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Worried about HyperThyroid Results

Posted , 6 users are following.

john32674
john32674

Hi there,

I have been having hyperthyroid for almost a year. Have been on and off methimazole as well.

Today I have my results.

4/14 TSH Lesser than 0.1  (0.450 - 4.500) ||| Free T4 3.9 (0.82 - 1.77)

Took medication for 1 month, and off 1 month

6/14 TSH Lesser than 0.01 (0.450 - 4.500) ||| Free T4 1.34 (0.82 - 1.77)

At first the nursed called and said I should continue what I am currently doing, which is taking the methimazole. But I actually have stopped it for a month. I told her that and she said alright, don't take any then.

What I do not understand after reading lots of posts is. Some doctor just see FT4 where if it is above average then we are having hyperthyroid?

But on some post I also read that if the TSH is too low, then you are also having hyperthyroid.

So by taking methimazole/tapazole medicine, what does it actually do? Does it lower FT4 and TSH the same time?

How do i push my TSH back to normal?

HOpe to hear from someone.!!!

 

1 like, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • linda187
    linda187 john32674

    Posted

    Hi John.  When I was diagnosed my T3 and T4 were mildly elevated and my TSH was less than 0.01.  I started on Methimazole and my T3 and T4 immediately went into the normal range, right in the middle, however, my TSH remained at less than 0.01 for 2 years even though I took 10 mg of Methimazole daily.  Then I read an article by Dr. Salvatore Benvenga of Italy about the beneficial effects of taking L-Carnitine for hyperthyroidism.  I bought a bottle and took one pill (500 mg).  My next blood tests my TSH was 0.05.  Then I tried adding different L-Carnitines along with the regular L-Carnitine I was taking.  I took 1,000 mg of Regular L-Carnitine and 1,000 mg of Acetyl-L-Carnitine and my TSH rose to the normal range at 0.78.  Then I could not get the Acetyl-L-Carnitine because the Canadian government banned it for a year.  My TSH fell.  It came on the market again and I took 1,000 mg of Acetyl-L-Carnitine along with 5 mg of methimazole and my TSH rose to 1.4 and then to 2.4.  So I would not stop your Methimazole but rather add the L-Carnitine, especially the Acetyl-L-Carnitine.  You will find you will be able to decrease your Methimazole.  One lady on this Board posted that she takes 4,500 mg of Acetyl-L-Carnitine and nothing else and her results are normal.  I have read L-Carnitine is safe to take in a dose of up to 3 to 4 grams daily - that equates to 3,000 to 4,000 mg daily.  I would not take more than 2,000 mg of the Acetyl-L-Carnitine daily however, because it is more sensitive.  Hyperthryoid patients are depleted of Carnitine (a normal amino acid that is found in the body) in their muscles through their urine and also are usually depleted of Vitamin D.  I would supplement with both.  You can Google L-Carnitine and hyperthyroidism on the Internet and find some information that way.  All the best to you.  Let us know if you decide to do this and how it works for you.smile
    • john32674
      john32674 linda187

      Posted

      Hi Linda. First of all, I am happy to hear your opinion. And I definitely have not heard about L-Carnitine until now. I have been worried about my hyperthyroid because we do not know what was the cause (not family history) and the doctor just thinks it is grave's disease.

      I am wondering when you had your TSH at a very low level but FT4 at normal high range, what do we actually feel? tired? My body have been swinging up and down for past year, I do not know what is normal and what is not normal anymore?

      How long have you taken methimazole? I read somewhere we can only take this up to a year else we might get a liver problem?

      After taking L-Carnitine, was your doctor surprised with the results? Does he know if you took it and what was his opinion?

