Recently diagnosed, just started Synthroid

[808_guy]

For quite some time I've just felt bad. Tired, havent been thinking right, and some fairly decent depression with a real lack of motivation. I finally went in for routine check up and the blood work came back with a TSH of 6.11. We waited 6 weeks to retest and it came back at a 5.6. He left the option for medication up to me, and I thought if it could help with these symptoms, maybe I should just go for it. I got my prescription, and its for .1MG of Synthoid. I have taken it for 2 days.

The problem is this. After more and more studying, I've realized he doenst seem to have any interest in finding out WHY this is going on. I have no history of this in my family, and Im concerned that perhaps it was dietary. I used to eat a LOT of soy products, which I know can have an adverse effect. After the first diagnosis, I cut out the soy, and the numbers did drop. I dont know if its a coincidence or not. I am just worried that by starting it, I am setting myself up for a lifetime of this medication, that perhaps I dont really need. Its a big worry for me. I just wanted to get some feedback from people who were maybe in this same range at first. I read other peoples symptoms and how severe they are, and I start to think that maybe I really wasnt so bad off.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Barb135]

With Hashimoto's, the thyroid function declines over time, as the antibodies attack and kill the healthy tissue, so the thyroid gland will produce less hormones as time goes on. You should expect to need periodic increases in your medication, until your thyroid eventually, no longer functions at all.  At that point, you will be totally dependent on the medication and your levels should stabilize with fewer ups and downs.

Are you having the Free T3 and Free T4 tested along with the TSH?  I can't tell you how very important those 2 tests are. If you have results, please post them, with the reference ranges.

[808_guy]

I guess I will bring this thread back with more annoying stuff lol. So, I went in for more blood work after being on 50mcg for about 6 weeks. The endo called the next day, and asked if I had stopped taking my medication. I knew where this was going. I said no, and she said my TSH was now at 24. Its very frustrating considering when I started the medication I was hovering around 5-6 and she was saying she wouldnt have even treated me, but GP did. Anyways, after this roller coaster I am now at 24. I dont get it. I dont really feel worse then I did at 6.11, or then I did when I was at 0.02. I dunno whats going on. She bumped me up o .75mcg but I dont see how that will bring me down to a nice range. Im moving out of the country in a few weeks so that really ads to the fun of this. Any advice?

[Barb135]

Did she run the Free T3 and Free T4 tests?  If so, what were the results, along with reference ranges.  

Just because TSH is below range, does NOT mean you are hyper.  My TSH routinely runs at < 0.01 and I still have minor, lingering hypo symptoms. You are only hyper if labs (FT3 and FT4) and symptoms, indicate.  

Don't let any doctor try to treat you, based only on TSH; they will keep you ill.

[808_guy]

Well I had my appointment with the Endocrinologist today. She basically told me there are antibodies present, and that its Hashimotos. I guess it didnt really surprise me so much, as I had a feeling it would end up being that. I will be honest, I was really hoping it was something diet based that I could reverse but oh well. I told her how Im still feeling tired so easy, and its still a bit hard to be motivated etc, and she said that if we get the TSH normalized, and I still have those symptoms "dont blame it on the thyroid". The 100mcg shot me way over to the other side of the charts, so I started cutting the 100 in half and she will be sending me 50mcg. I hope something changes. I sleep a full night, and after a few hours I'm dosing off. Im 31, and it is really making life rough. She mentioned possibly looking at my gluten intake so maybe that would be worthwhile. Any thoughts?

[gimel]

I think that what you need the very most is a good thyroid doctor.  By that I mean one that will treat you clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and free T4 as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results.  

Yur doctor clearly does not recognize that a suppressed TSH does not automatically mean that you are hyper, unless it is accompanied with hyper symptoms, due to excessive Free T3 and Free T4, which your doctor doesn;'t want to bother testing.  Clearly your doctor has the "Immaculate TSH Belief", by which he only wants to use TSH to diagnose and treat you.  That is absolutely wrong.  

You can get some good insight into clinical treatment from this letter written by a good thyroid doctor for patients that he sometimes consults with from a distance.  The letter is sent to the PCP of the patient to help guide treatment.

http://hormonerestoration.com/files/ThyroidPMD.pdf

By the way, while taking 200 mcg of Synthroid a day for over 25 years, my TSH was about .05, without ever having any hyper symptoms.  In fact I continued having hypo symptoms until finding this Forum and learning about the importance of Free T3.  Got my Free T3  tested and confirmed low in the range.  Meds were changed to T4/T3 combo, and after some tweaking of dosage, I now feel best ever.  

[808_guy]

So after a month and a half of 100mcg of Synthroid, I had blood drawn today in anticipation of meeting with the Endo for the first time next week. 3 hours after leaving the office, she called me. She said the previous doctor prescribed way to large of a dose, and that I am now hyper. My TSH came in at .02 and she said the T4 was a mess too. She is going to start me on 50mcg, although she said that if I was in her office with my original numbers, she wouldn't of treated it to start with.

I'm not totally sure what to make of it all. I was feeling better a few weeks after I started, and I have been noticing lately that I dont feel so good, and getting tired again. Im wondering, sense synthroid takes times to work, that maybe somewhere a few weeks after taking it I hit a nice normal range and felt good, and then after some more time it brought my hyper and made me feel worse. I don't get it though. I dont seem to have the symptoms of what I thought hyper would be. Im back to being tired very easy, and a little down. Any thoughts?