Hashimotos

[bthenurse]

Hi i have a question. i had positive antibodies in 2008 but my doc never treated. tsh was through the roof. i was very symptomatic and still am. i have gained 30lbs in 2 yrs! will synthroid help with wt loss?

[bthenurse]

i have never had an enlarged thyroid though. they said subacute thyroiditis? does that sound right to you? i am following up with a new doc hopefully this week. thank you so much for your help and support.

[Barb135]

I've been told that the criteria for Hashimoto's is the presence of antibodies and goiter (swollen thyroid), but I've seen where some people just say you have Hashi if you have antibodies.  Yes, you will still have the antibodies - once you get them, they don't go away and only go into total remission when they have killed off your thyroid.

If you haven't been tested since Feb 2008, I think you need to be tested again.  I can't imagine that your doctor wouldn't treat with a TSH of 10.60 -- I think that's high on any lab's reference range.  

I think you should call your doctor and ask for Free T3, Free T4 and TSH to be run.  If you are having hypo symptoms, you would most likely benefit from med.  In the meantime, you can try taking a daily dose of selenium, use cold compress on your neck, etc to help alleviate some of those symptoms.  As far as your weight gain, there isn't much to do for that except try to eat right and get exercise, but if your thyroid levels are way off, it's going to be difficult.  

Just get hold of your doctor and see what you can do about getting the tests I mentioned above.  

[bthenurse]

the ref. range for free t4 is 1.4-3.8. so in this case i am normal i guess? but i have antibodies. do you diagnose using the antibodies? i have had all the iodine scans and us and mri of the pituitary. so they wont treat. but i am symptomatic. these labs were from 2/08. will i still have positive antibodies? i also now have SVT. and my cardiologist is treating with a beta blocker(metoprolol) but that gave me bad bronchospasms and now i am on a low dose of diltiazem. i am bad with medicine because im really sensitive to it. what would you do? i just want to live a normal life again! this all started with a panic attack on the fwy...:(
....confused

[Barb135]

What are the lab's reference ranges for the Free T4?  And yes, your TSH is high.  The new range for TSH is 0.3-3.0 even though some labs and consequently doctors, use different ranges.  

Your antibodies are way off and it would appear that you most likely have Hashi's and yes, you should be getting treated.  Treatment should depend on your FT3 and FT4 levels.

Yes, you will have Hashi's and will need to be treated for the rest of your life; as the antibodies continue to destroy your thyroid and it produces less hormone on it's own, you will become more and more hypo; however, once the antibodies destroy the thyroid, they will go into remission and do no more damage - at that point you will rely strictly on replacement hormones.  

If your doctor refuses to treat you, you need to find another one who will. A lot of people prefer and endocrinologist, however, that's not absolutely necessary so long as you find a doctor who will treat primarily by FT numbers and symptoms, rather than TSH.  

[bthenurse]

will antibodies stay high? does this mean i have hashimotos? does it go away on its own or will i always have it, im confused as to whether this is a long term diagnosis and if i should have been recieving treatment or not. my doc wont treat it.

[bthenurse]

11/20/07

TSH 3rd generation: 0.20
t3 uptake-30
t4, total-9.3
free t4, index-2.8

2/1/08
thyroglobulin antibodies: >3000
thyroid peroxidase- 417
t3,total- 185
t3,uptake-29
t-4, total-7.8
free t4- 2.3
tsh-10.60

[Barb135]

What are your thyroid levels?  FT3, FT4 and last TSH?  

The above posters are correct -- synthroid is not a weight loss drug, but getting thyroid issues under control should make it possible to lose weight.  

[dawnangela]

As above..you have to get your levels right first before you will see the weight start to move..Are you on treatment now, What dose, and by what i see and what happened with me the longer it took to get the dx and start treatment will take as long to start to feel good again..Well maybe not quite but for some it seems to take a long time..Dawn

[dpleiman]

Synthroid is not for weight loss purposes however, if your labs show that you are hypothyroid then finding the right dosage of synthroid should eventually eliminate your symtpoms of hypothyroid and create the optimal conditions for the opportunity for you to lose weight with diet and excercise, the drug by itself is NOT a weight loss drug but is  used specifically to treat hypothyroid... once you are at an optimal level and feeling good then you can work towards your weight loss goals.. Hope this information helps :)