Appropriate TSH levels after complete thyroidectomy

[Denise23]

My husband had a complete thyroidectomy one year ago due to a small cancerous mass.  He is on 175 mcg synthoid, his latest TSH levels went from .15 to .07.  He has his levels checked every 3 months.  The doctor does not want to change dosage.  He has extreme fatigue.  Is there a significance to it being so low.  

Thank you
Denise


This discussion is related to TSH level elevates after increasing Synthroid.

[nissah46]

The desired TSH for cancer patients is 0.1 or less. The TSH needs to be suppressed to keep any remnant cells from growing. His TSH level is good.
Trish

[laura1967]

Hi Denise and welcome! The doctor is trying to keep your husbands levels supressed because of the cancer which is very important. BUT...he should also be having a Free T4 and Free T3 tests done with the TSH in order to get a complete picture of what is going on. How does the dr know the active level of hormone in his system otherwise? TSH is not the tell-all of what is going on. He may have normal ranges of T4 but low on T3 for example. This could cause symptoms of hyper and hypo both.  Or he could be hyper and that could cause fatigue. My point is that without all 3 tests being run you are not getting a complete picture. I would politely demand these tests.  :)
Hope this helps.