the only time I have had any issues is when my dosage was too low.
The things you mentioned can still be hypo symptoms - sleeping problems and being exhausted.
How long have you been having a problem with staying asleep and exhaustion? Since the doc reduced your dosage? or before?
Usually a person feels better if they can get their doc to treat their symptoms rather than their lab numbers, but if they are gonna go by the blood work, if you can get them to run the Free T3 and Free T4, you can usually get a better picture of what is going on.
Also if you take your thyroid meds before your blood work is done, it will affect the numbers and make them look better than they are. There are also some other meds and factors that can affect lab numbers in these tests.
My mother stayed undertreated bec she was being treated by a doc that would only prescribe synthetic meds and was dosing her according to her lab work – just the TSH. Every 3 months he was changing her synthroid – up and down. She felt awful.
We finally requested our own blood work thru healthcheckusa.com and this is what it looked like:
TSH 4.119 range 0.30 to 3.00
FREE T4 1.7 range 0.8 to 1.8
FREE T3 2.6 range 2.3 to 4.2
You’ll notice that even her TSH alone didn’t look good at that point (but that doc didn't like the new TSH ranges of 0.3 to 3.0 - he liked the old ranges of 0.5 to 5.0). By just her lab numbers - and according to him - she looked fine. I promise you she was not fine! I could give you a long list of things that were a problem for her for 15 years while being treated like this.
Also, her Free T4 looked pretty good in the upper part of the range but her Free T3 is very low in the range. That is bec most people with a thyroid problem do not convert T4 well to T3.
She also had thyroid antibodies but that is a whole other story. ;-)
Now on 3 grains (180 mgs) of Armour Thyroid this is what her blood work looks like:
TSH 0.04 range 0.30-3.00
Free T4 1.33 range 0.59-1.17
Free T3 3.3 range 2.4-4.2
You’ll notice that now her Free T3 number looks much better in the range – I cannot tell you the difference in her life bec of adding the T3 that is in Armour. But you’ll also notice that her Free T4 number is a little above the range. This new doc is not so concerned about that bec he is mainly pay close attention to her symptoms and realizes that blood work is just a gauge.
I might better mention too that her TSH looks really low on Armour (0.04), but that it is totally normal on Armour for the TSH to be suppressed. If a doc is only use to prescribing synthetic meds, then that 0.04 might freak them out. ;-)
I'm sorry my posts are long but.....there is just so much important info.
I wanted to mention something else about my mother's Free T3 number.
My mother is almost 70 years old so her Free T3 number looks good for her age. But most people (not the elderly) find their Free T3 number needs to be in the upper part of the range, or a little above, in order to feel well and treat their hypo symptoms.
Mine and my son's doc is mainly treating our symptoms (not lab numbers) and bec of that we are both doing really well. But when blood work has been done, both of our Free T3 numbers show up a little above the range.
And I promise you that neither of us are anywhere near hyperthyroid ;-)
I just wanted to mention that if we had docs that simply treated our lab numbers we would both still be hypo and be on other prescriptions meds to treat what are really undertreated hypo symptoms.
well i dont know the numbers cause they havent sent me the results yet..but he did say they were high, thus the lowering in the dosage. i suspect that over the next month i will either see a difference either good or bad.
i guess i misrepresented when i said exhaustion, its just that as active as i am i dont understand why i cant sleep well. as for your question, i just started the lower dosage 2 days ago. i have been on the higher dosage since last sept.
ALOT of the symptoms i had before they figured out was wrong with me have completely disappeared and my weight is back down to something i can live with the only thing that is bothering me is the inability to sleep well....
thanks for your post! at my next appt i shall NOT TAKE MY MEDS before the blood tests! and i will also ask him about Armour.
I'm really glad a lot of your symptoms have disappeared. that is great!
Just want to caution you, if you are gonna ask your doc about Armour, you might want to go the stopthethyroidmadness website that I mentioned and read up on Armour (if you haven't already) and even print out some of the info on Armour. Depending on the doc, he may just spew out some false info about Armour and sometimes it helps if you can leave documentation with them that might give them info they haven't really seen before. Also, sometimes if you beg they may let you do a trial on Armour for 6 months to see if it helps.
I will be watching for when you post your bloodwork. It'll be nice to see what tests that ran and what your numbers look like.
Has anyone ever heard of gaining weight after starting Thyroid meds? I was diagnosed with Hypo. back in Oct. and have been on meds since then, and I don't know if it's a coincidence or just me trying to find something to blame but I've gained about 20 pounds since then. I've never been small but I've never noticed a gain this rapidly before. I'm sure I should mention it to my doc but I feel like it's just me making an excuse. But whatever it is I don't like it.
I started to gain weight quickly when I started Synthroid. I didn't tolerate it well at all. I got off of it, and went on Armour. It actually helps me lose weight.
