Help with thyroid numbers please :) page

[brookesam]

I just got labs back from a couple of weeks ago....

TSH 1.64
TPO thyroid antibodies 192
Free T4 0.6
My new doctor said she doesn't test for T3 unless you have hyperthyroidism.

Three months prior to this my TSH was 1.1, T4 1.09, and T3 1.2
And the 3 months prior to that my TSH was 1.4, T4 1.06 and T3 1.3

So does it look like my thyroid numbers are getting worse? I'm a little confused because doctors don't always explain thyroid issues very well.

I'm on 50 mcg of synthroid. I eat 2-3 brazil nuts a day. I get iodine from sea vegetables or kelp granules usually daily.

[lucy1984]

What are the ranges for each hormone quoted as 'normal' from the pathology lab doing your blood tests?
Hard to tell without that...

Also how to do you feel? Are you tired? Lethargic? Gaining weight? Losing hair/eyebrows? Brittle nails? etc.?

Synthroid works pefectly well for some people, not so good for others...but I would go on how you are feeling physically and mentally as opposed to your blood work.

I just got labs back from a couple of weeks ago....

TSH 1.64
TPO thyroid antibodies 192
Free T4 0.6
My new doctor said she doesn't test for T3 unless you have hyperthyroidism.

Three months prior to this my TSH was 1.1, T4 1.09, and T3 1.2
And the 3 months prior to that my TSH was 1.4, T4 1.06 and T3 1.3

So does it look like my thyroid numbers are getting worse? I'm a little confused because doctors don't always explain thyroid issues very well.

I'm on 50 mcg of synthroid. I eat 2-3 brazil nuts a day. I get iodine from sea vegetables or kelp granules usually daily.

[brookesam]

Thanks for the response!

The nurse didn't tell me the ranges... I didn't know to ask. I'll see if I can get a print out next week when I go back.

I have experienced more fatigue and noticed more hair on the bathroom floor the past couple of months, also my nails have been breaking which is new to me. When I first started eating paleo about 8 months ago, my nails were growing stronger and hair growing faster too.
I told my new doctor this and she switched me to Synthroid from levothyroxine. She said that the generic form of this medication is not very reliable.


I have felt a little better the past few days... I've been trying to break a little of my "routines.' I felt like my body was getting way to used to everything I do day in and day out, from eating times and exercising at the same time everyday.

[lucy1984]

No worries.You might want to check out Thyroid Mistreatment, Hypothyroidism Scandals, and Thyroid Treatment Problems | Stop The Thyroid Madness for more information, it is one of the best sources for patients unhappy with their current regime. If you aren't feeling better on your synthroid or levothyroxine, then you may need to consider natural thryoid extract, or t3 only supplementation. But this is complicated for two reasons.

1. Finding a doctor who will listen to you/even consider anything other than t4 and not treat you like an imbecile.
2. There may be many things going on causing you to not respond to t4, and it takes time and a lot of blood tests etc to figure out what exactly.

There is a natural thyroid hormone yahoo group and facebook group etc, so if you were to join and post your location someone could probably recommend a local doctor who is alternative thyroid treatment friendly.

My personal experience: was on t4, but gained about 12kg in a year, and no matter what I did I couldn't/still can't get it off. I tried calorie counting, atkin's, then primal...strict primal as well, but no weight came off. And I am not talking about gaining muscle, shrinking centimeters and no scale change, I am talking zero shape change whatsoever. And I wasn't getting stronger or fitter.

Anyway, I found a doc who prescribed natural thyroid (NDT), but even that didn't work - I was taking this massive dose (500mg, her max ever prescribed was 320mg, and average was 90-120mg). I was taking this huge dose and it even feeling it, and gained another kilo. So now I am on t3 only - as we think I have thyroid resistance, which basically means that any t4 in my system gets turns to rt3, which blocks the effectiveness of t3 and basically slows metabolism, leads to weight gain etc. I've been on it 8 weeks, so still too early to tell if it's worked...they say the average is 12weeks.

In my case, I think thyroid resistance is my 'diagnosis' - it can be caused by long term restrictive dieting. This is me - about three years on weight watchers, plus excessive running (6 days a week, including half marathon training etc).

Other issues can be - adrenal function, potassium/sodium levels, iron levels, sex hormones,...I can't remember what else.

[brookesam]

Thyroid issues seem to be so complex! I'm going to look into all the information you've listed... thank you!

[DouglaCorbi]

I'll see if I can get a print out next week when I go back.

