High Thyroid Peroxidase

[Lester1016]

I have Hypothyroidism and have been on Synthoid for 26 years and the past 5 years every doctor changes my level of medication thinking it will help me feel better. I recently gained 18 pounds without changing my diet nor my daily routine and I am always tired when I wake up because I only sleep about 2 hours at a time and never through the night even with taking Ambien. The doctor changed me 5 weeks ago to 1.25 synthroid and my TPO shot up to 640 and my TSH went down from 4.25 to 0.245 (the 4.25 is way to high for me, usually runs about 0.35-1.30) and I'm still gaining weight and only eating about 1000 to 1200 calories a day and staying on a LOW fat and LOW carb diet. I'm constantly on the go and I'm just getting fatter and can't sleep, so I'm exhausted. Is the TPO at 640 still indicate that I'm hypo? Do I go back to the dosage of 1.00 that I've been on most of my life? Live in Myrtle Beach and don't know of any good endo specials... HELP please.


This discussion is related to thyroid peroxidase.

[Barb135]

I have a lot of the same problems - low cal diet, exercise, on the go with weight gain, only sleeping a couple hrs at a time, etc. but I'm confused.  You say that your doctor changed your synthroid to 1.25 and your TPO "shot up" to 640.  I'm really new at this, but I do know that changing synthroid affects the TSH and Free T-4; however, it was my understanding that changing med did not affect TPOab results, since the TPO is the anti-body test and you either have them or don't, although levels do vary.  I recently had my first TPOab, which showed high levels of anti-bodies and my ENT dx Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.  With your TPO at 640 - that might be the indication in your case also.  

You don't mention what other tests you've had done (Free T-4, Free T-3, ultra sound, etc) or what the levels may be.  I would agree that you probably need more testing to find out what is going on.  My latest TSH was quite low (0.16) and my meds were recently adjusted, so I'm trying to be patient enough to let the new strength take affect and bring my TSH back up to help me feel better.  

There are others on the sight that are much more knowledgable than I and I didn't know that there was anything that would change your TPOab levels, but hopefully, someone will post info that will clarify things for both of us.  

[rumpled]

Perhaps you need more testing than just thyroid. If you only sleep in 2 hour increments, there is something wrong.

You only mention TSH and the antibody tests - what about Free T3 and Free T4? TSH is just not enough to know what is going on. How do you know if your pituitary is fine?

I do not envy you thyroid changes - they take time to adjust.

http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/thyroid_antibodies/test.html
The antibodies indicate that your body is unhappy - so you probably need more medication, not less. But you need more testing, not less. I get thryoid testing quarterly and adjust my meds as needed. Hormones in a normal body can adjust on the fly - your body needs to have adjusted meds too.

Try to get copies of all your tests and see if you can find another doctor using thyroid sites to find a helpful doctor.