Review my Numbers ...

[*Wendy*]

Sherri said I ought to copy this from my journal and post here so that more people that have thyroid issues can see it & maybe comment on it - so I'll be pasting two notes here. Please feel free to comment - I'm driving myself nuts googling things and scaring myself with what I read. I should just STOP and wait for my followup appt. w/ the endo on the 29th. But in the meantime if anyone has any insight, I sure would appreciate hearing it! Thanks, Wendy

HERE IS THE FIRST PASTE FROM MY JOURNAL:

And Sherri I wanted to share my TSH history - especially with you and anyone else who has experience/knowledge of this sort of thing:


The best I have felt in YEARS was in late March when I had that low 0.26 reading. The doctor lowered my dosage though because it was below range. As of last week I'm at 2.84 and I don't care if that is technically in range, I don't feel 'normal' yet!!

I would appreciate any feedback/comments/sharing of results. I am very curious how my history compares with others.

END OF PASTE
__________________

[*Wendy*]

SECOND PASTE:

And finally, here are the test results that I think are endo related.



That Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies one is really freaking me out. I googled it and understand that it points to Hashimotos. But I also read that once you are on therapeutic levels of medication like Synthroid or whatever, those antibody levels should drop down to "normal" again. Anyone know for sure? My follow up appointment with the Endo is near the end of February - it's on my calendar at work and I don't remember the date right now, but it's like two weeks off at least. I guess if it was something truly horrible they'd have me coming in before that! And I know he's seen the results because the nurse ran them past him before she told me it was okay to come pick up a copy. So I should probably quit obsessing over this!

END OF PASTE

[DAWNIMMEL]

Hi Wendy, just to let you know my endocrinologist told me that someone with a hypothyroid on replacement should be between 1-2. I just had my TSH done on Monday and I was at .19 the low level is .34. I feel fine and I am going to tell her when I see her on March 4th not to lower my dose. For the first time in 15 years, I am not fatiqued all day.........Dawn

[ssMarilyn]

Please read this...I put this in another thread as well, but you might miss that one. Females want their TSH to be as close to 1.0 as possible and NEVER over 3.0 Read on....

According to the American
Association of Clinical
Endocrinologists (AACE), what
was normal last year,
thyroid-wise, may now be abnormal.
According to the AACE, doctors have typically been
basing their diagnoses on the "normal" range for the TSH
test. The typical normal levels at most laboratories has
fallen in the 0.5 to 5.0 range.
The new guidelines narrow the range for acceptable
thyroid function, and the AACE is now encouraging
doctors to consider thyroid treatment for patients who
test the target TSH level of 0.3 to 3.04, a far narrower
range. AACE believes the new range will result in proper
diagnosis for millions of Americans who suffer from a mild
thyroid disorder, but have gone untreated until now.

The new target TSH level
according to AACE is now 0.3
to 3.04

At a press conference, Hossein Gharib, MD, FACE, and
president of AACE, said: "This means that there are
more people with minor thyroid abnormalities than
previously perceived."
AACE estimates that the new guidelines actually double
the number of people who have abnormal thyroid
function, bringing the total to as many as 27 million, up
from 13 million thought to have the condition under the
old guidelines. These new estimates would make thyroid
disease the most common endocrine disorder in North
America, far outpacing diabetes.

