TSH?

[Ginny89]

I am 89 yrs young and have been taking Armor Thyroid 60 mg for 1 year.  My blood test came back with a .05 on the TSH.   I have been very tired lately and not even playing my piano or going to exercize. The rest of my blood test is normal.  My heart doctor gave me a thumbs up, also.  The doctor lowered my Armor Thyroid to 30 mg.  Does this sound right?

[Barb135]

I don't know where you're located, but if you are in the U.S. your doctor is required, by law, to provide a copy of your labs.

You should be able to call them back and make arrangements to pick up a copy, or have them sent to you.  As long as you are getting them yourself, it's nobody's business "who wants them?".  

[Ginny89]

Hello.  I had the tsh done early AM and didnt take my Armour Thiroid.  I also took everyones advice and put a call into the doctor to get the additional tests?  The MA asked me who wanted them? and its been 2 days with no reply. I will keep all of you posted. Thank you for caring and your help.

[kobrien971]

Hi Barb, I said that a .05  is healthy because from what I have read, people such as healthy children and athletes are likely to have a TSH nearing 0. It means that the thyroid is working fully on it's own and needs very little stimulation support from the pituitary. Also, this test could have been done in the afternoon, when the TSH drops, missing that the TSH in the morning is up to three points higher. .

[Barb135]

0.05 TSH is not "healthy", but it's not necessarily bad either. The new range for TSH is 0.3-3.0; however, as Sally pointed out many on Armour have suppressed TSH.

You really need the testing for Free T3 and Free T4, since those are the actual thyroid hormones.  Once on medication, TSH becomes a mute point for many of us, because it doesn't correlate with symptoms.

Fatigue can be either a hyper or hypo symptom.  When you get the tests for FT3 and FT4, please post them here, and be sure to include reference ranges, which vary lab to lab and must come from your own report.

[Super_sally888]

Hello,

when taking armor thyroid it is quite usual for TSH to be suppressed.

Your meds have to be adjusted on the basis of testing FT3 and FT4.  YOu should have these tested to know if your meds should be increased rather than decreased.  

Do not take the armor on the morning of the day you will be tested.

From what you say I suspect that you may need more rather than less meds.

please tell your Dr that you are feeling so bad and ask for testing of Ft3 and FT4.

Let us know how you go.  It is critical that your thyroid levels are optimal for your own well being.

[kobrien971]

Hello, I don't know why he would LOWER your thyroid medication, as this lowered dose will only increase your fatigue. A .05 TSH is a healthy TSH and unless you felt heart palpitations, insomnia, or other feelings of your engine being overworking, you should stay on your static dose of 60 mg. Some doctors are still used to the old measurements of TSh, which reflected a "normal" range for people who presented with thyroid disease, not for a randomly selected non-thyroid patient. Please tell your doctor that the new upper limit is 2.5, lower limit is 0 and that these are relative to how you feel as TSH is a brain hormone, not a thyroid hormone. Also, you might have some other underlying infection or virus making you fatigued. Check your vitamin D. Many elderly people are severly deficient and it will make you very weak and fatigued.