Aa
About this post-tx thyroid thing
I am sick of these symptoms which many of us report here, ie. sluggishness, low body temp, sweating and freezing, constipation, inability to lose weight, etc. I just had a blood test for thyroid function and the numbers came out within normal limits, ie. my TSH is 3.1 (range is 0.2 - 4.5) and my T4 is 11 (range is 9 - 21). I still feel that I am subclinically hypothyroid and I am considering asking my doc to let me do a 3 month trial with a small dose of thyroxine.
Has anybody had a similar situation to mine with normal thyroid readings tried this? If so, how did it work out for you? Any recommendations on the starting dose?
If I take the thyroxine for 3 months does that mean I will risk making my thyroid become so lazy that I will have to keep taking the thyroxine for life?
This cr@ap is becoming a serious quality of life issue for me. I hardly go out in the evening any more because I get too tired to manage social situations. I am not willing to just sit on my fat butt and watch my life running down the drain if there might be something I can do about it.
dointime
PS I am 8 months post tx and still have the virus, liver stage 1.
Has anybody had a similar situation to mine with normal thyroid readings tried this? If so, how did it work out for you? Any recommendations on the starting dose?
If I take the thyroxine for 3 months does that mean I will risk making my thyroid become so lazy that I will have to keep taking the thyroxine for life?
This cr@ap is becoming a serious quality of life issue for me. I hardly go out in the evening any more because I get too tired to manage social situations. I am not willing to just sit on my fat butt and watch my life running down the drain if there might be something I can do about it.
dointime
PS I am 8 months post tx and still have the virus, liver stage 1.
Hi LL,
I dont know that much about this endo stuff but I read that excessive thirst can indicate diabetes.
Your thyroid readings show normal. The t4 range used for me seems to have been a decimal point up, so my reading would have come out at 1.3 on your range. Your reading of 1.08 is normal. So you don't have any sign of a thyroid problem - but have you been checked for diabetes?
Thanks for the good wishes. These symptoms feel like walking through treacle all the time - it's a b!tch. Good luck to you too,
dointime
I dont know that much about this endo stuff but I read that excessive thirst can indicate diabetes.
Your thyroid readings show normal. The t4 range used for me seems to have been a decimal point up, so my reading would have come out at 1.3 on your range. Your reading of 1.08 is normal. So you don't have any sign of a thyroid problem - but have you been checked for diabetes?
Thanks for the good wishes. These symptoms feel like walking through treacle all the time - it's a b!tch. Good luck to you too,
dointime
dointime.....glad you brought this up! All you mentioned is some symptoms, can be caused from Hep C. (cept the weight thing), but I have been exploring the thyroid question myself. I'm 12 wks. post UND and now at 14 weeks post tx. While MUCH better energy, less pain levels I still do not feel back to 'normal' or even pre tx. Fatigue, muscle pain still going on (tho much less) but I am hot all the time, not hot flash's, ALL the time as in my body inside and bloat, water retain a lot by the end of each day with terrible thirst all the time, dry mouth. Don't know what it's all about but I am hoping jmjm is correct and will clear up. I have no insurance now to run Dr. to Dr.
I am confused on the ranges tho. My sheet from Shands reads this:
TSH- normal range-0.35-5.5
T4 " " ..................0.61-1.76
My 12 wk. labs were
TSH 1.597
T4 1.08
Can someone translate that please and why your ranges are different? I have all the many other ones down, these always confuse me!
Good luck with your fatigue, diet. Fatigue *****!
LL
I am confused on the ranges tho. My sheet from Shands reads this:
TSH- normal range-0.35-5.5
T4 " " ..................0.61-1.76
My 12 wk. labs were
TSH 1.597
T4 1.08
Can someone translate that please and why your ranges are different? I have all the many other ones down, these always confuse me!
Good luck with your fatigue, diet. Fatigue *****!
LL
I'm glad you finally have some answers and that things are not worse than what you already know you have. Good luck with moving a$$. :)
Trish
Trish
I had my long-awaited appointment with the endo today. He had a look and a talk with me and palpated my neck / thyroid. His verdict is that, even with my symptoms and tx history, if my TSH and T4 are normal then I can't be hypothyroid. (At my last test my TSH was 1.8 and my T4 was 13).
