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Overactive vs Suppressed

What is the difference between and overactive thyroid and suppressed? Do symptoms change with each?
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My labs and meds are posted on How does FreeT3 effect heart palpitations?
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
Guess that means under active?

Your thyroid is either over active, working properly or under active.

While some symptoms can apply to either hyper (over active) or hypo (under active), some symptoms are specific to each one.

Have you been diagnosed with a thyroid issue?  Is so, which one?  Are you on a thyroid medication?  If so, which one at what dosage and for what condition?

We'd be able to help you much better if you would post your latest thyroid test results and reference ranges (which vary lab to lab, so MUST come from your own report).  We could then assess your situation and comment more fully...
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Suppressed thyroid
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649848 tn?1534633700
COMMUNITY LEADER
Are you talking about suppressed "thyroid" or suppressed TSH?  

The thyroid, itself, is not generally referred to as suppressed.  It's usually referred to as either over or under active.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for the response.  It amazes me how 2 Dr read the same labs and have totally different diagnoses. Of course one doesn't have any use for FT4 or FT3 results would explain it.
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Avatar universal
They are complete opposites and somewhat have exact opposite symptoms. Although there is a lot of duplication with Thyroid.

Suppressed generally means limited out put. This SLOWS down metabolism. So in Thyroid terms that would be low thyroid or more commonly known as hypothyroidism or Hypo for short.  Hypo most common symptoms are; chronic fatigue, cold hands & feet, low body temperature, inability to take cold temperatures, always bundled up when others seem fine, loss of hair, brittle hair, dry skin, brain "fog", low libido, weight gain/inability to lose weight regardless of amount of exercise.  Depression & sometimes anxiety.

Overactive is too much Thyroid being produced.  This speeds up metabolism.  It is known as hyperthyroidism or for short Hyper.  It commonly has the following symptoms.  Excessive sweating, racing heart beat or heart palpitations/fluttering, inability to take hot temps, feeling buzzed and hyperactive, weight loss or inability to gain weight. Anxiety or panic attacks


Some of the symptoms that can occur with both are: fatigue, ringing in the ears, anxiety, inability to focus or concentrate.

Sometimes you will read here about how TSH is suppressed.  This is a statement that simply means that when taking thyroid medication, it is possible if not likely that the medication will be strong enough that the pituitary will not produce TSH.  And as a result the TSH number will be low or very low.  or in other words "suppressed".  Many Dr's will be quick to think that the person is going Hyper because of this false reading.  It is just one reason why no Dr should ever just use TSH to adjust Thyroid medication dosage.  You really need to have the free T4 and Free T3 hormones tested.  The body only uses the Free T3 hormone, yet for some reason Dr's are loath to test for this and instead rely upon TSH which is the most unreliable thing to use.
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649848 tn?1534633700
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