thyroid levels after thyroidectomy

[Guest guest]

hi all, after asking some questions on here some time back about what

i thought may be an underactive thyroid, i have since had a total

thyroidectomy at the start of the year due to cancerous growths both

in the thyroid, and also in a neck lump (gland apparantly)

I was placed on 100 mcgm of thyroxene initially and got TSH levels of

8.0 (in this area 0.4 - 4.0 is regarded as normal)

This was increased to 150 mcgm, then after 6 weeks i now have a

reading of 0.9

My questions are

Being as i still have to wait another 3 months before i can start

radio iodene treatment (due to an iodene injection with a recent

thankfully clear CT scan which has to clear from my body first), is

my GP right in saying im ok now because im in the " normal " range, or

should everything be totally (or as near as damn it) suppressed to

protect me from any missed thyroid cells that could flare up again??

what is the lowest safe TSH level they could lower me to?

i feel my body would work best at around 0.2

What is the normal dosage of thyroxene in these circumstances? ( if

it makes any difference i am male, 50s, and 15 stone)

Do they ever give T3 supplements either as well as or in place of,

and what would be the advantages?

I know theres a lot of questions there, but any advice or info

gratefully recieved

thanks, Mike

[Guest guest]

Hi Mike,

I don't know it I can answer any of your questions, but I can tell

you what my Endocrinologist told me after my total thyroidectomy. He

said that the best chance for keeping the thyroid cancer from

returning is to keep my TSH very high...almost hyperthyroid. Soooo,

after almost 3 years of gradually increasing my doses; I'm taking

450mcg. of synthroid a day and my TSH is 1. I feel great with my TSH

this high. Honestly, it's the best that I've felt in years.

Good luck!

>

> hi all, after asking some questions on here some time back about

what

> i thought may be an underactive thyroid, i have since had a total

> thyroidectomy at the start of the year due to cancerous growths

both

> in the thyroid, and also in a neck lump (gland apparantly)

> I was placed on 100 mcgm of thyroxene initially and got TSH levels

of

> 8.0 (in this area 0.4 - 4.0 is regarded as normal)

> This was increased to 150 mcgm, then after 6 weeks i now have a

> reading of 0.9

> My questions are

> Being as i still have to wait another 3 months before i can start

> radio iodene treatment (due to an iodene injection with a recent

> thankfully clear CT scan which has to clear from my body first),

is

> my GP right in saying im ok now because im in the " normal " range,

or

> should everything be totally (or as near as damn it) suppressed to

> protect me from any missed thyroid cells that could flare up

again??

> what is the lowest safe TSH level they could lower me to?

> i feel my body would work best at around 0.2

> What is the normal dosage of thyroxene in these circumstances? (

if

> it makes any difference i am male, 50s, and 15 stone)

> Do they ever give T3 supplements either as well as or in place of,

> and what would be the advantages?

> I know theres a lot of questions there, but any advice or info

> gratefully recieved

> thanks, Mike

>

[Guest guest]

thanks " misty " for your reply

I must admit it confuses me a little, because my understanding of the

way it works is that by taking a very high dosage of thyroxene, the

brain is then told that your body has enough for its requirements and

the TSH level actually drops to near zero so that the thyroid gland

isnt called upon to try and activate production of anything (the

nagative loop system) That is the way i understood that it would be

protecting from the return of cancer

Yes a high dosage would take me to the point of hyperthyroidism, but

i think you will find that means LOW tsh levels?

Did you say your level is now 1 as in 1.0 ?? because that would be

very close to my present level

Or did you mean 0.1 ??

You seem to be on a very high dosage, and it follows my initial train

of thought about the way i should be heading, so even though we may

have different understandings of the way it works, it seems a high

dosage IS the way to go.

I am pleased that you feel so good, and i am hoping that i can get to

the point where i can feel my best in years on the weakness, fatigue,

tiredness front

Thanks again for taking the trouble to reply

> >

> > hi all, after asking some questions on here some time back about

> what

> > i thought may be an underactive thyroid, i have since had a total

> > thyroidectomy at the start of the year due to cancerous growths

> both

> > in the thyroid, and also in a neck lump (gland apparantly)

> > I was placed on 100 mcgm of thyroxene initially and got TSH

levels

> of

> > 8.0 (in this area 0.4 - 4.0 is regarded as normal)

> > This was increased to 150 mcgm, then after 6 weeks i now have a

> > reading of 0.9

> > My questions are

> > Being as i still have to wait another 3 months before i can start

> > radio iodene treatment (due to an iodene injection with a recent

> > thankfully clear CT scan which has to clear from my body first),

> is

> > my GP right in saying im ok now because im in the " normal " range,

> or

> > should everything be totally (or as near as damn it) suppressed

to

> > protect me from any missed thyroid cells that could flare up

> again??