[Shamrock]

Hi, I'm a longtime lurker and as you can see this is my first post. But since I'm working on my messed up thyroid and looking at your numbers I'd like to remark, if I may..( I really don't want to cause panic, I'm still figuring thyroid things out, so..)
Here goes:
You have a pretty high count of antibodies, if ones simply hypothyroid, there's usually a very low or no antibody-count.
A count this high points to a thyroid-related autoimmune-disease like Graves, Hashimoto (that's what I have) or the like.
Was there an ultrasound done? Do you know the size of your thyroid?
I'm no doctor, so matbe you should read up on symptoms of this stuff..
Just a quick info about Hashimoto: yournTSH should rather be suppressed than in the normal range, meaning more around 0.4 or with whatever YOU feel normal..so if this really is the case, your TSH is still wayyy too high for you to feel well, just sayin..
Again, I'm no doctor an I REALLY don't want to worry/scare you but since it took a year of feeling absolutely horrible until someone thought of checking this, I figured you might appreciate a heads up..
All the best for you!

[ivelosttheweight]

If you're having symptoms of thyroid issues, make sure you get your T3 levels checked as well, including getting your reverse T3 ratio calculated. If your endo won't do this, find one who does.

I just ran into this issue where I believe I have this thyroid resistance. I've been on T4 only for years but hit a huge plateau after losing 175 pounds and couldn't figure out why. All my numbers, including T3 look in range, but my ratio is low which means I have too much reverse T3. (Go check out stopthethyroidmadness website). This explains why I've been having all the usual thyroid symptoms (fatigue, dry skin, cold hands and feet, sensitivity to cold).

That said, TSH might fluctuate a bit up and down. But don't accept that "every thing is in range" if you're still having symptoms, especially if you're only on T4.

And don't go too low in carbs either. I think that has been part of my problem as I was VLC (30 net) for years while losing weight. I'm currently trying to heal things by a diet break/more carbs while I shop around for a better endo since mine doesn't want to deal with the T3 issues either.

[brookesam]

Hi, I'm a longtime lurker and as you can see this is my first post. But since I'm working on my messed up thyroid and looking at your numbers I'd like to remark, if I may..( I really don't want to cause panic, I'm still figuring thyroid things out, so..)
Here goes:
You have a pretty high count of antibodies, if ones simply hypothyroid, there's usually a very low or no antibody-count.
A count this high points to a thyroid-related autoimmune-disease like Graves, Hashimoto (that's what I have) or the like.
Was there an ultrasound done? Do you know the size of your thyroid?
I'm no doctor, so matbe you should read up on symptoms of this stuff..
Just a quick info about Hashimoto: yournTSH should rather be suppressed than in the normal range, meaning more around 0.4 or with whatever YOU feel normal..so if this really is the case, your TSH is still wayyy too high for you to feel well, just sayin..
Again, I'm no doctor an I REALLY don't want to worry/scare you but since it took a year of feeling absolutely horrible until someone thought of checking this, I figured you might appreciate a heads up..
All the best for you!

When I brought up thyroid to my new endo she just blew over everything and said that swapping syntroid for the generic levothoroxine would make the difference and I should be able to tell with in a couple of months. She wouldn't even check T3 so I know there's no way she'd do an ultrasound. Before leaving the room she said something like, "you're skinny, don't worry about it."
Really?! Thank you doctor for saying I'm skinny but I don't feel good. Needless to say, I'm not very happy with this new doctor so I'm back to the drawing board for an endocrinologist.
Thanks for the heads up!

[brookesam]

If you're having symptoms of thyroid issues, make sure you get your T3 levels checked as well, including getting your reverse T3 ratio calculated. If your endo won't do this, find one who does.

I just ran into this issue where I believe I have this thyroid resistance. I've been on T4 only for years but hit a huge plateau after losing 175 pounds and couldn't figure out why. All my numbers, including T3 look in range, but my ratio is low which means I have too much reverse T3. (Go check out stopthethyroidmadness website). This explains why I've been having all the usual thyroid symptoms (fatigue, dry skin, cold hands and feet, sensitivity to cold).

That said, TSH might fluctuate a bit up and down. But don't accept that "every thing is in range" if you're still having symptoms, especially if you're only on T4.

And don't go too low in carbs either. I think that has been part of my problem as I was VLC (30 net) for years while losing weight. I'm currently trying to heal things by a diet break/more carbs while I shop around for a better endo since mine doesn't want to deal with the T3 issues either.

About the carbs... I have been having anywhere from 30-50 net carbs a day for the last few weeks. I had done this several months ago and then started carb cycling a couple of days a week. I also have type 1 diabetes and eating lower carbs make it somewhat easier to manage blood sugar levels. I was low carb + exercising pretty hard 5 days a week at the time my last thyroid tests were taken. I wonder if that low of carbs contributed to worse thyroid numbers.
How are you on carbs now?