      Hope to hear from you biggrin

    • linda187
      linda187 john32674

      Posted

      If you want to confirm if you have Graves disease, your doctor needs to do a blood test and check for Graves antibodies. My symptoms at the time of diagnosis were rapid resting heart rate (130 beats per minute), heat intolerance, irritated eyes. I have taken Methimazole since 2007 at 10 mg, since 2009 at 5 mg and more recently 2.5 mg (which I consider nothing) with a view to discontinuing it if all else stays normal but I will continue to take the L-Carnitine and Acetyl-L-Carnitine and have my carntine checked periodically with a blood test to follow my levels.. My doctor was VERY SURPRISED with my results. I showed him the bottle. However, having worked for doctors for the past 35 years, I can tell you that doctors follow the herd and none of them are quick to jump on the Carnitine bandwagon because what they are currently doing is "accepted medical practice" and they are afraid to stand out from the crowd. When I asked him if he recommended this to other patients, he responded "No, I don't know anything about L-Carnitine". However, when I last saw him, he told me he had read up on it and saw that it inhibited excess thyroid hormone. I hope to one day convince all doctors to go this route when they start Graves patients on meds. This will mean even if they are on meds, they don't need to be on as high a dose and they can decrease faster. If you decide to try it, please keep me posted on how you are doing.
  • linda187
    linda187 john32674

    Posted

    P.S. John no matter what the cause of your hyperthyroidism is, L-Carnitine and Acetyl-L-Carnitine will help to normalize your levels. Some people also use Bugleweed from the Health Food Store. One lady that posted on this board about her 18 year old daughter had amazing results when she added Bugelweed and Acetyl-L-Carnitine to her treatment regimen.
  • john32674
    john32674

    Posted

    Linda, I believe I am going to try out this alternative since there is no harm in trying. smile

    I am wondering do you take the L-Carnitine along with the Acetyl-L-Cartine at the same time?

    At my local stores, I can only find L-Carnitine

    and 

    Spring Valley Acetyl L-Carnitine HCI & Alpha Lipoic Acid Dietary Supplement Capsules, 50 count

    Not sure if the acetyle L + alpha lipoic would do any good. 

    Is it possible that you can share the brand you are using? and other people that used before that work?

    Hope to hear from you.

    Cheerios!

  • linda187
    linda187 john32674

    Posted

    Hi John,

    The Acetyl-L-Carnitine plus Alpha Lipoic Acid you described probably has a lower dose of Acetyl. You didn't mention the mg of each. Both products combined should be good for you if the mg dosage of Acetyl is at least 500 mg. I had difficulty finding any Carnitine, regular or Acetyl under 500 mg. For me the Acetyl raised my TSH the most so I wound up just taking 1,000 mg of Acetyl along with my Methimazole for about a year. I don't know if it will react that way with you though as different people have different experiences. I started out combining the two carnitines.After it got well into the normal range however, I found I was having rapid heartbeats for just a small period in the day so currently I take 1,000 mg of regular L-Carnitine and 500 mg of the Acetyl-L-Carnitine together at the same time but take it in the morning and my 2.5 mg of Methimazole in the evening. Initially I took it at the same time as I felt it was helping the Methimazole do its job. Now that I am well into the normal range for all my three labs (TSH, Free T3 and Free T4), I want to take the Carnitines separate from the Methimazole. The brand I buy here in Canada is Genestra which is a therapeutic behind the counter brand. I think taking the Methimazole and then stopping it altogether is not a good idea. A better idea is to reduce it slowly according to the blood results you are getting. That's what I have done. Please do keep us informed of how it works for you. Hope you feel better real soon.

    • john32674
      john32674 linda187

      Posted

      Linda,

      The Acetyl-L-Carnitine plus alpha lipoic acid has 800mg acetyl and 400mg alpha lipoic acid.

      I also bought the L-Carnitine and that is 1000mg.

      Do you know what is the use of alpha lipoic acid.? 

      I think I will start off with :

      1)  Acetyl-L-Carnitine 800mg plus Alpha Lipoic Acid 400mg (1 pill morning after meal)

      2) L-Carnitine 1000mg.  (1 pill morning after meal)

      without methimazole (Since the doctor said I do not need to be on one since I have not been on one for 1 month plus, and my FT4 level is average, but TSH is super low).

      Let's hope the Carnitine helps to increase the TSH and lower the FT4 more.

