Aa
unsure of test results
im new to this forum and am hoping some one will help me to understand. I was diagnosed with hyperthyroid 1 and 1/2 years ago, i had the iodine radiation because i was tired of feeling, well tired. now i know im going into hypothyroid and just got my test results back. THS is .44 and all i know about the T4 is its normal but in the higher range. i realize that im in the normal range but how i feel doesnt reflect that. Im constantly tired, and oh so moody, im just not myself. Im just wondering if there is anything about having the levels where they are and the way i feel. one seems on the higher end the other on the lower end. all i want is to feel normal again.
A related discussion, I just got my test results back and have questions.. was started.
Your TSH level is not hypo at .44, but rather at the hyper end of range.
For Hyper/Graves, the TSH will be low end and the F/T-4 be on high end, that is normal. You probably are constantly tired because your TSH is still hyper low, or it just might be Graves', or something else is going on. Are you on thyroid meds?
For moody/depression, you might try antidepressants or anxiety medication until you get your TSH level a little more agreeable for you. A lot of us are and what a life saver.
I have to take cat naps to rejuvenate with some days napping off and on all day long. I'd rather be hyper energy tired than hypo lethargic tired, that IS, depressing! Normal may never again be a luxury for us autoimmuners, espceially with the antibodies hanging around. But we do our best by treating each of our symptoms separate from thyroid wherever possible. Good Luck!
GL,
Just my personal opinion and experience as a 12 year RAI treated Graves' patient.
For Hyper/Graves, the TSH will be low end and the F/T-4 be on high end, that is normal. You probably are constantly tired because your TSH is still hyper low, or it just might be Graves', or something else is going on. Are you on thyroid meds?
For moody/depression, you might try antidepressants or anxiety medication until you get your TSH level a little more agreeable for you. A lot of us are and what a life saver.
I have to take cat naps to rejuvenate with some days napping off and on all day long. I'd rather be hyper energy tired than hypo lethargic tired, that IS, depressing! Normal may never again be a luxury for us autoimmuners, espceially with the antibodies hanging around. But we do our best by treating each of our symptoms separate from thyroid wherever possible. Good Luck!
GL,
Just my personal opinion and experience as a 12 year RAI treated Graves' patient.
thank you all for posting your comments. I think i will try what Dr. Lupo suggested. Im to the point i cant deal anymore. Tuesday was a VERY rough day and i thought i was going to truly lose my mind. Is there any foods in which i should be avoiding. I eat alot of vegies cooked and raw im grabbing at anything right now to feel better even before i go see my endo. Vitamins? food/diet? i do exercise a little but not in excess since i dont have the energy. Thank you all again.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
There is not an easy answer to this question -- the only other option from a thyroid standpoint is to try combo t4/t3 (ie, add cytomel (T3) to the T4 treatment you are on). Adding more T4 is not a good option at this point.
On my goodness, don't even think about anti-depressants. Depression is a common symtom of being Hypo.
The next thing is your doctor did not request enough tests to make a good analysis of your problems. You need to have TSH, FT3 and FT4, also a good ferritin test, B12 and DHEA would be good ones to follow with.
I doubt whether you will ever be able to get well on Snycrap! Get your doc to switch you to Armour and requests the tests above. If he or she will not do, fired your doc and find a new one. Thyroid problems are the most underdiagnosed disease out there. I don't know if they just don't understand it enough or unwilling to learn more about it. I know many that have been willing to think outside the box are chastized by others doc's.
graywings
The next thing is your doctor did not request enough tests to make a good analysis of your problems. You need to have TSH, FT3 and FT4, also a good ferritin test, B12 and DHEA would be good ones to follow with.
I doubt whether you will ever be able to get well on Snycrap! Get your doc to switch you to Armour and requests the tests above. If he or she will not do, fired your doc and find a new one. Thyroid problems are the most underdiagnosed disease out there. I don't know if they just don't understand it enough or unwilling to learn more about it. I know many that have been willing to think outside the box are chastized by others doc's.
graywings
Dear Julia,
I have known Stella for a very long time and I have read all the comments under this thread.