Hmm. I've not heard of that before. I'll have to look into it. Also, pretty much the only reason I'm on these meds is because of an enlarged Thyroid ... during an exam a doctor felt it and told me I should have it checked out ... so I did. And they did some other tests (ultrasound/the "xray" type thing where I had to take radioactive pills or whatever) and that all came out fine. While I was slightly tired (which could be blamed on having to be up early for class and not getting enough sleep the night before) I had no other symptoms ... and I don't want a huge goiter on my neck, and my levels were off ... i just feel like im taking some pill for no reason you know? BLAH
Ok so I set up an appointment with my doctor. I was supposed to go back after my last blood test a couple months ago but the results were fine so I never set it up, but now I am noticing my thyroid being enlarged and the whole weight gain thing so I'm gonna see what she says... I hate going to the doctor
Hi BassAckwards (lol I feel bad calling you that but I don't know what else to call ya)
If I were you, I would request a copy of the blood work that was done previously (when they said the results were fine) and copies of all bloodwork that has been done in the past. When you go in for your appointment I would request that your doc run these specific thyroid tests:
FREE T3
FREE T4
TSH
THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODIES and
THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES
It's usually easiest just to print the list out and hand it to your doc, in order to keep there from being any confusion. I have had many friends do that very thing and even then the doc's office only ran the T3 Uptake rather than the FREE T3 - so this stuff can easily get confused.
I went back and read thru some of your other posts and noticed that your TSH was 6.6 and that you were started on thyroid meds. You asked if 6.6 was a big deal. well it can be - and a thyroid problem can be a big deal - especially if untreated or undertreated. The TSH alone can be unreliable for many. Mine has never been higher than 2.30 (the higher your TSH supposedly the lower your thyroid is) and I am now taking 5 grains of Armour Thyroid in order to treat my thyroid symptoms. (and I feel great btw) I also notice that you mention still dealing with depression, weight gain, etc. all of which can be thyroid symptoms. It sounds like you are probably not getting enough thyroid meds to treat your problem and/or that you are taking a T4 only (synthetic) thyroid med.
If you don't mind talking about it, what thyroid med are you taking and what dosage?
Also, I would like to recommend that you check out the info at www.stopthethyroidmadness.com The info there might help you and also there is a long list of possible thyroid symptoms that you can look at. You may notice some other symptoms that you haven't thought about it.
I would really like to take a look at your blood work tests and results if you wouldn't mind talking to me about it. (I only wish that someone would have done this for me 20 years ago!!!!)
If I can help you with any of the info at the website or in any way, please just let me know.
Well .. I can't find my last lab they sent me (figures) they mailed it to me and I swear I filed it away but now I can't find it. I know they tested T3, T4, and TSH, and If I remember correctly they were all just under the high part in the normal range.
I started on 100mcg of Synthroid and they said that was too much after a blood test, so they lowered it to 88mcg and I had another blood test and it was in the normal range like I said. I know the doctor said she wanted my levels to be in the lower part of the normal range because of the enlarged thyroid, and I was supposed to go back and see her like I said and I never did. So no one ever declared that my levels are where they are supposed to be, maybe that is my problem? Maybe they will up the dose again? who knows. Im sick of doctors lol.
when you find your copies could you please look and make sure it says FREE T3 AND FREE T4. Not just T3 or T3 Uptake or T4 that is not the same thing and a lot of docs don't run the FREE T3 and FREE T4 tests unless you ask specifically for it.
Most people do best when their thyroid hormones (Free T3 & Free T4) are in the upper 1/3 of the range, so I'm hoping that you mean, or that your doc means, that she wants your TSH to be in the lower part of the range - and not the Free T3 and Free T4 results.
Your enlarged thyroid (goiter) is because your thyroid is ailing...more thyroid hormone should shrink your goiter.
Were you able to look at the list of hypo symptoms at stopthethyroidmadness? did you notice other things that you are dealing with?
I could have some of those symptoms, and then there are some that I have the opposite of.
Like, My hands and feet are usually hot(sweaty eww) rather than cold, I dont have high BP, definately not dry hair, I have low cholesterol, and non hard stools (sorry TMI), im rarely cold, I don't fall asleep easily, ....
The things I may have are:
Dry cracking skin (just on hands and feet)
Inability to lose weight
Always gaining weight (lately)
NO sex drive
Aching muscles (back)
Extremely crabby, irritable, intolerant of others (sometimes haha)
The list is a list of possible symptoms. Some people have one or two symptoms, some people have a list a mile long (like me) and some only have mental problems (at least in the beginning anyway) like depression, anxiety, bipolar, etc etc etc. Just wanted you to check out the list and see if you noticed other symptoms.
My son takes 5 grains of Armour also and he has never been cold a day in his life. He is hot natured. His temp has never been below normal that we know of. Before Armour, mine was always 97.2 but now it is close to normal.
The thyroid can affect so many things and it can affect people in many different ways.
Before starting Armour my knees were really bothering me. I figured it must have something to do with my weight. When I mentioned it to my doc he was very nice and said "honestly, I really don't think your weight is enough that it should bother your knees" THANK YOU I had no idea that it could be another hypo symptom until the pain went away on Armour and I realized that it was one of many things that got better for me (and/or went away) once my thyroid problem was being treated.
Actually, I think I had a problem with everything you listed. ;-) my list was long, but thankfully my blood pressure has always been low as well as my cholesterol (like you mentioned).
Just checking - Did you happen to find your copies of your blood work?
the only thing that is bothering me is the inability to sleep well....
they may let you do a trial on Armour for 6 months to see if it helps.
But whatever it is I don't like it.
