Just got back some test results from last week and was shocked to learn that my TSH is now at an astonishing 28.7!
To refresh your memory - the 'normal' range is 0.3 - 5.0 (more or less)...and many docs feel that it really shouldn't be above 2.0 for optimal health.
I looked back at a test a couple of weeks ago and it had shot up to 16.0 - but gone unnoticed as doc & I were discussing other matters.
Then while at doc #2, we looked at my TSH and it was 28.7! Naturally doc #2 has put me on compounded T3 that I started today - but I'm wondering WHY out of the blue - that my TSH has decided to misbehave?
I've faxed doc #1 to see if I should stop my Zith/Mep for awhile - until Thyroid stabilizes but am wondering if others have had such trouble with their thyroid??
I'm done a bit of internet searching - trying to see what others have experienced with such a TSH level -- but it seems non-existant.
Should I expect to fall into a coma? Do I even WANT to know?
Just curious.
Thanks for any info.
Hugs &
-------------------- DR. Wiseass NOT a real doc - just a real wise Posts: 792 | From USA | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
YIKES!!! No wonder you've felt like C**P!!! I'm SOOOO glad you saw doc#2!! Now you can begin feeling better soon! I expect you to wake up tomorrow feeling PERKY!!
I don't know much about the thyroid, so I'll bow out here!
Take care and don't forget that PERKY thingy!!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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ticked in ri
Unregistered
posted
I have the thyroid thing. Last fall I wasn't feeling well - muscle aches in arms & legs and had trouble concentrating at work. I ended up seeing the neuro. He didn't think much about it but I asked him to check my thyroid. Much to my surpise (and his) TSH was 36.
Considering it was that high, I'm surprised that I didn't feel worse. I started on 50 mcg of synthroid in late Dec 04 and it took till May/June 05 on 137 mcg to reach a normal TSH level.
The thyroid problem really delayed my lyme diagnosis. Everytime I told the many doctors that I saw that I still didn't feel well - muscles still aching, the ducks blamed the thyroid problem. Even when I reached a normal TSH level, they said you need to give the thyroid more time. The endocrinologist thinks my lyme diagnosis is "odd".
I think the thyroid is fine now so I'll focus on the lyme treatment. I often wonder if lyme caused the thyroid problem.
posted
Tuti-Fruit - Thanks for your words of encouragement...and I shall pencil "Perky" in on my calendar for around Christmas, as I'm thinking it will take that long AT LEAST for the thyroid to level out!
Ticked in RI - Thank you for your response -- and good to know that even at 36 - people don't necessarily go into comas!
The thing was -- when I was at doc #2's office and he was telling me my thyroid was too low - it was like I wasn't even aware of HOW low it was even though the results were staring at me in the face.
It wasn't until I was back home that I realized that... HEY! 28.7??? That's NOT good! And then of course personal panic ensued...
So from then on I've wondered if part of my feeling so bad is from the resultant (is that a word?) anxiety I was having because of it?!?
I am wise enough to know that the mind is SO brilliant...and NOW that I KNOW I'm supposed to feel bad because of my thyroid...well d*mnit! I DO feel bad!
So folks - that's why sometimes "Ignorance IS bliss." (Of course if I & my doc had stayed ignorant too long, I might have ended up in the above mentioned coma that I fear....)
Thanks for the reply - and interested in more feedback if any have it.
Gotta go take another nap - exhausted from all this typing.
Hugs
-------------------- DR. Wiseass NOT a real doc - just a real wise Posts: 792 | From USA | Registered: Jan 2005
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
doc,
I'm underactive too; been for 20+ yrs. We'll be on synthroid pills the rest of our lives for it. My dosage has changed 1 or 2 times since.
Hubby is OVERactive with Grave's disease of the eyes; Betty Davis eyes. His dosage changes ever so often. He even took a radioactive pill after he was diagnosed.
quote:Originally posted by DR. Wiseass: Tuti-Fruit - Thanks for your words of encouragement...and I shall pencil "Perky" in on my calendar for around Christmas, as I'm thinking it will take that long AT LEAST for the thyroid to level out!
Yeah, it will take awhile, but I'll bet you will notice a difference within the next few weeks. And yes, the thyroid plays a large role in the anxiety issues.
--------------------------
ticked....Lyme can destroy one's endocrine system, so thyroid issues are fairly common.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Linda LD
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6663
posted
hey doc,
The thyroid was making you anxious--the hurricans targetting your family didn't help. For my twin and I our thyroid stuff coincided with 9/11. My other sisiter was tsh of 64 one time--she had thyroid cancer.
It takes forever to get it straightened out but I could tell i was feeling better immediately!
Linda
Posts: 1171 | From Knoxville, TN US | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
Hey Doc WOW I am so sorry I have had hypo thyroid most all of my life. One of my first symptoms although I did not know it then was that my numbers were way up there in the 30's and above. I have not been able to get it under 25 even with mega doses of meds. It will take about 30-60 days to feel alot better but hopefully you will begin to have more energy soon. My thoughts and prayers are with you. mimi
Posts: 343 | From usa | Registered: Dec 2004
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HEATHERKISS
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6789
posted
Yup yup yup!
Hi Wise,
I'm on synthroid. Before the thyroid problems I slept 10+ hours a day.