> > what is the lowest safe TSH level they could lower me to?

> > i feel my body would work best at around 0.2

> > What is the normal dosage of thyroxene in these circumstances? (

> if

> > it makes any difference i am male, 50s, and 15 stone)

> > Do they ever give T3 supplements either as well as or in place

of,

> > and what would be the advantages?

> > I know theres a lot of questions there, but any advice or info

> > gratefully recieved

> > thanks, Mike

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Misty

I believe that you do mean TSH LOW and thyroid hormones HIGH. This is

always the object after thyroid cancer. TSH is high in initial diagnosis of

HYPOthyroidism.

Re: thyroid levels after thyroidectomy

> Hi Mike,

> I don't know it I can answer any of your questions, but I can tell

> you what my Endocrinologist told me after my total thyroidectomy. He

> said that the best chance for keeping the thyroid cancer from

> returning is to keep my TSH very high...almost hyperthyroid. Soooo,

> after almost 3 years of gradually increasing my doses; I'm taking

> 450mcg. of synthroid a day and my TSH is 1. I feel great with my TSH

> this high. Honestly, it's the best that I've felt in years.

> Good luck!

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi Mike,

> I don't know it I can answer any of your questions, but I can tell

> you what my Endocrinologist told me after my total thyroidectomy.

He

> said that the best chance for keeping the thyroid cancer from

> returning is to keep my TSH very high...almost hyperthyroid. Soooo,

> after almost 3 years of gradually increasing my doses; I'm taking

> 450mcg. of synthroid a day and my TSH is 1. I feel great with my

TSH

> this high. Honestly, it's the best that I've felt in years.

> Good luck!

>

Standard protocol for treating thyroid cancer after thyroidectomy is

to keep the TSH supressed and under 1.

TSH is not a thyroid hormone, it is a pituary hormone that stimulates

the thyroid gland. A high TSH indicates hypo thyroidism and a low TSH

indicates hyperthyroidism. It maybe that you mean your ENDO said to

keep your thyroid levels high( T4 and T3) which in turn supresses the

TSH..TSH is just what it stands for..Thyroid Stimulating

Hormone..with cancer you do not want to take a chance of Stimulating

any thyroid cells that maybe left remaining in the body.

Kats3boys

[Guest guest]

Thank you all for your input, Kats3 you gave a pretty clear summary

and it reassured me that my thoughts and intentions were correct in

aiming for a LOW tsh level

The question still remains though, how low is it safe to go??

I was on 150 mcgms of thyroxene and getting a TSH of 0.91, i am now

on 175 mcgms for the next 6 weeks to see what benefits that brings

Is it right thsat some people only feel good with a TSH down as low

as 0.2 ??

Again, thanks all for your help

Mike

> >

> > Hi Mike,

> > I don't know it I can answer any of your questions, but I can

tell

> > you what my Endocrinologist told me after my total thyroidectomy.

> He

> > said that the best chance for keeping the thyroid cancer from

> > returning is to keep my TSH very high...almost hyperthyroid.

Soooo,

> > after almost 3 years of gradually increasing my doses; I'm taking

> > 450mcg. of synthroid a day and my TSH is 1. I feel great with my

> TSH

> > this high. Honestly, it's the best that I've felt in years.

> > Good luck!

> >

> Standard protocol for treating thyroid cancer after thyroidectomy

is

> to keep the TSH supressed and under 1.

>

> TSH is not a thyroid hormone, it is a pituary hormone that

stimulates

> the thyroid gland. A high TSH indicates hypo thyroidism and a low

TSH

> indicates hyperthyroidism. It maybe that you mean your ENDO said to

> keep your thyroid levels high( T4 and T3) which in turn supresses

the

> TSH..TSH is just what it stands for..Thyroid Stimulating

> Hormone..with cancer you do not want to take a chance of

Stimulating

> any thyroid cells that maybe left remaining in the body.

>

> Kats3boys

>

[Guest guest]

My TSH has been at around .005 or .006 or so for the last couple of yrs or

so, and I don't even regard it because I have NO symptoms of being hyper,

still only hypo. Thyroid hormone will suppress TSH, but that doesn't mean

that it is getting into the body cells and being processed and used properly

by them. That's what the thyroid hormone cellular receptors are about, and

some people's are highly damaged and must be " restarted " by an appropriate

amt of thyroid hormone individualized for THEIR bodies, not someone else's.

