Tx side/ hypothyroid?

[medicmommy]

Okay...Treatment side # 383...(Just kidding!)...Well, I'm into my 9th week of tx and now the thyroid is pooping out...before tx, TSH was normal...Now it's nearly nonexistant...Anyone get to experience this too? Any post-txer have the TSH go back to normal afterwards?             ~Melinda

[Mikkimoe]

I think your off by 1 - should be tx sx # 384 if I'm not mistaken.:-)
Sorry about your toush - I mean tsh. Is that a normal lab - I'm coming up on wk 4 PCR Tuesday - so far everything is holding up OK - if you call feeling like a dead toad on the side of the road OK...guess it's all in the interpretation.

Sorry - but since I was no help I thought I'd try to entertain you and well you saw how  well that went. Guess it's time to drag my riba rashed raged wery scrony exhausted body to bed...gee and we wonder why foks don't want to start tx .....

I'm Good - good -  good really...think the 2 enbrel shots on top of my peg injection sites have me a bit out of sorts tonight.

Good luck with you tsh - any symptoms with low tsh?

[medicmommy]

Hello! (((((((((((((((((((((HUGZ))))))))))))))))))))  Yah, tx, ain't it FUN!?! I'm hoping for UND for you on your 4 week vl! I am SOOOO hip to your riba rash struggle! Just when I think I have mine managed, it pops up again..somedays I just want to go "starkers" because wearing anything but the lightest, softest clothing hurts...(That'd give the UPS man something to talk about!) LOL
Yes, unfortunately hypothyroid problems is another side effect...Prior to starting tx, my TSH was checked and was at the lower end of the normal range...Now, it's barely there...This explains why I haven't lost much weight...and, interestingly, the symptoms are a lot like those you get from txing...Go figure...How often do you have to do the Enebrel? Are you running out of poking places yet? Poor baby...
I hope this finds you having a better day...When the 4 week labs come back, and you have that UND reading, it makes putting up with the sides SO worth it...I forget your geno...Don't be discouraged if you are a 1a or b and don't see UND until your 12th week...It seems to be the sturdier of the genos, and fights really hard to live...LUBS!
                                                                                   ~melinda

[nygirl7]

If your TSH number is non-existent it means you are HYPERthyroid. Mine was 0.0 at about week 24. By the time I went and took the nuclear imaging scan three weeks later my thyroid flip flopped over to hypothyroid.  This is VERY commonly what happens.

I'm now post 72 week treatment and at about 16 months SVR.  I still take Synthroid .88mcg every day and will probably for the rest of my life.  The doctors say it has a good chance of coming back (thyroid function) but I've hardly ever seen it turn around again and repair itself.  It's an autoimmune disease and for some reason the inteferon thinks your thyroid is bad (like the hep) and wants to get rid of it.

Being hypo is less dangerous than being hyper - usually with hyper they will radiate your thyroid and then remove it.

You can google a lot of information about hashimoto's disease - that is being hypo.  Unfortunately most of the signs and symptoms of both hyper and hypo are very very close to what happens from treatment so you really can't tell. I know when I was hyper I dropped so much weight so fast and so much hair fell out it was nuts and I couldn't sleep at all.  Hypo I gainned weight and am tired all the time but still can't sleep (probably because I take the synthroid.)

Good luck.  Get a good Endocronologist and get the imaging scan asap.

[nygirl7]

Who told you you were hypo?  Are you sure your number is non-existent because if that is true you are definitely hyper right now.

[medicmommy]

Hmmm...You may be right...My Dr called yesterday at 9PM (!) saying my TSH was at .05...I thought she said Hypo..I was brain fogging...It could have been hyper...I'm not losing or gaining weight right now, but put on 40 lbs in the past 2 yrs without change in diet or activity level..All thyroid tests have been in lower 1/2 of normal range previous to txing...so many of the thyroid symptoms are similar to the txing ones...
I do already have a good endocrinologist (I can hear him rubbing his hands together in anticipation...LOL) -my Dr was going to send him my labs for eval...Sigh..More doc visits on the horizon...Ty for the input...                                        ~melinda

[Mikkimoe]

Interesting - I may be going that way as well. Mine was on the low end goin into this 3 months ago .83 (range is .5 to 4.5). I just called and had my dr add TSH to my lab for my 4th wk PCR.

