Thyroid function Question

dfpowell · Post by **dfpowell** » Sat May 11, 2013 12:16 pm

I received my thyroid results:

TSH: 5.53
Free t4: 0.9 (normal 0.8-1.8)

My MD has prescribed 50 mcg of Levothyroxine daily.

I am wondering what others have experienced with this medication and what type of results to expect.

Thank You,

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Sun May 12, 2013 11:48 am

I take it and have for a long time. I started on 25 mg. and have slowly had to go up in dosage. i just got a ne prescription for 75mg. i had no negative effects. it takes about a month to feel better. You should be retested in 6 weeks to see if you TSH goes below 3.

leah

LindyLou · Post by **LindyLou** » Sun May 12, 2013 2:53 pm

Hi Donna, it's funny you ask this question now as I was just about to post my experience with it. I have been on levothyroxine for well over 8 years, possibly even longer. As it turns out, I've also had MC for just about that long but only diagnosed a couple of years ago. I've never quite figured out how to tame my diarrhea all this time however have been able to manage my symptoms so the D is in the mornings. The last year has been the most stressful one I had ever encountered and as a result have acquired yet another autoimmune disease - Hashimoto's. My GP referred me to an endocronologist recently and she switched my thyroid med to Tirosint. She was not familiar with MC but after describing it to her, she felt this new drug would be better as it is claimed to be completely hypoallergenic containing only T4, glycerine , gelatin and water. I've been on it for a little over 2 weeks now and am amazed with the improvement I am seeing! I'm not completely normal every day, however it seems to be a 2 steps forward and one step back. I'm headed in the right direction! If you find you are having any problems with the Levo, this one might be a good alternative. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Linda

dfpowell · Post by **dfpowell** » Sun May 12, 2013 3:51 pm

Linda

Wow, Thank you for sharing your experience. I have some more questions:
Do you think the levothyroxine contributed to your MC? Do you think the new medication should have been started earlier? What were your symptoms of Hashimoto's?

Leah, thank you for sharing your experience.

I will be having my TSH and free t4 checked again in 8 weeks. I was not sure if there were other labs that I should request. I understand a goal for TSH is <3, should the free t4 be in the middle of the normal range (.8-1.9) .

How often do you have labs checked after your target numbers are reached?

Thanks,

gluten · Post by **gluten** » Sun May 12, 2013 3:53 pm

Hi Linda, How much mg's of gelatin and does it identify its source. Jon

Deb · Post by **Deb** » Sun May 12, 2013 4:19 pm

Donna, from STTM:
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/lab-values/

LindyLou · Post by **LindyLou** » Sun May 12, 2013 5:39 pm

Donna, for me it is the chicken or the egg question. I'm not sure which came first. After researching hashimotos disease for the past couple of weeks, I've come to the conclusion I've had this since at least my late teens or possible longer. Back then, my GI problem was constipation. It was during my second pregnancy 19 years ago that I developed diarrhea. I started Levo over 8 years ago and my MC progressed to a full blown case a couple of miserable years ago. I've always been puzzled with this disease an have sort of considered myself an anomaly since when I did the Enterolab testing I didn't react to anything, yet displayed all of the symptoms. And I do have MC, it was confirmed with the last two colonoscopies I had. I wasn't even thinking the Levo could be the cause of my problems. From what I understand Donna, it is important for your doctor to run the free T3 and free T4. A lot of doctors adjust the meds using the TSH reading but that doesn't give a full picture. Also, have them check your anti TPO. This is how they caught my Hashi's as the normal range is supposed to be less than 59 and my value was over 4200. The symptoms are all over the place for me I go from hypo to hyper and back to hypo. I can feel when my thyroid is under attack as the side of my neck will become painful and for the next few days, I will feel more energized and awake, then I will crash for the following couple of days. These oscillations started a couple of years ago but are becoming more and more frequent. I can go from hot to cold in a matter of minutes and right back again. Painful joints, dry flaking skin, extreme exhaustion. I'll sleep 9 hours at night and at times take a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon. I finally had to leave my job as my memory has been failing horribly. And honestly over the past year have felt TOXIC!

Jon, I don't know the answers to the questions you posed, but here is a link to the website
http://www.tirosint.com/index.php?page=home
I think you will find the answers there.
I'm not saying this is the answer to my problems but all I know is things are better than they have been in YEARS!

Linda

dfpowell · Post by **dfpowell** » Sun May 12, 2013 7:56 pm

Linda,

Thanks for sharing, and nice to know you are feeling so much better with the Tirosint, keep us posted on your progress!!

Post by **tex** » Mon May 13, 2013 2:59 pm

Donna wrote:I understand a goal for TSH is <3, should the free t4 be in the middle of the normal range (.8-1.9) .

Some authorities believe that TSH should be below 1.0 when supplemental thyroxine is being taken, but most doctors are happy if it is anywhere within the so-called "normal" range. Ideally, Free T4 should be mid-range, but that may not be possible without ignoring your TSH results. For example, in order to keep my Free T4 within the "normal" range, my TSH is often near the bottom of the "normal" range (sometimes it is below range). Otherwise, my Free T4 will be below range (if my TSH is mid-range).

Tex

Eric · Post by **Eric** » Wed May 15, 2013 9:56 pm

Labs are useful but remember to pay attention to your symptoms as well. Thyroid function and gut health are closely intertwined and it's likely that one will not regain their health until BOTH are adequately addressed. Each is able to cause the other so we often don't know which is the chicken and which is the egg. http://chriskresser.com/the-thyroid-gut-connection

Post by **tex** » Thu May 16, 2013 9:31 am

Eric,

That's a most excellent article, and parts of it are extremely relevant for MC patients.

We also know that thyroid hormones strongly influence the tight junctions in the stomach and small intestine. . . .

T4 prevents over-expression of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL), which in turn causes inflammation in the gut.

One little known role of the gut bacteria is to assist in converting inactive T4 into the active form of thyroid hormone, T3. . . .

This is one reason why people with poor gut function may have thyroid symptoms but normal lab results.

That answers questions that many of us have asked about undiagnosed (or undiagnosable, by medical criteria) thyroid issues. And this illustrates why we are approximately 7 times as likely as someone in the general population to have thyroid problems.

Thanks for the link.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu May 16, 2013 2:47 pm

Donna
were you able to get the sub lingual Vit D??

dfpowell · Post by **dfpowell** » Thu May 16, 2013 3:20 pm

Thanks for asking, I just came across some at a local vitamin store. They did not post it on their website, so when I was there looking for something else I found the Vit d!!

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Thu May 16, 2013 3:31 pm

Awesome!

don't you love those gifts from the universe! unexpected find, or something made super easy

Eric · Post by **Eric** » Fri May 24, 2013 12:40 pm

tex wrote:Thanks for the link.

Tex

No problem. I knew thyroid sort of affected the entire body which can obviously include the GI but I wasn't aware of how they were directly related, including the excerpts you quoted.