       

  • linda187
    linda187 john32674

    Posted

    Hi John.  I don't know much about alpha lipoic acid other than ALA is an antioxidant. Antioxidants protect against damage to the body's cells.  I don't know how it affects Acetyl-L-Carnitine as I took the Carnitines alone and not combined with anything else besides Methimazole.  Are you taking any Methimazole?  If you are, when your TSH is low it is a good idea to take the Carnitines at the same time as Methimazole.  When your TSH comes into the normal range, then I would take the Carnitines at separate times from the Methimazole.  The reason for that is as far as I know, Acetyl-L-Carnitine helps the methimazole get into the cell nucleus and therefore it does its job better and you won't have to take as high a dose of methimazole.  In any case, I have played around with dosages (within the safety range of less than 3,000 mg) and times I take it so you can experiment too.  Most people who try it do.  Let me know how you feel when you take it.  Thanks.
  • sue83556
    sue83556 john32674

    Posted

    Help!!!  I was diagnosed with Graves earlier this month.  I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis which is well controlled with diet (no dairy/no gluten/no meat, I have not used any medication for this.  Now I have the Endo pushing medication down my throat for Graves.  I've read through many forums try to see if anyone has not taken medication, but has used acetyl l-carnitene/l-carnitene, bugleweed, motherwort, lemonbalm.  Really appreciate your views.
    • linda187
      linda187 sue83556

      Posted

      I read one story online of a lady who recovered by using 4,500 mg of Acetyl-L-carnitine and avoiding aspartame in drinks and food. That is a very high dose. The recommended dose for regular L-carnitine is 3 to 4 grams or 3,000 to 4,000 mg. For myself, I was on a low dose of Methimazole ( 5 mg) and I added various doses of regular L-Carnitine and Acetyl-L-carnitine, then for a period of time took Acetyl-L-carnitine alone, 1000 mg along with my Methimazole. That had dramatic results on normalizing my TSH. Currently I take 1,000 mg of regular L-Carnitine and 500 mg of Acetyl-L-Carnitine with 2.5 mg of Methimazole. I will see at my next blood work in August if my results are remaining in the normal range. If so, I will ask my Endo if I can discontinue the Methimazole altogether. My Graves antibodies are gone. There is another lady on this Board who posted that her daughter was on meds plus Bugleweed and she added Acetyl-L-Carnitine and was able to decrease her meds further and was feeling a whole lot better as well as improving her lab results.
    • sue83556
      sue83556 linda187

      Posted

      Thanks Linda.

      I have noticed quite a few posters mentioned joint pain after commencing medication.  I am absolutely terrified of the medication triggering RA flares and just don't know how I would cope if the medication triggered crippling RA symptoms as well as trying to cope with Graves symptoms.

    • acoffin
      acoffin sue83556

      Posted

      Hi Sue,

      Linda was referring to my daughter who has had much success taking acetyl L Carnitine as well as bugleweed and lemonbalm/tinture.  She was diagnosed with Graves at 14 and is soon to be 19 years old.  Her doc put her on Tapazole in the beginning and it and beta blockers did help to eliminate some of her symptoms.  But soon after, my daughter began to gain all her weightlost back and continue to gain more and more weight while taking on other symptoms like alopecia, acne, sweating, stomach problems...etc.  We began a long journey of decreasing her dosage for a couple of years but she never did feel like herself and soon she became hyper again while exibiting hypo symptoms.  We realize that Tapazole along was not helping her but in fact causing many other problems.  It wasn't until I read about L Carnitine from Elaine Moore's website that I began to do some research on my own...that's when I came across Linda's postings and was convinced to give Acetyl L Carnitine a try.  Within 1 month of adding Carnitine , the lab test came back with T3 and T4 within range.  After 3 months, her TSH is in range and we will need to decrease her Tapazole dosage and Acetyl L Carninin dosage because she no longer needs as much to maintain her numbers.  All I can say is, both her doctors (endos) have no idea about Acetyl L Carnitine and is not interested.  Our appointments were often 5 to 10 minutes long and the only recommendation was either to increase or decrease Tapazole or commit to RAI.  Our naturalpath was a lot of receptive to the supplements, but she too has never heard about L carnitine.  I wish you all the best, and I would suggest you do a lot of research on your own while getting support with your physician.

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