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

[Guest guest]

cfyoung2@... wrote:

>

> I have a friend with subclinical hyperT. Her initials symptoms

> were itching and goiter; actually those were her only symptoms. She's

> feeling pretty good on the whole.

Does subclinical hyperT mean different things to different

people here?

I understand it to mean TSH low, but fT3 and fT4 normal - I

thought you said fT3 was initially raised?

> 1) Simon says: It doesn't sound too unreasonable from what you have said

> so far

> (from 20mg daily to 25 mg daily), it seems likely she is still

> hyperthyroid, unless there are contary symptoms.

I still think you want fT3 to complete the picture.

> I wonder if this is so even if she has no symptoms. I would hate to see

> her go hypo since the T4 is already so low

I suspect I'm lurking in the same area with a low but just

normal fT4, and a fT3 that is normal or high.

> Still, since she's feeling so well, why

> undergo it and have to deal with hypothyroidism?

I agree, you don't volunteer for a life of hypothyroidism if you

have minimal hyper symptoms unless they find clear evidence of

something nasty lurking in your throat.

> My question: What is this based on? Should she have FT3 done every 2

> months, less often, at all? My understanding is that the FT3 is more

> expensive so she would need some science to back up her request.

Have a dig through thyroidmanager.org, it covers toxic

multinodular goiter, and reference the T3 toxicosis issue.

Here the fT3 retails for the same price as fT4, although it is

often more expensive, probably in labs that use it less I

suspect. The lab I use is most probably used by people who can't

get the full profile done on the NHS, and so most probably get a

full profile, or just fT3, since if you have a thyroid problem

the government will happily spend your taxes on TSH test (and

usually fT4, except Aldyth's doc who gets TSH & fT3).