Guest guest Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Carolyn, the only way she and you are going to gain control of the situation is to determine your dose with the RIGHT tests. TSH is meaningless!!!!! It is affected by myriad things, not the least of which, the ATD's you take. Your FT3 of 2.2 is LOW, which means, in simple terms, hypO not hyper. You need a FT4 as well, which will tell you a lot more! I can't comment on the AB's but I do know that basing a mmi dose on TSH will send you hypo again. Terry > > Reply-To: graves_support > Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 19:47:53 -0000 > To: graves_support > Subject: Lab questions > > Newest labs done November 5th: > > TSH .004 (.35-5.5) > Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab 11 (0-34) > Thyroid Antithyroglobulin Ab 2322 (0-40) > FT3 2.2 (2.3-4.2) > > Increase Methimazole back up to 30mg/day as of Friday, November 7 - > hyper symptoms started again with the 20mg/day. Doctor is pleased > that previous TSH numbers were " less than " .004 and the latest > was .004. That great, huh?!? <sigh> Oh well, I don't think any of us > ever get the docs away from that number do we? Been on the 30mg now > for 5 days and actually feel much better overall than I did on the > 20mg before. Follow-up blood work in 4 weeks. > > So far I don't have a problem with the increase in dosage as I said, > but do have a question about the Antithyroglobulin AB results. I > thought I was going to have a test with numbers I would have > recognized. I have no idea what this one means. And is 2000+ an > outrageous number for this test? Any help is appreciated. > > The doctor and I have a truce going after the last hypO situation and > her subsequent apology, but I can definitely feel her trying to gain > command of the situation again. I feel like I have to have all my > arguments in place in case of having to defend any actions/requests > for change. > > Thanks! > Carolyn B > **************** > *June 2003 dx Graves TSH <.004 (.35 – 5.5)- 10-20 mg Propanolol 3-4 > times a day according to need (I took 10mg 3 times a day) > *July 2003 Uptake Scan 82.2% - PTU 50mg 3x day > *July 2003 TSH <.004 (.35-5.5) PTU increased to 100mg 3x day after > results of Uptake Scan came in > *Sept 2003 TSH <.004 (.35-5.5) Changed to Methimazole 10mg 3x day > *Oct 2003 TSH <.004 (.35-5.5) FT4 1.34 (.61-1.76) T3Uptake 31 (24-39) > Increase to 40mg 3x day for only 3 days before going hypo. Reduced > back to 30mg while waiting to call doctor. Reduced to 20mg 3x day per > doctors orders on Oct 23 > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------- > The Graves' list is intended for informational purposes only and is not > intended to replace expert medical care. > Please consult your doctor before changing or trying new treatments. > ---------------------------------------- > DISCLAIMER > > Advertisments placed on this yahoo groups list do not have the endorsement of > the listowner. I have no input as to what ads are attached to emails. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------- > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Carolyn, the only way she and you are going to gain control of the situation is to determine your dose with the RIGHT tests. TSH is meaningless!!!!! It is affected by myriad things, not the least of which, the ATD's you take. Your FT3 of 2.2 is LOW, which means, in simple terms, hypO not hyper. You need a FT4 as well, which will tell you a lot more! I can't comment on the AB's but I do know that basing a mmi dose on TSH will send you hypo again. Terry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't pay any attention to the TSH at all. And if it makes her feel better to know that it's moved that's okay with me. She was aware of the FT3 number being low and warned me that I would need to watch out for how I was feeling and to call immediately if I started feeling hypO again. I have a lab slip in my file that can be used anytime I feel like I need it. When we raised the dosage the last time I felt the difference almost immediately! No doubt about it. This time since I've gone back to the 30mg dosage, I actually feel better than I did. I've actually been able to settle down again and think, the heart isn't racing at the least bit of exertion, blood pressure is getting back to normal for me. I'm finding it strange that I feel so good, but at the same time I don't really expect it to last. The numbers have me stumped as well. I guess I expected to feel different with the low FT3 result. She and I discussed the possibility of leaving the dosage at 20mg and then seeing what happens with the next blood test which WILL have both FT3 and FT4, I'll make sure of that. And I chose to agree with her this time and try the increased dosage for a few days to see if it helped. Just taking one day at a time, keeping good notes on how I feel for each day and what my blood pressure and pulse rate