Treating hashimotos

[ando35]

I am wondering what the treatment for hashis should be. I seem to get very hypo and ill about every 9-12 monhs with labs that prove it. I get jumps in tsh of 10 - 30. Then the doc raises my synthroid and i feel better after 2 months. Is this how it will be for the rest of my life? Does it stabilize or reach an end point?

Is there some treatment method beside just waiting for me to get sick and then raising my synthrois?

[gimel]

Yes the thyroid gland keeps getting worse and it eventually is totally destroyed; however, that can sometimes take a very long time.  That is why I mentioned the option of trying to get your doctor to medicate you enough to suppress TSH, and thus you would be totally dependent on thyroid med and not be affected by the ongoing destruction of your thyroid gland.  The other option is to test more frequently and gradually increase meds to offset the diminishing output from the thyroid gland due to Hashi's.  

I would really like to see your last couple of sets of test results in order to better assess your status.  Also, Vitamin D B12 and ferritin?

[ando35]

yeah, he is testing free t3 and free t4. I guess my question is does the thyoid keep getting worse or does it eventually reach an end point where the damage is done and the disease has rin its course and you are ok on the same dose of thyroid med for years and years?

[gimel]

If your doctor is medicating you based solely on TSH, then you should fire him and find a good thyroid doctor that will treat you clinically by testing and adjusting Free T3 and Free T4 (the biologically active thyroid hormones) as necessary to relieve symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Have you been tested for Free T3 and Free T4?

If you doctor is testing Free T3 and Free T4 as he should, then you should be going in for retesting every 2-3 months to see if your levels are changing and if you need an increase in your thyroid med.  Knowing that you have Hashi's, the doctor should expect gradual changes in your natural thyroid output that will require increasing dosages of thyroid med frequently enough to prevent you from becoming very hypo and feeling so bad..  

Another possibility is for your doctor to continue to increase your thyroid med to get your Free T3 and Free T4 up to recommended levels that will relieve hypo symptoms.  Often that will suppress your TSH and you would no longer be affected by reduced output from your thyroid gland, since there would be essentially no TSH to stimulate the gland to produce natural thyroid hormone.  

Also, has your doctor tested you for Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin?  Hypo patients are frequently too low in the ranges for those as well.