Hyperthyroidism

[Renie70]

Had my thyroid removed in 2004 and still don't have the meds done.  Can someone explain how my doctor says my TSH level is .15  and she decreased my meds from .88 mcg to 75mcg?  I don't get it.  Does it mean my pituitary is now giving me too much hormones? I read but about all this but I definitely don't understand it.  I am so tired and every muscle and bone in my body hurt. I can barely get up from a chair...but once I get up, I'm better.  I rarely get any sleep and it's so frustrating.  
When will I feel normal?  ever?

[AR-10]

How long were you on the dosage of 88mcg?
How long have you been on 75mcg now?

When your thyroid was removed, was cancer found?
Did you have RAI after surgery?

Sorry for so many questions, but I'm just trying to understand.

Your TSH was low, slightly hyper, so your doctor reduced your med dose. If the symptoms showed up after the med change, then you may be slightly hypo. Depends on how long ago you had the med change.

Have you had bloodwork lately?

[Renie70]

Thanks for asking.  I was on the 88 mcg for over a year now and the surgery was in November 2004.  Was follicular cancer. I had the RAI in January of 2005 if I remember correctly and I have a sonogram done once a year.  
I went on the 75mcg about one month ago, but I felt sick/tired/achy/sleepless since the beginning.  I am still taking 2 days of 88 mcg and 4 days of 75 mcg.  
Aha..so the lower the TSH, the more hyper we are.  Does that mean my pituitary is overacting?  I'm such a dope when it comes to this stuff.  Blood work is done still every 3 months.
HElp

[AR-10]

The lower your TSH is, the more hyper you become.

Your doctor needs to hold your TSH below 1.0 for cancer suppression. Doctors try to keep a thyroid cancer survivor's TSH between 0.5 and 0.1 if the patient can stand it.

Sometimes the patient can't tolerate a TSH that low and a decision is made to raise it slightly to improve the quality of the patient's life.

Your TSH level is being controlled by the thyroid hormone replacement drug you are taking.

TSH is produced by the pituitary gland, in response to chemical signals sent by the body telling the pituitary that your thyroid hormones are low or high. It releases TSH to stimulate the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones.

Your pituitary is still doing it's job properly, but it is reacting to the hormone levels provided by your medicine rather than your thyroid gland, which is no longer there.

If you felt better on 88mcg, it may be that you need to go back to that. When it comes to fine tuning your medication, how you feel should be considered just as strongly as what your bloodwork says.

But for cancer suppression, you should try to hold the TSH below 1.0 if you can.