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TSH 177!!!
My blood analysis showed a tsh of 177 (normal limit being 5) and ft4 was around 3. I was feeling really tired all the time..having muscles cramps headaches desorientation feeling depressive mood...My doctor told me I have hypothyroidism and prescribed levothyroxine as a treatment for life. My question is can this be a post partum hypothyroidism (I gave birth six months ago) or do the high values confirm that this is permanent. Is this hashimoto disease? Can I breastfeed with high doses of levothyroxine..? I will be taking 62.5 per day for 20 days then 125 per day for another 20 days then apparently doses will increase but I will have blood tests again before that..
COMMUNITY LEADER
Your doctor is right - he can not prescribe the appropriate dosage right away, not necessarily because your body isn't used to it, though that's part of it, but also because he doesn't know what that appropriate dose is going to be...
That's what I'm trying to tell you... he doesn't know that 125 mcg "is" the appropriate dose and it's quite likely that it may be too high for you... it is NOT customary to double the dose all at once. The proper way to increase thyroid hormone levels is to titrate slowly by increments of approximately 25 mcg at a time.
Taking the levo should not affect your breastfeeding, though it's not uncommon to feel worse for a while, as your body readjusts to having the hormones again.
That's what I'm trying to tell you... he doesn't know that 125 mcg "is" the appropriate dose and it's quite likely that it may be too high for you... it is NOT customary to double the dose all at once. The proper way to increase thyroid hormone levels is to titrate slowly by increments of approximately 25 mcg at a time.
Taking the levo should not affect your breastfeeding, though it's not uncommon to feel worse for a while, as your body readjusts to having the hormones again.
COMMUNITY LEADER
"You should ask for that to be tested and if he refuses, along with another Free T4 and TSH in about 4-5 weeks... in the meantime, I do believe you should be looking for a new thyroid doctor."
I meant to say - You should ask for that (Free T3) to be tested, along with another Free T4 and TSH, in about 4-5 weeks.. in the meantime, I do believe you should be looking for a new thyroid doctor...
The "hurrier" I go, the "behinder" I get... LOL
I meant to say - You should ask for that (Free T3) to be tested, along with another Free T4 and TSH, in about 4-5 weeks.. in the meantime, I do believe you should be looking for a new thyroid doctor...
The "hurrier" I go, the "behinder" I get... LOL
1 Comments
Thank you barb for your answer..in fact ft4 normal lab numbers are from 9 to 20..ill make sure to have the tests you mentioned done for my own relief..regarding the dosage doctor said that he cannot prescribe the appropriate dose right away as my body is not used to levothyroxine so he will initiate it progressively..I donno but im hoping not to get high dosage if that will be an issue for breastfeeding..
COMMUNITY LEADER
What is the reference range for the FT4? Reference ranges vary from lab to lab and need to come from your own report?
TSH does not confirm Hashimoto's, nor does it confirm that you will be on the levothyroxine for life, though most of us are, once we start it. Even temporary types of hypothyroidism often become permanent.
TSH is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones, T4 and T3... Your thyroid, apparently, is not doing this, so your pituitary gland continues to crank out TSH in an effort to get your thyroid to "pay attention", which doesn't seem to be happening.
We can only know if you have Hashimoto's if your doctor did antibody testing to determine if you have thyroid antibodies. The tests you need to have are Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOab) and Thyroglobulin Antibodies TgAb). You need them both, since some of us have one or the other and others have both...
It's obvious that your doctor doesn't know very much about dosing thyroid medication... even with a high TSH, it's not customary to double the dosage after only 20 days - that's a huge jump and is likely to push you the other way into over medication... A good thyroid doctor would have you stay at the 62.5 mcg for about 4-5 weeks, retest, then increase by 12.5-25 mcg increments until you reach a dose that's suitable to relieve symptoms and bring labs within optimal ranges... note that I said "optimal ranges" not just normal ranges... It's quite possible that there's a dose between your current 62.5 mcg and 125 mcg that will work very well for you.
There's really no reason that your dose should continue to increase all the time... It would seem that your doctor has simply gone into a panic over the high TSH and is not even thinking about the actual thyroid hormones.
Besides the Free T4, a good thyroid doctor would also have tested Free T3, which is the active thyroid hormone that's used by every cell in the body and correlates best with symptoms... You should ask for that to be tested and if he refuses, along with another Free T4 and TSH in about 4-5 weeks... in the meantime, I do believe you should be looking for a new thyroid doctor.
TSH does not confirm Hashimoto's, nor does it confirm that you will be on the levothyroxine for life, though most of us are, once we start it. Even temporary types of hypothyroidism often become permanent.
TSH is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones, T4 and T3... Your thyroid, apparently, is not doing this, so your pituitary gland continues to crank out TSH in an effort to get your thyroid to "pay attention", which doesn't seem to be happening.
We can only know if you have Hashimoto's if your doctor did antibody testing to determine if you have thyroid antibodies. The tests you need to have are Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPOab) and Thyroglobulin Antibodies TgAb). You need them both, since some of us have one or the other and others have both...
It's obvious that your doctor doesn't know very much about dosing thyroid medication... even with a high TSH, it's not customary to double the dosage after only 20 days - that's a huge jump and is likely to push you the other way into over medication... A good thyroid doctor would have you stay at the 62.5 mcg for about 4-5 weeks, retest, then increase by 12.5-25 mcg increments until you reach a dose that's suitable to relieve symptoms and bring labs within optimal ranges... note that I said "optimal ranges" not just normal ranges... It's quite possible that there's a dose between your current 62.5 mcg and 125 mcg that will work very well for you.
There's really no reason that your dose should continue to increase all the time... It would seem that your doctor has simply gone into a panic over the high TSH and is not even thinking about the actual thyroid hormones.
Besides the Free T4, a good thyroid doctor would also have tested Free T3, which is the active thyroid hormone that's used by every cell in the body and correlates best with symptoms... You should ask for that to be tested and if he refuses, along with another Free T4 and TSH in about 4-5 weeks... in the meantime, I do believe you should be looking for a new thyroid doctor.
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