Re: Elaine--BRT question

[Guest guest]

Hi Donna,

It can take a very long time for TSH to return to normal especially when you

have high levels of TSI. Here's an abstract you can find on PubMed that

describes this:

Brokken LJ, Wiersinga WM, Prummel MF. Thyrotropin (TSH) receptor

autoantibodies are associated with continued thyrotrpin suppression in treated

euthyroid

Graves' disease patients.

When on ATDs, we're concerned euthyroid (normal thyroid function tests) when

our FT4 and FT3 are within the normal range.

Often, a change in dose will cause temporary symptoms. It could be that by

adding the levothyroxine, you'll be experiencing some hyper symptoms for a few

days. This is a temporary event and happens as your body acclimates to the new

levels. Excess thyroid hormone, or what your cells perceive to be excess

thyroid hormone, can cause eye symptoms such as twitching and eyelid retraction.

These symptoms should resolve as you adjust to the new dose. BRT helps your

thyroid gland slow down its functions, including antibody production. This is

compared to putting the gland to sleep. This reduction in cellular activity can

also reduce the congestive, inflammatory process that occurs in autoimmune GO.

Hypothyroidism tends to encourage this process. That would explain why you

would feel better. Best to you, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Can you tell it's time I got to bed? I forgot to give you the name of the

journal that the article is in. It's the Sept 03 issue Journal of Clinical

Endocrinology & Metabolismof J; 88(9):4135-4138. If you go to

http://www4.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ you can do a search for the authors or the

title or some

keywords and link to the article abstract. sorry about that.