I asked him if there was anything else in the endocrinology universe that warranted testing for and he said that my symptoms don't point to anything else, so no reason to run any further tests. He has experience with hepC and interferon and believes that the most probable cause of my symptoms is the hepC.
Now this doc is the head honcho at a major hospital, not a flunky, and he has a good reputation for treating people not just by the numbers. So although I am generally cynical about the medical profession I am inclined in his case to accept what he said. It's a good outcome for me really, because I don't need any more to worry about than the hepC itself.
So now that I've gone the rounds and got myself examined up the yin yang it's time to get down to the tough stuff, ie. the diet and exercise that others here have found success with. Fatigue or not, it's time for this gal to move @ss.
dointime
I asked him if there was anything else in the endocrinology universe that warranted testing for and he said that my symptoms don't point to anything else, so no reason to run any further tests. He has experience with hepC and interferon and believes that the most probable cause of my symptoms is the hepC.
Now this doc is the head honcho at a major hospital, not a flunky, and he has a good reputation for treating people not just by the numbers. So although I am generally cynical about the medical profession I am inclined in his case to accept what he said. It's a good outcome for me really, because I don't need any more to worry about than the hepC itself.
So now that I've gone the rounds and got myself examined up the yin yang it's time to get down to the tough stuff, ie. the diet and exercise that others here have found success with. Fatigue or not, it's time for this gal to move @ss.
dointime
anytime doin, let us know, glad you got into the endo.
Don't let them blame it all txing, (tho it may have something to do with it) Make them test EVERYTHING.
Don't let them blame it all txing, (tho it may have something to do with it) Make them test EVERYTHING.
I saw my doc and got a referral to an endo. It will be a few months I think but I'll post the outcome here when I have it.
dointime
dointime
her e is the basics of it,
This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008)
Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
The ACTH stimulation test measures the adrenal response or lack of response to stress by testing the amount of cortisol the adrenals produce after being stimulated by a synthetic form of ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic hormone). This is a simple test. Blood is drawn to get a starting or base cortisol level (serum ACTH should also be tested), next synthetic ACTH (Synacthen aka Tetracosactide or Cortrosyn aka Cosyntropin) is injected. Blood is drawn 30 min, sometimes 45 min, and at 60 minutes after the synthetic ACTH has been injected. The test must be done for at least 60 minutes. In healthy adrenal function, the cortisol level should double within 60 minutes. If the cortisol level was a 25 before the stimulation (base level), after the stimulation should reach at least 50. Most feel nothing during or after the test, but flushed skin, anxiety and nausea are possible.
In primary adrenal insufficiency, the base cortisol level usually starts at least a little lower, such as 15,(can be much lower). If the ACTH stimulation test raises cortisol level to 20, that would not be doubling and support the diagnosis of primary adrenal insufficiency.
it does check on cortisol levels, it also has some of the same symptons as hep c
This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008)
Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
The ACTH stimulation test measures the adrenal response or lack of response to stress by testing the amount of cortisol the adrenals produce after being stimulated by a synthetic form of ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic hormone). This is a simple test. Blood is drawn to get a starting or base cortisol level (serum ACTH should also be tested), next synthetic ACTH (Synacthen aka Tetracosactide or Cortrosyn aka Cosyntropin) is injected. Blood is drawn 30 min, sometimes 45 min, and at 60 minutes after the synthetic ACTH has been injected. The test must be done for at least 60 minutes. In healthy adrenal function, the cortisol level should double within 60 minutes. If the cortisol level was a 25 before the stimulation (base level), after the stimulation should reach at least 50. Most feel nothing during or after the test, but flushed skin, anxiety and nausea are possible.
