Posted , 4 users are following.
Good morning! (10am here in Canada)
I’m hoping I can get some insight regarding my lab work.
My TSH is consistently rising. I take 2.5 mgs methamazole daily. I feel fine, no major symptoms at the moment.
My recent lab work came back and it’s as follows:
TSH 2.18 (0.32-4.00)
T4 13 (9-19)
T3 3.5 (3.1-6.2)
My TSH was undetectable for a long time until I started taking ALC (500mgs) but I’ve basically stopped taking ALC consistently as I seem to be producing TSH on my own, which is good I guess but I don’t understand why my Free Ts remain the same? I’ve had the same Free Ts for over a year even when my TSH was suppressed. Basically, the only number that changes is my TSH, regardless of my dosage of anti thyroid meds.
I’ve tried to lower my dosage last month by taking 2.5mgs every other day and my TSH immediately dipped (again, my T Frees never budged) so I’m back on 2.5mgs daily and TSH shot back up very quickly.
Can someone provide some insight about this? When should I attempt to lower my dose again? I’m afraid my TSH will continue to rise. I have my appt with endo today but tbh she is not very good at reading lab results and tends to skip through explaining anything as long as they’re in the “normal” range.
P.s. not sure if this is relevant but I’ve had all my antibodies tests completed and as far as I know I have only Graves/hyperthyroid. Everything else came back negative.
Thank you in advance.
2 likes, 4 replies
linda187 Cecelo
Posted
Cecelo, your pattern is exactly like mine was. I prefer a TSH around 1.5, and I made frequent adjustments to get it there and keep it there. I was not concerned about where my Frees were as they normalized immediately when I took my starting dose of 10 mg of Methimazole. As my TSH rose, my doc lowered my Methimazole dosage and I currently take 2.5 mg on Sat, Sun, Tues and Thurs. At one point I was only taking it 3 times a week. I stopped the ALC because it did its job in getting my TSH where I wanted it. And I have had to sometimes take it when my TSH fell too low. So now I take this low dosage of Meds and I take 500 mg of Regular L-Carnitine on the off days I am not taking Methimazole. I don't know what my values are and need to be tested soon. My last one was TSH 1.3. While I was raising my TSH with Acetyl-L-Carnitine, my Frees dropped right to the bottom of the range and stayed there until I stopped the ALC and they rose again quite like where yours are. Your Free T4 is pretty much mid-range but it does not seem to be converting to Free T3 as your Free T3 is low in range. I never worried much about this in my case as I was more concerned with raising my TSH. You can do some research on T4 to T3 conversion if you are concerned about this however. At this point, if you are like me and like a TSH at around 1.5, you would have to play around with your Methimazole dosage as you have done but instead of every other day, just don't take it for 2 separate days a week (perhaps like on Mondays and Fridays). Also, I would get your antibodies tested again. You don't want to stop meds until your antibodies are not detectable. Aside from your values, how are you feeling in general?
Cecelo linda187
Posted
Thanks for responding. From what I remember, my hyper/Graves journey has been very similar to yours from the start. I’m going to try and play around my dosage at your suggestion.
When I asked my endo today about my stable free Ts, she said my body seems to function well at those levels that’s why they haven’t fluctuated much, my body sort of “self adjusts” but I’m definitely going to look into T3 conversion as I’ve also noticed my T3 is a bit on the low side. Luckily, I feel fine for the most part. I get headaches every now and then and seem to struggle with weight loss though. How are you feeling now?
linda187 Cecelo
Posted
Cecelo linda187
Posted
Thanks for your advice and take care!