I would get up and get ready for work only to fall asleep in my clean work clothes on the couch.
Feel better!
We miss you on the board.
-------------------- HEATHER
Posts: 1974 | From ABERDEEN, NJ 07747 | Registered: Jan 2005
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Starphoenix
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 2402
posted
I can relate. I have thyroid disease, and I was once in the ER with heart symptoms. The TSH was high....
As a matter of fact, I have to call my new PCP (saw him only once) because I haven't had tests in months! And I feel more hyperthyroid now. (I've gone there before with hypo treatment.)
I take Armour. It's derived from pig thyroid glands. Sounds gross, but it works! I can't take synthetics. I am too sensitive to them.
It can take some adjusting from time to time, but there is help!
Steph
-------------------- Learning to love, and loving to learn. Posts: 1318 | From Shohola, PA | Registered: Apr 2002
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Well I guess I didn't make it clear in my first post as communication is not my best right now....but I've been playing in the LOW thyroid sandbox now for about 11 years.
I got Hashi after giving birth to my daughter & have mostly been on Synthroid ever since.
I've had a brief stint with Armour, Cytomel, and some compounded T3 -- which I'm now taking again... it's just a mystery to me as to WHY my TSH levels were PERFECT in late August and then in early November it's a d*mn 28.7 ???
To my recollection, I've done nothing different - taken nothing different to justify such a nose dive! The only thing I can think of is stress.
Can a little bit of stress (positive or negative) impact an already supplemented thyroid??? Now that's a question for the medical researchers....but I won't bother them as I'm sure they're busy trying to find a cure for Lyme disease...or the scary @ss bird flu.
I keep forgetting that laughter takes more energy than I have.....@#$%!!!
Thanks for the replies.
Hugs &
-------------------- DR. Wiseass NOT a real doc - just a real wise Posts: 792 | From USA | Registered: Jan 2005
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Linda LD
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6663
posted
Hey doc,
Remember--hashis is a desease of teenage girls. Your hashi got out of control after the pregnancy but you had it since being a teenager.
Be sure and have your youngin tested every year now--'cause hashis is hereditary!
X&O
Linda
Posts: 1171 | From Knoxville, TN US | Registered: Dec 2004
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Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
(TSH is thyroid stimulating hormone)
"Measurement of Pituitary Production of TSH.
Pituitary production of TSH is measured by a method referred to as IRMA (immunoradiometric assay).
Normally, low levels (less than 5 units) of TSH are sufficient to keep the normal thyroid gland functioning properly.
When the thyroid gland becomes inefficient such as in early hypothyroidism, the TSH becomes elevated even though the T4 and T3 may still be within the "normal" range.
This rise in TSH represents the pituitary gland's response to a drop in circulating thyroid hormone; it is usually the first indication of thyroid gland failure.
Since TSH is normally low when the thyroid gland is functioning properly, the failure of TSH to rise when circulating thyroid hormones are low is an indication of impaired pituitary function.
The new "sensitive" TSH test will show very low levels of TSH when the thyroid is overactive (as a normal response of the pituitary to try to decrease thyroid stimulation).
Interpretations of the TSH level depends upon the level of thyroid hormone; therefore, the TSH is usually used in combination with other thyroid tests such as the T4 RIA and T3 RIA."
ALL hormones are proteins and all proteins need Mg to be made. Mg and B vits dive (they work together) with stress.
??? However, if the infection is getting under control and IF your Mg-B vits levels are climbing, you might once again be able to make more of the hormones (including more TSH) and this would then represent a more accurate picture of what was happening. In other words, when your TSH was lower, it wasn't a true picture...now it is. Your pituitary is/has been trying to stimulate your thyroid.
Posts: 9481 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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Right now I'm not thinking really clearly and can't fully grasp what you wrote - but I have faith that at some point I will better understand.
I will attempt to read & understand the link you gave, as well!
AND I am quite certain that the explanation you just gave is probably a more understandable one than what either of my doctors will end up giving me! Still waiting to hear from one.... waiting right here by my phone...oddly enough it has yet to ring???
Hugs, DR
-------------------- DR. Wiseass NOT a real doc - just a real wise Posts: 792 | From USA | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
I have had Lyme 29yrs. and started treatment and thyroid med in '99. Everything had been fine I felt until I moved out of state and got a new internist (kept the LLMD). The internist kept saying you are taking too much thyroid, drop it down x amount, retest and see you in 30 days. This went on for 5 months. He came in and said the same thing. I said I am on nothing, I am freezing and my hair is falling out. He didn't say a thing so I have not returned. Saw my LLMD in June he looked over all my tests and did not say a thing. I went to a new Lyme doc. where I live now later in June, he looked at my tests and said your thyroid is not right. You are normal range but your TSH has been running at 74, he felt my neck (no else had)...lets get you an ultrasound. I had cancer surgery last month. Now I am being treated for my Lyme infection number 4. I think it is so important to question the doctors and darn sure if you say it hurts, they had better put their hands on you and check it out. Good thing we have this group. Hang in their Wiseass and good for you for questioning both doctors.
Posts: 52 | From Arizona , USA | Registered: Jun 2002
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I'm SOOOO glad you saw doc#2!! Now you can begin feeling better soon! I expect you to wake up tomorrow feeling PERKY!! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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