In primary adrenal insufficiency, the base cortisol level usually starts at least a little lower, such as 15,(can be much lower). If the ACTH stimulation test raises cortisol level to 20, that would not be doubling and support the diagnosis of primary adrenal insufficiency.
it does check on cortisol levels, it also has some of the same symptons as hep c
Deb - "Have you had your adrenal gland checked? Had a stym test? "
Do you have a link to where I can read about the stym test please? I don't know what that is. The adrenal gland check - is that a check on cortisol levels? I agree, a visit to the endo is in order.
Melinda - great article, very helpful to show to doc, thanks for posting,
dointime
Do you have a link to where I can read about the stym test please? I don't know what that is. The adrenal gland check - is that a check on cortisol levels? I agree, a visit to the endo is in order.
Melinda - great article, very helpful to show to doc, thanks for posting,
dointime
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/reprint/89/8/3656.pdf -Here's a link that was just passed on to me...It has a great amount of txing and thyroid issues and recommends how to manage it...It's probably saved me having to take liver toxic meds (Or something more permanent)...We can thank getrdone for this one, I believe... ~Melinda
A trip to the endcronoligist, I think is the answer, I read an article, it was a couple of years old, but it talked about the thyroid, pancreas, adrenal. pitutataries.
Connected to HCV. I been sort of looking for more info, but I know I had accident, my adrenal was damaged, they think it might have hemmoraged, BUT my Endo, said there were studies concerning HCV, I just can't find them!
Let us know!
Connected to HCV. I been sort of looking for more info, but I know I had accident, my adrenal was damaged, they think it might have hemmoraged, BUT my Endo, said there were studies concerning HCV, I just can't find them!
Let us know!
deb - thanks for that, I'll check out the stym test.
shelly - the free T4 range on my lab report is 9 - 21 pmol/L. So I guess your result would appear as 9.8 by those units and be near the bottom of the range. Good to hear that your thyroid got back in shape by itself - I wish that mine would do that, but any improvement is so slow that I am not sure it is happening at all.
dointime
shelly - the free T4 range on my lab report is 9 - 21 pmol/L. So I guess your result would appear as 9.8 by those units and be near the bottom of the range. Good to hear that your thyroid got back in shape by itself - I wish that mine would do that, but any improvement is so slow that I am not sure it is happening at all.
dointime
I wanted to correct my t4 value of .98 which is normal range. I fought with this thyroid thing for awhile and it has seemed to straighten itself out . I agree that there is a small chance of it returning to normal buit so far it has held its own..not that being in a hyper state for a long while I lost alot of hair and such but now things are coming back at a slow pace. Wishes :) shelly
http://www.thyroidmanager.org/Chapter9/9-frame.htm
"Cytokine-induced thyroiditis. Cytokines are heavily involved in immune reactions (see Ch. 7), and it is thus not surprising that treatment with pharmacological doses of cytokines may induce autoimmune diseases in susceptible subjects. Treatment with interleukin-2 or interferon-a of patients with malignant tumors or hepatitis B or C is causally related to the occurrence of TPO-antibodies and the development of abnormal thyroid function 15,16,17. The course of cytokine-induced thyroiditis resembles that of silent and postpartum thyroiditis: a rather sudden onset, a thyrotoxic stage followed by a hypothyroid stage, and usually return to euthyroidism after discontinuation of cytokine treatment. The incidence is about 5-20%; it occurs more often in females with pre-existent thyroid antibodies18."
Have you had your adrenal gland checked? Had a stym test? I would ask about that as well. Tiny little glands gets ignored a lot, but really does have a big job.
Stym test is a bit more complicated than a blood test.
How about your sugars?
Thyroid is i suppose for us a regular way to go, but have same experience with adrenal.
Anyway just a thought
Stym test is a bit more complicated than a blood test.
How about your sugars?
Thyroid is i suppose for us a regular way to go, but have same experience with adrenal.
Anyway just a thought
Jim, I read that post. You brought up a really interesting point which I have just seen happen to a friend of mine. Once we have had hepC and treatment drugs I think we seem to be forever labelled as 'at risk'. I think the docs then become reluctant to prescribe even a couple of paracetamols in case we keel over and die and they are sued on the basis of being the last to 'tinker' with us. So we are left to our own devices more than a 'healthy' person would be who reports the same symptoms.
