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Should I get labs again so soon after starting synthroid?
Hi - I was just started on 25 mcg of synthroid about 20 days ago. At first I was feeling better but now I seemed to be more tired. I have posted labs etc before but TSH was normal (1.2) (it) but free t's were at the bottom of the reference range. Anyway, I go to my dermatologist in 3 days and was wondering if I should have her run labs again. The only reason I ask is that I am going out of town for 6 weeks July 1st and want to make sure I can feel the best I can. Is it too soon?
It's pretty "normal" to feel a little better and then backslide a bit. I don't know that you really backslide...it's more like at first you focus on how much better you feel, they you get impatient and start focusing on how much better you want to feel.
As long as you're on such a low dose and you increase slowly, if you are not really hypo, you can always discontinue meds later if you think you can. If you felt somewhat better after starting meds, it's a good indication that you did need them. Your FT4 wasn't really marginal, either. The ranges are very flawed, making the whole bottom half of the FT4 range questionable. So, your FT4 is really very low. Until you get to the ideal dose for you, you will have good days and bad days, but the good ones will start outnumbering the bad ones.
As long as you're on such a low dose and you increase slowly, if you are not really hypo, you can always discontinue meds later if you think you can. If you felt somewhat better after starting meds, it's a good indication that you did need them. Your FT4 wasn't really marginal, either. The ranges are very flawed, making the whole bottom half of the FT4 range questionable. So, your FT4 is really very low. Until you get to the ideal dose for you, you will have good days and bad days, but the good ones will start outnumbering the bad ones.
Thank you :). Sometimes you just need to hear it from someone else. I really appreciate your, and everyone else's, nice replies. I feel better. It will all be fine :) - maybe if Seattle could get just a tiny bit of sun - it would be fine!
I lived in Seattle for a while...sun and Seattle are an oxymoron. But, speaking of which, have you had your vitamin D tested...sorry, can't remember.
It was a little low so I have been supplementing for a while and it is fine. Everyone else seems to be having a hot spring - we are 50 degrees and raining...
Hey there Goolarra. Question about tissue resistance/conversion problems. I'm confused now, from what you said. When I first started having symptoms, my TSH went from .89 up to 1.4 with symptoms (but of course I wasn't hypothyroid to endo) and my FREE T4 was at the low end of normal so therefore I was "fine". They didn't rest FREE T3 until a couple of years later. It, of course was also low normal when I bullied them into giving me the test.
I was put on Synthroid (later generic) because of nodules. It never changed my test levels much and I continued to feel worse. It was only with the addition of T3 that I started to feel better, but it still took a long time and lots of tweaking to get myself into the range where I and most most people feel good. Raising T4 alone didn't affect the T3 level much at all, only the addition of more T3. I'm now on quite a lot of medication and my TSH isn't really measurable anymore but I feel well. So I was under the impression that I had a conversion problem or possibly tissue resistance. I understand what you said up there about high T4 and T3 w/ symptoms + tissue resistance. So I guess that doesn't explain the amount of medication I have to take ? I'm on 150 mcg Levothyroxine and 30 mcg Cytomel now, and I finally seem stable and don't have to test again for 6 months - a year, depending on how I keep feeling.. Could you educate me a little more ?
@Tiredme
I also had the shaking hands and jitteryness that progressed into full-on panic attacks. It went away with medication for hypothyroidism, even before the medications were at optimum levels. And I lost over half of my very thick hair, most of it on the crown. It is better now but still much thinner on the crown and the dermatologist said I have female pattern baldness, a type of alopecia. But she doesn't understand about thyroid all that much and she never gave me any type of test to support her diagnosis. She just told me to use Minoxidil, which I am loathe to do. Luckily I have curly hair, which hides some of the damage. Did you have testing to determine your problem, or do you now think it's from your thyroid ? Your FREE T4 is at the bottom of the range. And I don't see a test for FREE T3 at all, which seems to correlate best with symptoms and how people feel. Have you had your FREE T3 tested ? If not, it would be helpful if your doctor could include that in your prescription for labs.
If your insurance plan covers labs at Quest or Lab Corps, those big companies are widely found. I see Quest is available in Hawaii, just Googled. If you had the blood drawn there then the results would be ready by the time you got back. FREE T3 takes a little longer to process than FREE T4 and TSH in my experience at Quest. I allow about a week - 10 days before I go to see my doc, anything less and I've found the FREE T3 not back yet.
Best of luck and happy vacation !
I was put on Synthroid (later generic) because of nodules. It never changed my test levels much and I continued to feel worse. It was only with the addition of T3 that I started to feel better, but it still took a long time and lots of tweaking to get myself into the range where I and most most people feel good. Raising T4 alone didn't affect the T3 level much at all, only the addition of more T3. I'm now on quite a lot of medication and my TSH isn't really measurable anymore but I feel well. So I was under the impression that I had a conversion problem or possibly tissue resistance. I understand what you said up there about high T4 and T3 w/ symptoms + tissue resistance. So I guess that doesn't explain the amount of medication I have to take ? I'm on 150 mcg Levothyroxine and 30 mcg Cytomel now, and I finally seem stable and don't have to test again for 6 months - a year, depending on how I keep feeling.. Could you educate me a little more ?
@Tiredme
I also had the shaking hands and jitteryness that progressed into full-on panic attacks. It went away with medication for hypothyroidism, even before the medications were at optimum levels. And I lost over half of my very thick hair, most of it on the crown. It is better now but still much thinner on the crown and the dermatologist said I have female pattern baldness, a type of alopecia. But she doesn't understand about thyroid all that much and she never gave me any type of test to support her diagnosis. She just told me to use Minoxidil, which I am loathe to do. Luckily I have curly hair, which hides some of the damage. Did you have testing to determine your problem, or do you now think it's from your thyroid ? Your FREE T4 is at the bottom of the range. And I don't see a test for FREE T3 at all, which seems to correlate best with symptoms and how people feel. Have you had your FREE T3 tested ? If not, it would be helpful if your doctor could include that in your prescription for labs.
If your insurance plan covers labs at Quest or Lab Corps, those big companies are widely found. I see Quest is available in Hawaii, just Googled. If you had the blood drawn there then the results would be ready by the time you got back. FREE T3 takes a little longer to process than FREE T4 and TSH in my experience at Quest. I allow about a week - 10 days before I go to see my doc, anything less and I've found the FREE T3 not back yet.
Best of luck and happy vacation !
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