It is the "written word" online and how easily it can be misinterpreted is what I feel is at play and no hurtful intentions were meant by her question. I am so glad you realized she meant nothing hurtful by her post at all .. she merely was seeking more info to be able to give you ideas, info as you try to cope with your health issues.
If you'd like to reach out to others on a regular basis (who are going through just the same way you feel and other issues you are dealing with) she was suggesting, after you hear from Dr. Lupo of course, to visit the Patient to Patient Thyroid Community where there is a whole community waiting to welcome you and continue to lend an ear and give advice and support from been-there-done that people like yourself.
Because this forum only allows a limited amount of questions per poster, the other community is available for you everyday with ability to post as needed .. it is an option to keep in touch with others who share your condition ...
I hope this helps,
Cheryl - Community Leader Thyroid
Link to Thyroid Patient Community: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/ThyroidDisordersSupport/wwwboard.html
I have known Stella for a very long time and I have read all the comments under this thread.
It is the "written word" online and how easily it can be misinterpreted is what I feel is at play and no hurtful intentions were meant by her question. I am so glad you realized she meant nothing hurtful by her post at all .. she merely was seeking more info to be able to give you ideas, info as you try to cope with your health issues.
If you'd like to reach out to others on a regular basis (who are going through just the same way you feel and other issues you are dealing with) she was suggesting, after you hear from Dr. Lupo of course, to visit the Patient to Patient Thyroid Community where there is a whole community waiting to welcome you and continue to lend an ear and give advice and support from been-there-done that people like yourself.
Because this forum only allows a limited amount of questions per poster, the other community is available for you everyday with ability to post as needed .. it is an option to keep in touch with others who share your condition ...
I hope this helps,
Cheryl - Community Leader Thyroid
Link to Thyroid Patient Community: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/ThyroidDisordersSupport/wwwboard.html
yes i have been diagnosed with having Grave's disease. I also already know that there is a difference between Grave's and being hyperthyroid. I'm at a point right now that i feel like im lost again. Like im right back to where i started a year and a half ago. I guess i joined this forum for support knowing im not the "only" person going through this, or in other words im not "alone". As for my comment on being moody, im sure you didnt mean to, but as soon as i read your first comment i got instantly mad. Thinking to myself, how dare you ask that question, i know whats wrong with me and im trying to deal. But i now know it was a legitimate question and im sure you already know where im coming from. Ever had that feeling of knowing who you are but you dont act like who you are because your trapped in your own mind? I will join the other forum you mentioned. Thankyou for letting me know about it.
Oh I'm sorry Julia I forgot to mention that - if you are looking for additional support on questions with your thyroid disease - please check out the Community Member forum too on this site.
This expert side of the forum is designed for Dr Lupo to give his medical opinion on your situation, where - if you post over on the community side - you will see alot of members over there that are outstanding at giving support and guidance through this difficult time for you.
Good luck and hope to see you posting on the Community side too!
This expert side of the forum is designed for Dr Lupo to give his medical opinion on your situation, where - if you post over on the community side - you will see alot of members over there that are outstanding at giving support and guidance through this difficult time for you.
Good luck and hope to see you posting on the Community side too!
Have you been actually diagnoised with Grave's disease or just hyperthyroid? There is a difference.
You might feel better at a little higher level within Labs range of course. If 4.1 is your level to feel your best at, far as I am concerned, that is where your level should be. I don't know if 4.1 is within your Labs range, but it's within mine, so I don't see the harm. However, it takes time for our system to adjust to each med. dose change and the new level, just keep that in mind. When my levels are too hypo for me, my hyper symptoms disappear, however, new symptoms pop up as hypo symptoms. Although, we are not all alike, nor our levels to where we might feel our best. In other words, one shoe does not fit all.
Suggest to doctor, about the antidepressants. But keep in mind that antidepressants are just like thyroid medication, one brand does not fit all, so it also might be a trial and error situation to find one that works for you, but once you find the right one, it will be worth it. Anxiety medication saved my relationship with my sister and some friends. Our family and friends don't understand the changes that our body and minds go through and their tolerance is short. They can not see the sickness in us and some believe unless we are on our death bed, we are not sick. That is, they need to see it to believe it, some physical evidence.
