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sunnie123 · 07-23-2009, 04:12 PM

Hi,

Here are my labs. I have elevated antibodies and thus the endoc. diagnosed Hashi's thyroiditis...back in April.
I had normal tsh 3 months ago.

The endocr. told me to see my GP as needed for symptoms otherwise annual bloodwork.

He pretty much passed the buck off to her etc...so i am showing up every 3 months or so if I don't start feeling better.

7-16-09
TSH 1.08 (0.34-4.82)
free T/4 0.68(.7-1.8)
t3 .93(.7-1.7)

iron 131 (35-150)
vit. d levels 34 (30-80)

T4 is low right???what does that mean? any thoughts? I recieved the results in the mail so I haven't talked to anyone yet. There isn't a remark on the results like...come in to discuss or anything like that...so I don't know what to think or do.

Thanks in advance.
sunnie

FinnMaid · 07-24-2009, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunnie123

I have elevated antibodies and thus the endoc. diagnosed Hashi's thyroiditis...
TSH 1.08 (0.34-4.82)
free T/4 0.68(.7-1.8)
t3 .93(.7-1.7)

vit. d levels 34 (30-80)
T4 is low right???what does that mean?

Your low FT4 (and T3) indicates you're already HypoT - caused by your Hashi's. If you have symptoms you should be put on meds - things will not get better without them (your situation may vary over time but you're heading towards permanent HypoT). Your Vit D is a bit low so you might want to consider taking on a Vit D3 supplement.

javelina · 07-24-2009, 05:41 AM

According to the Vitamin D Council, your D levels should be over 50 so you're quite deficient. I take vitamin D3 as it's more easily absorbed than the synthetic D2 that doctors will sometimes try to absorb. Check out the council's website for dosages.

As Finnmaid says, you are definetely hypo. You need to get your free T3 levels to the top of range and your Free T4 should be in the top third. Don't worry about the TSH, it will get suppressed in the process but your doc should not use it to guage how much to treat you. You need to add thyroid hormones until you feel better, not based on the TSH number.

* Disallowed website and related information removed by hb-mod, moderator * During this process it will cause the thyroid to shut down since you are relieving it of the need to produce hormones. Once it shuts down the antibodies will stop their attack and this stops the hyop/hyper symptoms from the thyroid die-off.

sunnie123 · 07-24-2009, 07:28 AM

Thanks for the replies!!

I already take calcium with vit d3 added. I wonder if I need more?

~~~~>Also, as far as symptoms go. I am still thin...not gaining weight yet or anything. Hair was shedding worse than it is now...it's better recently. I just have sleep issues...waking after few hours and taking hours to fall back asleep. That all started last year. That is my chief complaint. Is that common with hypoT?

I am also on an estrogen only patch as I had a hysterectomy a few years ago. I am 42 now and have been on estrogen since age 38.

Would that bias the lab results at all??~~~~~~<

so...treating hypoT is basically treating the symptoms?It's sometimes hard to know which symptoms are hypoT and which are estrogen. ugghh.The ups and downs with both have similar symptoms.

Thanks again for the help. It's a jungle out there.
sunnie

javelina · 07-24-2009, 08:03 AM

I take 6000iu of D daily. I was sub-range with my levels and want to get my levels up. It takes a while to get them up again. Once they are up around 50 I will likely drop back to about 2000 iu daily and keep an eye on it.

Your symptoms are probably the classic hypo/hyper of Hashi's. Either way the recommended treatment is to raise thyroid hormones to the alleviation of symptoms. Labs are hard to go by with Hashi's because of all the autoimmune attacks. The theory is to shut down the thyroid completely by hormone replacement to stave off the antibody attacks.

I've heard good things about Low Dose Naltrexone for Hashi's to help modulate the immune system and stop the antibodies. I'd look into it if I were you. It's a very low dose of the medication and has little or no side effects.

I'm puzzling over the estrogen dominance thing too. I'm also post hysterectomy (lost my uterus to my hypothyroidism) and take estrodial. There are a lot of forums and groups about bio-identical hormones that can help. Right now I'm trying to get my thyroid balanced before looking at that. Often once we have proper amounts of thyroid hormones on board the sex hormones will even out. You also need to look at your adrenal function if you aren't responding well to thyroid hormone replacement.

Hope all this helps. I know it's confusing and an awful lot to learn. You'll get though it though!

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