Hyperthyroidism Levels

It seems to me that you have both hyper and hypo symptoms or they are symptoms of another type condition. I don't think it will help much to be tested again unless it has been at least 6 weeks since the last test. Maybe it would help to go to another doctor who would be willing to test the free T4 and T3 (either free or total) levels, but most won't test more than TSH unless it is out of range.

The only other thing I can think of is to ask your doctor what else can be tested for that would result in those symptoms. You really do need some answers.

How is your pulse and blood pressure?

Idk how to read those abbreviations. But these were in my visit summary: BMI: 19.8 T: 97.6 F ; BP: 127 / 80 mm Hg ; P: 62 bpm ; R: 16 bpm

BMI is body mass index; T body temperature F Fahrenheit; Blood pressure 127/80 is fairly normal; pulse 62 is not fast; R is respiration I think, Idk what's normal. It all looks good.

What symptoms are the most bothersome? It really does sound like how I started out. I ended up with both types of autoimmune thyroid antibodies: Stimulating for Graves' and destroying for Hashimoto's -- hyper, and hypo. They balance out, but I think they still cause the symptoms. There is no clear direction on how to treat both at the same time, though.

Often, if the TSH is normal they will want to say "It's not the thyroid" but it is important to eliminate the other possibilities as well. Maybe they will say it's depression or stress, but there is no blood test for that and it takes at least a month on the medicine before you know if it's helping.

Well when my hair started shedding last year.. I went to a dermatologist. He told me it could be stress and prescribed me ketokenazole. But the thing is I really don't have anything to be stressing me out. I'm 19. With really nothing to be worrying about but school, which isn't causing me any stress.

Hmm most symptoms bothering.. Has to be my hair shedding, bowl movements and my sleeplessness. The area around my throat started bothering my recently. I'm not sure if that's a sign of hyperthyroidism or not. It's not enlarged though. My doctor did a physical exam and said it's normal.

Well when my hair started shedding last year.. I went to a dermatologist. He told me it could be stress and prescribed me ketokenazole. But the thing is I really don't have anything to be stressing me out. I'm 19. With really nothing to be worrying about but school, which isn't causing me any stress.

Hmm most symptoms bothering.. Has to be my hair shedding, bowl movements and my sleeplessness. The area around my throat started bothering my recently. I'm not sure if that's a sign of hyperthyroidism or not. It's not enlarged though. My doctor did a physical exam and said it's normal.

I believe hair loss, including the eyebrow thing, is most often associated with Hypo (not Hyper) thyroid function. The bowel habits are similar to how I started out. That, and my racing heart were the only symptoms that improved for me when I was treated with Methimazole (MMI), and I was also on a beta blocker for the first month of treatment.

[I was able to go off the MMI in December 2012, and able to get treatment with Cytomel, aka Liothyronine or LT3, in June 2013, added Levothyroxine (LT4) in October, but had a very low TSH in November and was sent to another Endocrinologist in January and told to go off the LT4 and LT3.]

Do you have more trouble with falling asleep at night? or staying asleep through the night? I just got a blood test about a week ago which shows TSH, Free T4 and Total T3 to be in the normal range, and I'm up in the night right now (US Mountain Daylight Time). I fall asleep easily but wake up after a few hours.

I am also rarely stressed by what happens in the outside world, but my symptoms seem to be very stressful to my body. When I first started the LT3 treatment 1/2 of the smallest possible pill (5 mcg) did wonders for me the first day I took it. I felt a huge stress relief, was more awake that day and slept very well all night.

I take my blood pressure and pulse daily, unless I forget. My BP is usually under 120/80 and pulse around 65 to 70 (resting). 3 1/2 hours after the first dose of LT3, my BP hadn't raised but my pulse was around 93. I decided to skip a day and try cutting the pill into quarters and go with 1/4 per day. After three days on that, my BP started to rise, so I went with it every other day. Eventually I would take 1/4 tablet only on days my BP and pulse were particularly low, especially if my BP was under 100/60. Then I learned how to split the small fat pill into eighths by turning the quarter pill on it's side and cutting it in half the other direction.

Before LT3 treatment, my TSH was in range but borderline low, FT4 was nearly mid range on the low side and Total T3 was also on the low side of middle, if I remember right. FT3 wasn't tested at that time but prior tests showed it to be low and off the bottom of the range. Endocrinologists typically don't trust the FT3 test saying it is very inaccurate. (The endo I see now is the fourth one I've had since I was first diagnosed with Graves' Disease in 2009.)

After LT3 treatment, I was tested every 6 weeks. The first test showed a slight increase in my TSH so it wasn't so close to the bottom of the range. FT4 stayed the same and FT3 was also near the bottom of the range.

At first I was very haphazard at taking the LT3, being afraid of going hyper again. My regular doctor, who had prescribed it, suggested I should be more consistent and take the smallest dose for a week, then increasing it by 1/8th pill increments every week until my symptoms seemed hyper, then decrease to the next smaller dose. 6 weeks later TSH rose again toward mid range with FT4 and FT3 not changing much. Each time my symptoms were also much improved, though.

I felt nearly normal, but wanted more stability, so the doctor added LT4. He wanted me to take 25 mcg, but when I got the prescription it was for 50 mcg tablets, which I took without questioning it. I also increased my LT3 up to 1 1/2 pills, in a divided dose with the whole pill with breakfast and the half after lunch. The last 1/4 increment I had increased it, I had done less than a week before the blood test, which was probably my biggest mistake. The test showed my TSH to be 0.009, FT4 slightly higher but in range, and FT3 near the top but still within the range.

After that, my doctor wanted me to go off the LT3 entirely, then referred me to this new endocrinologist to deal with the thyroid. The new doctor said the same thing about going off the LT3, but has allowed me to go off gradually. My symptoms have been horrible, but now that my TSH is in range again, they say it isn't the thyroid causing the symptoms. The official word is that the symptoms are vague and could describe many conditions and the LT3 pill can mess with the lab reports so I need to be off the thyroid pills for a month to get another blood test which will show where my thyroid levels really are. If my TSH is high above the normal range I will possibly be treated with LT4, and only if my labwork shows that the LT4 doesn't work will I be treated with LT3 again... maybe.

Sorry, I can tend to write a book when I talk about my experiences.

What I really want to ask is how you feel regarding temperature. Are you sensitive to the heat or the cold, or are you about normal compared with others around you?