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How to control TSH level?

Hi Doctor,

My TSH Level is 9.59.Can you please suggest me,how I can decrease the level? How It will in limit.In this situation,which food I should take,and which I can not.

Regards
Shreya Chatterjee
8 Responses
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Avatar universal
Its due to low T3 and simply uping the levothyroxine dose will not solve it and can actually reduce the already low T3 due to increased reverse T3 as her T4 is above 50% range. Since T3 therapy is rare and unavailable in many countries not much can be done. Anyway testing for deficiencies like b12, vitamin d etc might be useful also for adrenal issues.
Helpful - 0
649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
I didn't see any place that you had posted whether those were Total or Free T3 and T4...  Tests for Total T3 and Total T4 are obsolete and not very useful, but your T3 is very low in the low range, suggesting that you may not be converting T4, which is the storage form of the hormone to the usable T3, which is the hormone every cell in your body needs...

As I noted above, hair loss is a symptom of hypothyroidism, which you still have since your thyroid levels are not optimal.  Once your thyroid hormone levels are where you need them, your hair loss should stop and your hair should begin to grow back.

You might also ask your doctor to check your iron levels, since iron is necessary for proper metabolism of thyroid hormones and iron deficiency can also cause hair loss.  
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Avatar universal
Reference ranges for T3- 60 to 200, T4-4.5 to 12 and they are in total as i posted earlier, any medication that can be suggested for hairloss? being a 25 year old female with no hair, too much for crashing my self confidence and never got tested for Hashimoto's , will surely now
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
What are the reference ranges for your T3 and T4 and they Free T3 and Free T4 or are they Total T3 and Total T4?  It makes a difference, because they don't give the same information...

It's unlikely that you should stop the medication... In fact, it would seem most likely that you might need to increase your dosage, since hair loss is a symptom of hypothyroidism that you need more hormones, not less.

It's also unlikely that your condition will ever be "cured" completely, but that depends on the cause of your hypothyroidism... Do you know if you Hashimoto's?  If so, you will have it for life and will need medication for life.
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Avatar universal
I am a thyroid patient from past several years now, I am 25 right now taking dose of 50mg and have recently got my thyroid test, T3-82, T4-8.6, TSH-3.19, so what should i do next, should i stop my medication or continue with a less dosage, another concern is severe hairloss problem iv been facing since thyroid issue occurred. Loosing all hopes for that but what should be my next medical step for thyroid treatment. So is it ever gonna get cured completely?
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
As I explained above, the pituitary gland produces TSH to stimulate the thyroid to produce the thyroid hormones T3 and T4, if the thyroid is producing enough hormones (or there's enough coming in, in the form of medication), the pituitary won't produce TSH, because there's enough thyroid hormones, regardless of where they came from.

TSH is, at best, a screening tool. Yes, if you're on a thyroid replacement medication and your FT4 level is around mid range with FT3 in the upper half to upper third of its range and you have no hyper symptoms, TSH is totally irrelevant.
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Avatar universal
Well, had this long typed out question and it disappeared, so maybe I can condense a little this time.  My question is, does your TSH level control your thyroid production or does the amt of thyroid you have control your TSH levels?  When I hit menopause, I started seeing a natural hormone doc.  She started me on testosterone (near zero), estrogen (since stopped) and thyroid (all readings were towards the low end of normal).  She was treating symptoms (fog brain and not sleeping).  My PCP doesn't understand why I'm on thyroid.  After being on 90mg Armour thyroid for 9+ months, my PCP tested TSH and it was .07 (way below .45-4.5 range).  He didn't test T4 or T3, but I'm guessing they are in the middle to high range of normal (I'll find out next month with hormone doc).  So, if one is not producing enough thyroid to begin with, with "normal" TSH levels, does the TSH level become irrelevant once you start replacement if your actual thyroid levels are normal?
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
First of all, I'd like to let you know that there are no doctors monitoring this forum.  We are all patients, like yourself, who do our best to help each other.

Your TSH level indicates that you have hypothyroidism.  Is that the only test you had done?  If so, you need to ask your doctor to do Free T3 and Free T4, which are the actual thyroid hormones and are much more important than TSH, which is a pituitary hormone.

The pituitary gland constantly monitors the levels of thyroid hormones in your body and if it determines that those levels are too low, it produces Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) to try to stimulate the thyroid into producing more hormones.  If the thyroid doesn't respond, the pituitary keeps pumping out TSH and the lower the levels of thyroid hormones, the higher your TSH level will go.

If you have hypothyroidism, you should be started on a thyroid replacement medication, such as levothyroxine.  Ideally, once started on a replacement medication, your thyroid hormone levels will rise, which would make your TSH drop.

Along with the Free T3 and Free T4 tests, you should also be tested for thyroid antibodies to determine if you have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease, in which the body sees the thyroid as foreign, and produces antibodies to destroy it.  If you have Hashimoto's, your thyroid will continue to produce less and less hormones, as the antibodies attack it. Eventually, your thyroid will not produce any hormones on its own and you would, then, be totally dependent on the replacement medication.

There is no cure for Hashimoto's, but the resulting hypothyroidism can be controlled quite well, if your doctor is willing to work with you and prescribe adequate medication to alleviate symptoms.
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