Lab results

[Mkandzie]

I was diagnosed with Graves a little over a year ago. Stopped meds in December per my doctor. Insurance change and now seeing a new doctor. Went in because I'm constantly tired, muscle soreness, hair falling out, and hand tremors. Oh and increased anxiety. The new doctor ran TSH, free T3 and T4.

TSH .97
Free T3 2.6
Free T4 .93

He says I'm "bullseye normal"

Any suggestions?

[gimel]

Those ranges are what I expected.  So, in the words of an excellent thyroid doctor,  "The free T3 is not as helpful in untreated persons as the free T4 because in the light of a rather low FT4 the body will convert more T4 to T3 to maintain thyroid effect as well as is possible. So the person with a rather low FT4 and high-in-range FT3 may still be hypothyroid. However, if the FT4 is below 1.3 and the FT3 is also rather low, say below 3.4 (range 2 to 4.4 at LabCorp) then its likely that hypothyroidism is the cause of a person's symptoms."

Your symptoms and also those lab results are a strong indication of hypothyroidism.  With your TSH being relatively low, it would be central hypothyroidism.  With central, there is a dysfunction in the  hypothalamus/pituitary system resulting in TSH levels that do not adequately stimulate the thyroid gland to produce the needed hormone.  

So you need a good thyroid doctor.  By that I mean one that will treat clinically, by testing and adjusting Free T4 and Free T3 as needed to relieve symptoms, without being influenced by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not TSH results, because with central hypothyroidism TSH is usually suppressed when the patient is taking adequate thyroid med.  

In preparation for your next doctor appointment, I  highly recommend reading at least the first two pages of the following link, and more if you want to get into the discussion and scientific evidence for all that is recommended.  On page two note suggestion 6, that you should also test for cortisol and Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin.  
  
http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/TUK_PDFs/diagnosis_and_treatment_of_hypothyroidism_issue_1.pdf

Since it is so difficult to find a good thyroid doctor, if you will tell us your location, perhaps we can suggest a doctor that has been recommended by other thyroid patients.  

[gimel]

Unfortunately many doctors diagnose and treat hypothyroid patients mainly by TSH.  That doesn't work.  TSH is a pituitary hormone that is affected by so many things that at best it is only an indicator, to be considered along with more important indicators such as symptoms and also levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones, Free T4 and Free T3.  

A good thyroid doctor will treat a hypothyroid patient clinically, by testing and adjusting Free T4 and Free T3 as needed to relieve symptoms, without being influenced by resultant TSH levels.  Symptom relief should be all important, not just test results, and especially not TSH results.  

You have a number of symptoms of hypothyroidism, and I would like to also assess your Free T4 and Free T3 against their reference ranges shown on the lab report.  So please post those.  Also, if tested for Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin, please post those as well.  

[Mkandzie]

Thank you for answering. I'm going to get a second opinion. I know something is not right. I'm an active person and eat a clean diet. I have not been able to make it through a workout and I've gained about 10-15 pounds. Since I was hyper from Graves, I didn't have any weight issues. Although, being hyper doesn't feel right either.
Free T3 range 2.3-4.2
Free T4 range .8-1.8