It usually has to be tinkered with for awhile to determine what's right for

you. Type, amount, combinations, and so on. I frankly think that, because

my TSH was kept at a 5.5 for so long (yrs), I may have some damage or other

things to be undone on acct of it. That would be besides the damage

actually done to the gland itself, or trachea or whatever. Who knows?

Blood vessel damage? Aorta? Bone damage in the feet? Other hormonal

imbalances? Varicose veins? Chronic fatigue syndrome? There is a list of

these damages as long as your arm, when you've been chronically

undertreated/no treated for extended periods of time. This little organ

affects every single cell in the body.

Re: thyroid levels after thyroidectomy

>

> Thank you all for your input, Kats3 you gave a pretty clear summary

> and it reassured me that my thoughts and intentions were correct in

> aiming for a LOW tsh level

> The question still remains though, how low is it safe to go??

> I was on 150 mcgms of thyroxene and getting a TSH of 0.91, i am now

> on 175 mcgms for the next 6 weeks to see what benefits that brings

> Is it right thsat some people only feel good with a TSH down as low

> as 0.2 ??

> Again, thanks all for your help

> Mike

[Guest guest]

Mike, many of us are at .01 and feel fine that way..

You ask about safety. Most will tell you its

safe...as long as you don't have hyper symptoms.

Sometimes that means tweaking the frees around a bit,

rather than messing with the TSH itself.

~E:)

--- moofer692001 moofer692001@...> wrote:

>

> Thank you all for your input, Kats3 you gave a

> pretty clear summary

> and it reassured me that my thoughts and intentions

> were correct in

> aiming for a LOW tsh level

> The question still remains though, how low is it

> safe to go??

> I was on 150 mcgms of thyroxene and getting a TSH of

> 0.91, i am now

> on 175 mcgms for the next 6 weeks to see what

> benefits that brings

> Is it right thsat some people only feel good with a

> TSH down as low

> as 0.2 ??

> Again, thanks all for your help

> Mike

>

>

>

>

> > >

> > > Hi Mike,

> > > I don't know it I can answer any of your

> questions, but I can

> tell

> > > you what my Endocrinologist told me after my

> total thyroidectomy.

> > He

> > > said that the best chance for keeping the

> thyroid cancer from

> > > returning is to keep my TSH very high...almost

> hyperthyroid.

> Soooo,

> > > after almost 3 years of gradually increasing my

> doses; I'm taking

> > > 450mcg. of synthroid a day and my TSH is 1. I

> feel great with my

> > TSH

> > > this high. Honestly, it's the best that I've

> felt in years.

> > > Good luck!

> > >

> > Standard protocol for treating thyroid cancer

> after thyroidectomy

> is

> > to keep the TSH supressed and under 1.

> >

> > TSH is not a thyroid hormone, it is a pituary

> hormone that

> stimulates

> > the thyroid gland. A high TSH indicates hypo

> thyroidism and a low

> TSH

> > indicates hyperthyroidism. It maybe that you mean

> your ENDO said to

> > keep your thyroid levels high( T4 and T3) which in

> turn supresses

> the

> > TSH..TSH is just what it stands for..Thyroid

> Stimulating

> > Hormone..with cancer you do not want to take a

> chance of

> Stimulating

> > any thyroid cells that maybe left remaining in the

> body.

> >

> > Kats3boys

> >

>

>

>

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.

~The Ancient Mariner

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Never miss an email again!

Yahoo! Toolbar alerts you the instant new Mail arrives.

http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/

[Guest guest]

>

>

> Thank you all for your input, Kats3 you gave a pretty clear summary

> and it reassured me that my thoughts and intentions were correct in

> aiming for a LOW tsh level

> The question still remains though, how low is it safe to go??

> I was on 150 mcgms of thyroxene and getting a TSH of 0.91, i am now

> on 175 mcgms for the next 6 weeks to see what benefits that brings

> Is it right thsat some people only feel good with a TSH down as low

> as 0.2 ??

> Again, thanks all for your help

> Mike

>

TSH only tells you what your body thinks it needs for thyroid hormone.

It is safe and beneficial to stop thinking about TSH..

You are taking a T4 replacement hormone..so the range you want to

concentrate on is the FT4 range..based on symptoms of hypo/hyper you

want to get your FT4 into the upper 1/3 to top end of the range..

Where you feel well really is as individual as you are.

When your T4 gets to the top then you want to test the T3..but you

need the T4 near the top end of the range first..

Kats3boys