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Thyroid and pituitary
I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism last august and have been on propranolol and methimazole since. I was taking four methimazole and now my specialist increased it to 5 and that really makes me sad. I'm gaining weight and feel so awful about myself. Yes i am feeling better which is worth alot but my hot flashes are insane. My pituitary gland is what the specialist refers to as "sleeping" and so I was wondering if you have any suggestions as to how to wake it up. My blood tests came back and my Tsh-.005 T4-24 and T3-10.3.. I'm so blonde when it comes to understanding what these numbers mean. Can anyone explain them to me? Thx
Yes they sure are similar. are you having any symptoms of shakiness or irritable tired or anything else? are you on Tapazole or propranolol too?
Thankyou so much. I will ask the lab for the ranges. I see my dr again may 2 so I will ask him about getting the TSI test. I'm actually feeling much better when you said that my pituitary gland is doing what it's supposed to be doing. some days it feels like my body is so screwed up it has no idea what messages go where anymore.It truly is amazing how the pituitary gland is smart enough to know what to do with my T3 and T4.
My other symptoms are feeling irritable. VERY HOT ALL THE TIME (could be menopause) achy joints. I sleep very well but apparently snore like a bear and I've never done that before. I've heard if you have trouble with your pituitary gland sleep apnea can set in. ugh.
My other symptoms are feeling irritable. VERY HOT ALL THE TIME (could be menopause) achy joints. I sleep very well but apparently snore like a bear and I've never done that before. I've heard if you have trouble with your pituitary gland sleep apnea can set in. ugh.
Each lab has it's own reference ("normal") range for all tests. Because of different methodologies, etc, "normal" at one lab is different from "normal" at another. So, when you ask your doctor or lab for results, you have to ask them to give you the range at the same time. We have to see where you fall in the range in order to give you advice. You should also ask if the tests are FREE T3 (FT3) and FREE T4 (FT4) or total T3 and total T4. If "free" isn't specified for either, the test is total.
"she said my Tsh was too low and my T4 to high and T3 too low." T3 is the active form of the thyroid hormones, affects metabolism most directly and therefore correlates best with symptoms. Usually, with hyperthyroidism, both FT3 and FT4 are high and TSH is low. If your FT3 is low, that could be why you're gaining weight. Do you think you could call your doctor again and ask for ranges? I really can't comment more fully without ranges.
Do you still have hyper symptoms? Any other hypo symptoms besides weight gain?
There's a simple blood test for Graves'. It's called TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin). It's important to know if the cause of your hyper is Graves' (autoimmune hyper). If you monitor TSI regularly, you know if you go into remission and can cut back on meds. Your doctor should order TSI.
I think your doctor was speaking figuratively when she said your pituitary was "sleeping". What she meant was that your TSH was very low. However, it's doing exactly what it should do if your T3 and T4 are high...it's producing very little TSH because it knows T3 and T4 levels are too high.
"she said my Tsh was too low and my T4 to high and T3 too low." T3 is the active form of the thyroid hormones, affects metabolism most directly and therefore correlates best with symptoms. Usually, with hyperthyroidism, both FT3 and FT4 are high and TSH is low. If your FT3 is low, that could be why you're gaining weight. Do you think you could call your doctor again and ask for ranges? I really can't comment more fully without ranges.
Do you still have hyper symptoms? Any other hypo symptoms besides weight gain?
There's a simple blood test for Graves'. It's called TSI (thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin). It's important to know if the cause of your hyper is Graves' (autoimmune hyper). If you monitor TSI regularly, you know if you go into remission and can cut back on meds. Your doctor should order TSI.
I think your doctor was speaking figuratively when she said your pituitary was "sleeping". What she meant was that your TSH was very low. However, it's doing exactly what it should do if your T3 and T4 are high...it's producing very little TSH because it knows T3 and T4 levels are too high.
Your lab results looks very similar to mine. My lab reference ranges (my results in brackets)
TSH: 0.20 - 4.00 mU/L (<0.05)
Free T4: 10 - 20 pmol/L (25)
Free T3: 2.8 - 6.8 pmol/L (8)
These labs are hyperthyroid but i am looking into reverse T3 as i have both hypo and hyper symptoms.
TSH: 0.20 - 4.00 mU/L (<0.05)
Free T4: 10 - 20 pmol/L (25)
Free T3: 2.8 - 6.8 pmol/L (8)
These labs are hyperthyroid but i am looking into reverse T3 as i have both hypo and hyper symptoms.
My Dr talked about wanting my T4 to go to 21 (she called that normal)and my Tsh to be above one. she said my Tsh was too low and my T4 to high and T3 too low.
My specialist has never used the term Grave's disease. Just overactive is what she calls it. Said my thyroid was 3 times it's normal size. I take 5-5mg of Methimazole a day and 1-120mg of propranolol a day.The results I gave you is all the lab would give me. Is there something else I should be asking for when they give me the results?
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