You are not a twit for ever asking questions, that is how we learn, and personally I like to learn something new every day no matter how small or how twitty it might be. Once Graves' always Graves', as long as we have the Graves' antibodies, and, there is no cure or treatment for antibodies - science has not come up with a cure or treatment for the immune system, yet. Antibodies can go up and down in levels to where we might think they are no longer present, but they are there someplace to pop up again any time they want. But the antibodies can't play havoc with a thyroid that is 100%
non-functional/ablated or not there. Graves' treatment is to cure the Hyper side of Graves' and not Graves' itself. I also believe that Graves' comes with its own symptoms and that is why we may never feel normal again. I don't want to discourage you for we can live a happy normal life with few possible adjustments like treating symptoms separately where possible. This disease is slow and takes time, so hang in there and don't get discourage. Good Luck!
GL,
Just my personal opinion and experience as a 12 year RAI treated Graves' patient.
Suggest to doctor, about the antidepressants. But keep in mind that antidepressants are just like thyroid medication, one brand does not fit all, so it also might be a trial and error situation to find one that works for you, but once you find the right one, it will be worth it. Anxiety medication saved my relationship with my sister and some friends. Our family and friends don't understand the changes that our body and minds go through and their tolerance is short. They can not see the sickness in us and some believe unless we are on our death bed, we are not sick. That is, they need to see it to believe it, some physical evidence.
You are not a twit for ever asking questions, that is how we learn, and personally I like to learn something new every day no matter how small or how twitty it might be. Once Graves' always Graves', as long as we have the Graves' antibodies, and, there is no cure or treatment for antibodies - science has not come up with a cure or treatment for the immune system, yet. Antibodies can go up and down in levels to where we might think they are no longer present, but they are there someplace to pop up again any time they want. But the antibodies can't play havoc with a thyroid that is 100%
non-functional/ablated or not there. Graves' treatment is to cure the Hyper side of Graves' and not Graves' itself. I also believe that Graves' comes with its own symptoms and that is why we may never feel normal again. I don't want to discourage you for we can live a happy normal life with few possible adjustments like treating symptoms separately where possible. This disease is slow and takes time, so hang in there and don't get discourage. Good Luck!
GL,
Just my personal opinion and experience as a 12 year RAI treated Graves' patient.
thank you for your response graveslady. yes i am on meds. synthroid .15mg. 6 months ago my levels were around the 4.1 mark and i did feel better back then then i do now. Could it be that my "normal" range to feel better is different then the labs "normal range"? I have done some homework but now im feeling like i know nothing about this illness. I was diagnosed with hyper/graves, multinodular goiter 11/2 years ago that made it hard for me to swallow pills bigger then a pea. That part has become much better, as i dont even see the thyroid when i look in the mirror anymore. I go see my specialist in a couple of weeks because of the way im feeling. Should i be asking about the antidepressants? I caught myself almost losing it over something trivial with my son the other day. im angry at myself but glad i figured it out before i started yelling. Like you, i take cat naps during the day or i find i cant function properly after 3 pm. I realize that and have accepted the fact that life if full of changes but some sort of feeling "normal" i would have open arms for. I have another question, i feel like a twit but here it goes. being diagnosed with graves will that part ever go away? or is this something i will have for the rest of my life as well?
And for this forum....its nice to have someplace i can go when feeling down where others really KNOW how i feel. thankyou to everyone im sure i say that for alot of people.
And for this forum....its nice to have someplace i can go when feeling down where others really KNOW how i feel. thankyou to everyone im sure i say that for alot of people.
You are reading content posted in the Thyroid Cancer / Nodules & Hyperthyroidism Forum
We tapped the CDC for information on what you need to know about radiation exposure
Endocrinologist Mark Lupo, MD, answers 10 questions about thyroid disorders and how to treat them
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
