is not best but my doctor is very strict about normal values.Radha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthMother Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Get a different doctor!! Sometimes endos are locked in, but you may find a primary care physician who is willing to try dosing with you.Thryoid hormone ... unlike other meds ... has a REALLY REALLY LONG half life. It stays in your body for WEEKS! So even on a tiny dose ... your blood levels are building up ... higher and higher each day over time.That's why it takes a full six weeks to establish a new dose level.It is such a tricky and delicate balance ... that my PCP and I were dosing one .88 pill on even days of the month and one .1 pill on odd days of the month all last year, in order to keep me in my zone. My zone by the way changed yet again, and presently I had to back down to just .88 daily.Thyroid effects SOOOOO many other hormones it would be so dangerous to try this on your own -- even if you did by overthecounter TSH blood tests to try and gauge your progress.Please try a new Doctor instead of experimenting with thyroid meds ... they are too dangerous to mess up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoGiuliana Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 I absolutely agree with EM. Thyroid levels are not something to experiment with. Even more so if you have POTS. Hopefully you can find an endocrinologist who can help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radha Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 what doesnt make sense to me is that my symptoms go with hyperthyroidism, not hypo, but my TSH is not low like it should be for hyper, can anyone explain this? thanks again for all your helpradha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthMother Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Has your endo checked for thyroid anti-bodies?I have Hashimoto thyroiditis and my hypo to hyper symptoms can change on a dime.http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/hashimotos/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoGiuliana Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 When my thyroid levels are too low (TSH too high), my POTS gets worse. So I can have hyperthyroid-like symptoms due to the POTS, even though I am hypothyroid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radha Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 do the test results for hashimotos change day to day then how do i know when to get blood drawn for most accurate results? if you are not sure you have it and dont treat it does it keep getting worse? and is armour the same treatment for it? thanks for all your replies.Radha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthMother Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 The Hashi antibodies won't be found all the time -- only when its active. BUT they are not transient, in that you won't have them high in the morning and not at all in the afternoon. It takes weeks (my sense) for the antibodies to die down with each Hashimoto episode. But MomtoGiuliana is right in that the low thyroid could be producing high POTS activity so its hard to discern between the two based only on how you are feeling.My hashi antibodies tend to show up all the time we test for them. However my PCP and I don't tend to dose my levoxyl based on the antibodies like that article suggests. Though I may ask him to think about that possiblity with me because waiting out each Hashi attack is really hard.Left untreated, as some Doctors suggest, the scar tissue from the repeated attacks on the thyroid gland form the antibodies the body is making in Hashi, will slowly lead to hypothyroidism. Because it is a slow progression, some endos figure ... we'll just wait until the TSH is really high before we'll treat. What they don't grasp is that each of the Hashi attacks are really hard on the patient in terms of being highly symptomatic ... Small doses of thyroid, to only curb the TSH from rising, prevents hypothyroidism ... but doesn't quell the Hashi from flaring. Its only when you get those TSH numbers way way down ... to the point your body no longer needs to produce thyroxyn on its own, that the Hashi doesn't act up. The theory here is that ... if the body isn't producing its own thyroid hormone ... the body won't make antibodies to kill off the thyroid gland. It seems the chemical compounds in synthetic thyroid don't trigger the same call to make antibodies to attack the gland.That said, there are some hashi people who DON'T USE ARMOUR because it is too close to an organic compound and in their case the Hashi still gets activated and produces the anti-thyroid antibodies. In these cases the synthetic compounds -- synthroid, levoxyl -- are preferred.Its a can of worms. Sorry there are no easy answers. I've been searching for one myself for years as you can gather by the depth and breadth of my response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radha Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 thanks so much for your explanation, it sounds like the blood test is not going to help me since i dont know when the right time is, if i am having a hashi episode or not and i cannot keep getting blood drawn, not that my doc would agree anyway! maybe i wlll just try the armour if my doc agrees and see if it helps, thanks again, radha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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