I got my tests back from the labs I ordered. I HAD requested a tsh, ft3, and ft4, along with a TSI. The lab tech ordered the t3 uptake, tt4, and the free thyroxine index. I was so mad!
Anyway, I'm another one of those hashi patients that has a high normal tsi:
tsi 100 (<125)
Has anybody ever had their doctor tell them that this is significant? I always feel the hyper symptoms and don't tolerate meds, but labs usually show normal or hypothyroid. I'm sensitive to iodine, goitrogens, and on and on....
I'm so wishy-washy I don't know what to do next. I was hoping someone could tell me if their doctor ever told them that a tsi level could factor in on how the hashi thyroid reacts to everything. If I can find out for sure, I'm going to request to have my thyroid removed so I can start meds with a clean slate!
Hi Karen, If your TSI is borderline and your thyroid tests are showing hypo then I would guess that you have other antibodies that are active (TSH blocking or TSH binding) that are present in higher titres thus over-riding the TSI abs.
What your thyroid does would depend on which antibodies were dominant at any given time.
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Dx Graves 4/99, tx w/Tapazole & Atenolol - Remission 7/03; Relapse 1/06, back on Tapazole, remission & off meds again 11/06.
Last edited by Administrator; 06-26-2011 at 03:41 AM.
Karen, what if you have your thyroid removed & then for some reason can't tolerate the meds? I have hypo but have a reaction to the thyroid meds so I'm coping w/o meds . Is this a possibility? Good luck!
That's the exact reason I haven't had this thing out six months ago! I feel like I have to find some more missing pieces of this thyroid puzzle so it can be figured out(if that's possible!). That is my one big concern about having it removed. The only positive, is I remember the member Kant(who seemed to have disappeared from the boards) who had alot of similar trouble last summer/fall, and then had her thyroid removed. She said the minute she woke up from surgery she felt better immediately! And from then on she felt like herself and had no problems adjusting to meds. I keep that story in the back of my mind constantly. She said the doctor told her she had a badly diseased Hashi gland that would have definitely been giving her her trouble.
Just putting in my 2 cents worth...My dr said I had graves due to hyperthyroid levels, eye symptoms, and skin issues. I did eventually have my antibodies tested. My TSI was at 97%. And my TPO and Tg came in at lower levels.
As K9mom said....the antibody that is in the dominant position will be the one mainly influencing the thyroid levels at that time. This was definitely true for me. The TSI being the dominant one was stimulating my thyroid to overproduce. Even though my TSI was below the lab normal range of <130. Those antibodies were still influencing my system.
I appreciate all of your answers. So, it sounds like my thyroid is in a
tug-of-war, which depends day to day, on what is predominating. So, what did you guys do for all of this?? What helps, what works??
With ya'lls tsi at 97 and 114, what exactly did your doctors say about those numbers? Nikki, what did your doctor do to finally diagnose you as Graves?
Someone please help me understand. How can you have Graves and be hyperthyroid if your ft3 and ft4 are not over the range?? Is this possible?? I have had the problem of being sensitive to meds, low hormone levels, and when I try to get them up to the upper range my TSH goes .00. I asked Dr. Arem if I needed to check TSI and he said "Only if you want to waste your money". So I took that as meaning there was no way I could have Hashi's and Graves.
This is how a person could be hyperthyroid *for them* even with normal FT4 and FT3:
We are all born with a natural "set point" for our thyroid hormone levels. There is a VERY narrow range that our levels can vary off of that "set point". When we are off of our own personal "set point" we become symptomatic.
We can be VERY symptomatic, off of our personal "set point" and still test within the normal range.
BUT, the medical profession uses the labs normal ranges to determine thyroid status. They do not recognize "set points" unless you do as I have done and document each of your thyroid labs along with symptoms you are having at each blood draw. With this documentation I was able to "build my case" to convince my doctor of where MY set points were....he eventually agreed with me and now these are the numbers we shoot for when adjusting meds.
__________________
Dx Graves 4/99, tx w/Tapazole & Atenolol - Remission 7/03; Relapse 1/06, back on Tapazole, remission & off meds again 11/06.
Sorry to not get back sooner..........Things have been quite out of whack at my house.
Anyway, My current endo once I switched immediately did an radioactive iodine uptake scan due to my "hot" nodule that I had in the past. If you have hyperthyroidism due to nodules on the scan it will show "hot" or hyperactivity on the nodules. If you have graves disease the entire lobe will light up hot and that it what mine did. The only thing or warning I would say about this scan is it can aggrivate graves eyes and it did mine. I watered non stop for 3 weeks after I had it done but in a way it was worth it to me to get a definite diagnosis.
Just wanted to bring this up again as, back in June, my TSI was 100 (<130). I just received my last week's TSI and it is now 119. I am feeling more hyper with the last few months, and have had my ft4 go over range once, but it fell back in range. I feel like I'm on a trend up into Grave's. Anyone else's TSI keep trending up until finally they tipped over range and got their diagnosis??
My numbers are fluctuating between hyper and low normal range. But my symptoms are staying at a hyper level for the last few months. It's my heartrate that is the most consistent hyper-trending symptom. It now stays in the 90s to low 100s. I saw a cardio. and he did all his tests, and agrees with me that the fluctuating b/p and incr. hr. are probably endo related. The heart itself is looking great.
