TSH is .01

[Lizbeth11]

I have Hashimoto's and have been doing fine for a year taking 210mg of Armour Thyroid. I take it in the middle of the night, all at once, because I have a very slow digestion and wanted to make sure my stomach was empty. It was time to get my prescription renewed, so I went to the doctor and they did tests. I don't know what tests. The nurse called and said since my TSH was .01 I was taking too much medicine, and she said the doctor would lower my dosage to 180mg. I had a panic attack on the spot. I feel GREAT on 210. No anxiety, good energy level, clear-headed thinking. The doctor wouldn't even see me. I want to continue taking 210mg, but don't know where to turn.

[joeysmydog]

some people do well with a suppressed TSH.  I also feel better with my TSH is very low. once my tsh starts to rise, I can tell immediately.  I am on armour thyroid 2 grains per day (1 grain in am and 1 in pm). This seems to be good for me right now, even though it supprsesses my TSH and my doctor doesn't seem to really like that. have you been to the ************************* website?  there are advocates there of armour thyroid.

[Barb135]

It's not unusual when on a thyroid replacement hormone, to have TSH suppressed, or very low, especially, when on a med containing a T3 component. No, your low TSH is not a negative thing.   My TSH has been at < 0.01 for the past 5 years, with no ill effects.

One thing I've learned is that doctors tend to look at blood tests and because they see so many patients, they can't always visualize the exact patient.  There's a tendency to have a "knee jerk" reaction to a very low TSH.... My endo does the same and if I talk to him on the phone, he wants to lower my med, but when he can see me, face to face, I can remind him that my TSH has been low "forever" and he'll back off.

If you feel good at the 210 mg level, fight to keep it there...... even to the point of changing doctors, if that's what it takes.

[Lizbeth11]

I still don't think my low TSH is a negative thing. I feel great, and I want to keep feeling that way. I am seeing an allopathic doctor. I didn't think naturopaths could prescribe Armour. In any case, I keep reading and studying, and I like feeling well, because most of my life I didn't.

[Lizbeth11]

Excellent information! Thank you very much. I will definitely study this and tell my doctor about it.

[Lizbeth11]

I got in to see the doctor, after all. I will see her next week. I said I wanted a copy of my test results, and when I get them I will post. The last time I saw the doctor, she said I didn't need a TSH. She prescribed on the basis of how I was feeling. So that's the reason her current reliance on the TSH score took me by surprise. I had a thyroid panel done about two years ago, with another doctor, so I'll go look that up. He said the same thing: TSH too low.

[courtney48]

Anniegoose, Are any of the yahoo groups open or must one join to read the messages?  Is there a particular group you find more helpful?  Thank you.

[gimel]

To try to ease your doctor's mind and prevent the doc from insisting on reducing your meds, show him a copy of the abstract from this study from the British Medical Journal, and highlight the following paragraph.

http://www.bmj.com/content/293/6550/808

"To establish their role in monitoring patients receiving thyroxine replacement biochemical tests of thyroid function were performed in 148 hypothyroid patients studied prospectively. Measurements of serum concentrations of total thyroxine, analogue free thyroxine, total triiodothyronine, analogue free triiodothyronine, and thyroid stimulating hormone, made with a sensitive immunoradiometric assay, did not, except in patients with gross abnormalities, distinguish euthyroid patients from those who were receiving inadequate or excessive replacement. These measurements are therefore of little, if any, value in monitoring patients receiving thyroxine replacement. To stop doing thyroid function tests in these cases would result in considerable savings nationally in the cost of reagents in laboratories using commercial kits."

If the doctor wants to claim that this study is outdated and that TSH testing has improved since then, tell him that this study is just one of many with the same conclusion and  ask him to show you a single scientific study that verifies that TSH accurately correlates with either Free T3 or Free T4, much less with symptoms, which are the most important consideration.  Also show him this study that concluded that Free T3 correlated best with hypo symptoms, while Free T4 and TSH did not correlate at all.

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cjne/2000/00000010/00000002/art00002

[Anniegoose]

rule # 1 -- don't panic

when one has thyroid disease -- most times the amount of medication we take needs to be adjusted -- especially when something like your low TSH occurs.

are you seeing a regular doctor or a naturopath?  

i also totally recommend searching the web and joining some of the thyroid groups over on yahoo

hope this helps

[goolarra]

If you feel great, that tells the whole story.  You're right to want to continue your current dose.  Meds adjustments, once on thyroid meds, especially meds with T3 in them (like Armour), should never be made on the basis of TSH alone.  Meds often suppress TSH making it totally unreliable.

Did they test FT3 and FT4 as well?  If so please post results and reference ranges.  Do you have previous results to compare?