Re: Hyper friend needs help with monitoring - Elaine, Simon,...

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I did miss your first post with all the holiday festivities going on.

It sounds as if your friend started with subclinical hyperthyroidism.

Ordinarily, her doc should have repeated her thyroid function tests in 3

months or sooner if symptoms changed.

In this phase, some dietary and lifestyle changes are often enough to resolve

things.

Hyperthyroid people are generally started out on a dose of 30 mg methimazole

daily. When people with subclinical conditions are treated, they generally

are initially prescribed 10 mg methimazole daily. After the first 6-8 weeks

most everyone can be kept on 2.5-10.0 mg methimazole daily, provided they

need to be on the meds.

Her liver function tests and CBC should have been checked before starting the

meds. With her levels of thyroid hormone being low now, your friend could now

be feeling worse than before. Hope this helps, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Oh, about the antibodies. 30% of people with GD do not even have antibodies

to thyroglobulin or TPO so her not having them doesn't rule out subclinical

GD. A test for TSI would be better. Generally, if multinodular goiter is

present, the nodules can be felt when the gland is palpated.