TSH way down/No symptomatic relief

[Guest guest]

,

TSH behaves somewhat like springs on a car where the shock absorbers are

starting to fail. It is " critically damped, " which means it tends to be slow to

respond and then overshoots. Also, it takes about six weeks for a deliberately

low dose to build up to full strength and for the TSH to settle down. The usual

response to each incremental increase is a momentary feeling of relief (while

the blood levels jump) followed by a gradual recurrence of symptoms. Eventually,

you should zero in on an optimal dose.

All that being said, 75 mcg is about half of what you would need for a full

replacement dose. You just aren't there yet, even though the TSH has dropped

nicely. It really wasn't all that high to begin with. You may just need to

continue the titration process, or something else could well be going on. Any of

your other conditions could be the culprit.

Chuck

> I was diagnosed with hypo on March 7, with TSH of 4.83 (0.40--4.0) and Free

T-4 of 1.29

> (0.8--1.9). My internist put me on levothyroxine 50mcg (which I had changed

two weeks

> later to Levoxyl, and then my endo increased to 75 mcg). I had a follow-up

blood draw

> for TSH and T-4 a week ago, and have now been treated for nearly two months.

>

> The TSH last week was 1.01 (0.40--4.0)....and the T-4 was 8.46

(4.50--12.50)....The

> early March and late

> April T-4s seem to have been free and total T-4 tests, respectively--for

whatever

> reasons--but the results

> are in the mid-range (presumably OK) for both.

>

> I don't know if this is too soon to expect symptom improvements, especially at

what

> seems to me a low dose

> (even for a 61-year-old male?). But with this dramatic an " improvement " in

TSH, where

> I'm getting close to hyperthyroidism, I'm getting rather worried. I've had no

> improvement I can sense in symptoms, and some seem even worse--fatigue,

memory,

> hypersomnia (sleeping long hours), particularly, though the whole list is

rather

> longer. (I also have Type II diabetes, sleep apnea, low testosterone,

clinical

> depression, and obesity, many or most of which, I suspect, go back to one or

another

> hormone problem.) At times I have what could be hyper symptoms mixed with the

ongoing

> hypo symptoms, if that is possible...

>

> I have a hunch about why my symptoms aren't improving with the TSH, but would

like to

> hear some likely expla- nation(s) from some of you with a lot more knowledge

and

> experience.

>

> Many thanks,

>

>

> (Cross-posted to one other group.)

>

> --- hypothyroidism wrote:

>

> > There are 12 messages in this issue.

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

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