I'll talk this over with my regular doc before deciding if I want to take it all the way with an endo. I've been reading the thyroid forum and might post there too. Seems that this is another complex subject to get to grips with - after just spending 1000's of hours in research getting to grips with hepC!
dointime
I'll talk this over with my regular doc before deciding if I want to take it all the way with an endo. I've been reading the thyroid forum and might post there too. Seems that this is another complex subject to get to grips with - after just spending 1000's of hours in research getting to grips with hepC!
dointime
My thyroid went hyper 0.0tsh then went hypo 6.2 I've been on synthroid since the diagnosis at about week 30 and am stuck on it forever. I don't know if it's worth the risk or not Dointime but it's worth discussing with the endo doc for sure.
I finally feel better lately and am just now 16 weeks post 72 weeks. For 72 weekers it takes longer than the one year that is advised for 48 weekers. How many months post tx are you?
It really CAN take up to a year if you did 48 weeks to get back to "normal".
I finally feel better lately and am just now 16 weeks post 72 weeks. For 72 weekers it takes longer than the one year that is advised for 48 weekers. How many months post tx are you?
It really CAN take up to a year if you did 48 weeks to get back to "normal".
After copying the link, put it in the address bar of your browser, not the "search" bar, if I'm reading you correctly.
Alternatively, just go back a page or so, and look for the thread titled "Nerve Damage From SOC" by MoaHunter. Or go to "Moahunter's" profile, click on "posts" and find it that way.
-- Jim
Alternatively, just go back a page or so, and look for the thread titled "Nerve Damage From SOC" by MoaHunter. Or go to "Moahunter's" profile, click on "posts" and find it that way.
-- Jim
I can't pull that post up can you direct me ? I tried to copy and paste it on the search and it won't come up..thanks
In case you missed this thread...
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/498705?post_id=post_2810954
Not sure how helpful my post is in that thread, but it does reflect my experience and that of some others post treatment. In short, you can sometimes run yourself ragged running from doc to doc post treatment, often to find the docs just shaking their heads. There is a lot they just don't know (or want to know) why many of us feel the way we do post treatment and time is often the best healer although not a guarantee.
-- Jim
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/498705?post_id=post_2810954
Not sure how helpful my post is in that thread, but it does reflect my experience and that of some others post treatment. In short, you can sometimes run yourself ragged running from doc to doc post treatment, often to find the docs just shaking their heads. There is a lot they just don't know (or want to know) why many of us feel the way we do post treatment and time is often the best healer although not a guarantee.
-- Jim
I know more about thyroid tests for dogs than humans but I would imagine they are somewhat alike. Most vets want to do a 4 panel thyroid test but the 6 panel test tells more in detail, for dogs that is. So I wonder if there are different thyroid tests for humans also that show more detail. I forget who wrote about sitting on their fat butt because of the fatigue but that is what I do a when I feel like that. 120 lbs is a good weight for me but I am at 135 now, 5 weeks post tx. I am also having pain in my foot, kinda like it is broke in the heel area. It is not plantar faceitis as this pain is on the right side, not the center or whole heel. Don't know my labs yet, I'll find out 4/30
Its a free t4..I think its within the normal range or at least thats what the endo told me but he's not all that bright...yeah its weird how post tx issues are still running common . I googled side effects of interferon tx back in february and pulled up a sight that had alot of health issues related to before and after treating with interferon. I can't remember the link but it was interesting. I hope that more txers post on this as I am doing some research myself. I will check on that t4 also still have brain fog somedays...keep posting :) shelly
Hi Shelly,
Interesting that you cleared the virus but are still getting all this. That supports what I suspect, which is that it is not directly related to having the virus but something else that can go out of whack for a variety of reasons and is exacerbated by the virus and also by tx.
What is that t4 value of 98? That seems really high to me.
dointime
Interesting that you cleared the virus but are still getting all this. That supports what I suspect, which is that it is not directly related to having the virus but something else that can go out of whack for a variety of reasons and is exacerbated by the virus and also by tx.
What is that t4 value of 98? That seems really high to me.
dointime
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