As many as 27 million people
have thyroid problems under
the new guidelines

AACE made the decision to narrow the range because of
data suggesting many people may have low-level thyroid
problems that could be improved with treatment and a
narrower TSH range will give doctors reason to more
carefully consider those patients.
"The prevalence of undiagnosed thyroid disease in the
United States is shockingly high - particularly since it is
a condition that is easy to diagnose and treat," said Dr.
Gharib. "The new TSH range from the AACE guidelines
gives physicians the information they need to diagnose
mild thyroid disease before it can lead to more serious
effects on a patient's health - such as elevated
cholesterol, heart disease, osteoporosis, infertility, and
depression."
Commentary from Mary Shomon
This announcement from AACE represents a
long-overdue and much-needed improvement in the level
of awareness of endocrinologists. After decades of
denying that patients within the normal range of TSH
could in fact have a thyroid condition, they are now
finally acknowledging what patients and advocates have
been saying quite vocally for years: that the high and
low end of the normal range is not, in fact, normal for
most people.
It is, however, also clear that the endocrinology
community has a long way to go in terms of true
understanding of the patient condition, when you read
the words of Dr. Gharib, an endocrinologist and president
of AACE. Dr. Gharib parrots the official endocrinologist
party line when he states that thyroid disease, "is a
condition that is easy to diagnose and treat."
Dr. Gharib's pronouncement contradicts the AACE's own
statement on many levels.
First, many family doctors, general practitioners and
even endocrinologists have absolutely no idea about
these new guidelines from the AACE, and as of this
week, are still routinely denying diagnosis and treatment
to patients who have TSH levels that fall in the level
between 3.0 and 6.0, or between .1 and .3. So, until
the word it out, and accepted, thyroid disease
continues to be a condition that is not easy to
diagnose.
Second, until this announcement, people who had clear
symptoms of thyroid disease, but were in the .1 to .3, or
3 to 6 range on the TSH scale were considered
"euthyroid" (normal) by almost all endocrinologists and
practitioners. They were not diagnosed as having a
thyroid condition, and a total lack of diagnosis cannot
be in any way said to be easy, particularly for the
unfortunate patients on the receiving end of such
sub-standard care. People who had family histories of
thyroid disease, symptoms (including enlarged thyroid,
goiter, nodules, etc.) but whose TSH tests were in the
low or high end of normal were routinely denied
treatment, and sent away with no diagnosis and no
treatment. This narrow-minded means of diagnosis has
been the "standard of care" for conventional doctors
and endocrinologists for decades, based on a near-
slavish reliance on the TSH test -- often to the
exclusion of clinical evidence, symptoms and medical
observation.
Third, and equally of concern, many people with
symptoms, whose TSH levels fell into the high or
low-normal, were told that their problems were actually
the result of depression, and given antidepressants. This
means that a percentage of the population was
misdiagnosed, sometimes stigmatized by the diagnosis of
mental illness, and unnecessarily given drugs.

[*Wendy*]

That is an excellent article!

I'm sorry that I haven't answered sooner - I was away from the site for several months.

I joined Mary Shomon's about.com updates and get alot of support and information from there.

I just tested last week and am 1.43 on 150 mcg Synthroid now. I still don't feel like I did before I came down with this (meaning, I don't have the energy & sense of well being) but I am functioning. I still feel that something isn't quite right, but all my blood tests indicate that I am "SUPPOSED" to be feeling normal again. I think at this point I need to re-evaluate what exactly "normal" feels like!

Thanks for the great post!

[ssMarilyn]

I wonder if a person ever gets back to feeling normal again. I know I'll probably never feel like I did before my thyroid crashed many years ago. Now I have the symptoms of adrenal fatigue, which are also similar to hypthyroid symptoms. I have an appt with a doctor that specializes in this, but can't get in til mid December!

You'll no doubt feel better if you get your TSH to 1.0, which is the suggested ideal for females.

[*Wendy*]

Good luck on your tests ssMarilyn ... I hope they reveal something that you can counter with some supplements! It truly "sucks" to feel this lousy when you are on supposedly therapeutic levels of Synthroid, etc. I hope the test reveals something that you can work on!

I was surprised when I went to pick up my prescription last week - there was a note on my bag that said "Allowed to offer the generic - ask her if she wants the Synthroid brand instead". I'm looking at $4 generic verses my $30 name brand, so I opted for the generic. Hope they aren't scooping me off the floor a week from now!

I've heard horror stories about people trying the generic because the levels of meds aren't as consistent as you get when you go with the name brand made in the same laboratory every time.

At this point, I'm hoping that as my weight drops so too will my TSH, because there will be less "body" for the meds to work through. (Makes sense, right?)

If it doesn't all gel, then I am going to try a holistic doc that I stumbled across - but I want to be in a healthier weight range when I go see him so that he doesn't just pin my issues on being fat. I wasn't fat until about the time my thyroid issues were diagnosed, but I worry that the doctors don't know which came first - the chicken or the egg.

Frankly, I don't give a crap which came first, I just want to be ME again and feel good and spunky - with a real 'spark' again! Finding a doctor that gets that & trusts in your intuition makes all the difference.

I'm really trying very hard and am dedicated to this WOL, so I'm going to give it a sincere last chance & only then will I listen to alternatives.

[ssMarilyn]

Wendy, for some reason or other, some do better on Synthroid than the generic form, even though they are supposedly the same thing. I'm on Synthroid now, but have been on generic before. When I lose weight, my TSH really drops and I start going hyperthyroid, so need my medication dose reduced. Also try taking selenium if you aren't already. It revs up the thyroid and helps it work more efficiently. Many people are able to reduce their med dosage when on selenium.

[*Wendy*]

Thank you - I will try the Selenium - hadn't heard that it helped with thyroid function before! I need to hit the vitamin store next weekend to restock on some things, so I'll look for it.