Glad I cought this thread. Let me3 know how it goes with you Medi and btw yes I am totally running out of hinny room with 3 shots per week. My only fat reservoir is my hips/buns - hubby does them. But the Peg sure leaves big welts - like 3 to 4 inch round for about 2 to 3 weeks it seems - first one is just starting to fade.

[GoodByeHepC]

You know... I'm really starting to feel like a Lab Rat.

Before I began treatment I asked my Dr. point blank...  "can this treatment hurt any of my other organs?"  He responded, point blank... "No"

Then once my medication was delivered and I'm in his office about to stick myself for the first time he says  "Oh, by the way, this treatment may affect your thyroid and you could end up on medication for the rest of your life."

WTF is That?

In retrospect it seems like there was a major push to get people on treatment for the past few years - including subway ads by Roche
https://www.hepctherapy.net/
And Misc info on the internet Like:
http://whyfiles.org/shorties/233hep_c/
(That was the one that got me to go for it.)

But now here I am, 12 weeks into treatment and the more I learn about this treatment the more frightened I become.
Out of the 6 people who I know personally who have been treated for HepC NONE of them were SVR. Is my circle of friends immune from the statistics? If the statistics are true then at least two of my friends should be SVR. But they are not. The one person I know who decided not to treat is healthier than any of the rest of us.
In the name of full disclosure I did recently have one friend die from liver cancer. But he never stopped drinking or doing drugs and probably would have destroyed his liver even if he did not have HepC.

Anyhoo.... Just felt the need to vent.

I guess at the end of the day HepC patients really can only choose the lessor of the evils. I just wish Doctors were more thorough with the information so we could make educated decisions.

[medicmommy]

I talked to a lot of previous heppers who'd been through treatment, some who'd cleared the virus, some who the hep had progressed and currently were waiting for or were post transplant...I waited quite a while before committing to conventional tx...I did naturopathic stuff, which made me healthier, and prepared myself and my work place for when I did decide to start...Even knowing all the horrible long term effects, I decided to go ahead...I had minor liver damage, my enzymes were stable, and I'd had two friends die from complications of hep c/ liver failure...and I didn't want to chance the damage getting that far...I want to be able to enjoy my grandbabies if my daughter blesses me with any...and if I can increase the odds of that, I'll chance the long term sides...It's good to vent...:) I'm glad to have a wonderfully informed support group...

[medicmommy]

Dang...I just looked up the sx of HYPERthyroid...Yup...that's me all right...Except for the weight loss...it seems to have just made me hungrier...LOL...Figures...sigh...Call has been made to the endo Dr...Thanks again...                               ~Melinda
P.S. how on earth do you keep all this info straight?!?

[nygirl7]

Hey don't sweat it too much - most likely you are going to flip over to hypo sooner or later.  You have to call the endo or your regular doc and set up a nuclear imagine scan.  The day before the test they give you two radioactive iodine pills then wait exactly 24 hours and go for the scan. you just lay there it's kind of like a quiet open MRI - I fell asleep.  That will tell you exactly what is going on.  It's called a RAUI I think Radio Active Iodine Uptake test.  Not really a big deal.

Then when they know exactly where you stand the doc will prescribe synthroid which will manage your thyroid for you.  HOpefully after treatment your function will improve and come back.  Probably being on the medicine would be good for you because it might level you out and stop the hunger. Help you sleep. Things like that which would be good!

Hey, if you have to have a problem.......this one isn't too bad because at least it's just a pill once a day right?