is. I told her I would call before I dropped the dosage down and talk to her about why I felt it should be lowered. If, and probably when, that happens I will have all my notes to back me up. Thanks for the feedback though. I need to hear from others that I'm on the right track in my thinking. I don't mind fighting for what I need. I just need to be sure that what I'm fighting for is right for me. Then I'm no better than she is with her hangup over the TSH number. Geez, wish this was easier, huh? Carolyn B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Carolyn, If you feel better, Ok--but you really, really will do better if you take your meds in split doses, 3 x a day. Terry > > Reply-To: graves_support > Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 23:12:46 -0000 > To: graves_support > Subject: Re: Lab questions > > Carolyn, > > the only way she and you are going to gain control of the situation > is to determine your dose with the RIGHT tests. TSH is > meaningless!!!!! It is affected by myriad things, not the least of > which, the ATD's you take. Your FT3 of 2.2 is LOW, which means, in > simple terms, hypO not hyper. You need a FT4 as well, which will > tell you a lot more! > > I can't comment on the AB's but I do know that basing a mmi dose on > TSH will send you hypo again. > > Terry > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > I don't pay any attention to the TSH at all. And if it makes her > feel better to know that it's moved that's okay with me. She was > aware of the FT3 number being low and warned me that I would need to > watch out for how I was feeling and to call immediately if I started > feeling hypO again. I have a lab slip in my file that can be used > anytime I feel like I need it. When we raised the dosage the last > time I felt the difference almost immediately! No doubt about it. > This time since I've gone back to the 30mg dosage, I actually feel > better than I did. I've actually been able to settle down again and > think, the heart isn't racing at the least bit of exertion, blood > pressure is getting back to normal for me. I'm finding it strange > that I feel so good, but at the same time I don't really expect it > to last. The numbers have me stumped as well. I guess I expected to > feel different with the low FT3 result. She and I discussed the > possibility of leaving the dosage at 20mg and then seeing what > happens with the next blood test which WILL have both FT3 and FT4, > I'll make sure of that. And I chose to agree with her this time and > try the increased dosage for a few days to see if it helped. > > Just taking one day at a time, keeping good notes on how I feel for > each day and what my blood pressure and pulse rate is. I told her I > would call before I dropped the dosage down and talk to her about > why I felt it should be lowered. If, and probably when, that happens > I will have all my notes to back me up. > > Thanks for the feedback though. I need to hear from others that I'm > on the right track in my thinking. I don't mind fighting for what I > need. I just need to be sure that what I'm fighting for is right for > me. Then I'm no better than she is with her hangup over the TSH > number. Geez, wish this was easier, huh? > > Carolyn B > > > > > ------------------------------------- > The Graves' list is intended for informational purposes only and is not > intended to replace expert medical care. > Please consult your doctor before changing or trying new treatments. > ---------------------------------------- > DISCLAIMER > > Advertisments placed on this yahoo groups list do not have the endorsement of > the listowner. I have no input as to what ads are attached to emails. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > -------- > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 11, 2003 Report Share Posted November 11, 2003 Carolyn, If you feel better, Ok--but you really, really will do better if you take your meds in split doses, 3 x a day. Terry ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Always have. Learned that right at the beginning of reading on here. Not only taking in 3 doses, but spliting them evenly no matter what the total. Watching not to take vitamins, etc. with them. Finding all the hidden iodine in food, eating as healthy as I can. All the stuff that I can find to help. I'm not completely waiting for her to think of something that will *fix* me. This site and mediboard have been of more help than I ever imagined when I found out I had this disease. Thanks again for the concern and keep those suggestions coming. I keep reading for any new information that I haven't thought of to not only get healthy but stay that way. And the low numbers don't make any sense to me either. Shouldn't I be feeling worse than I am? Something else to figure out I guess...... Carolyn B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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