Lab results

[Guest guest]

Hi Aldyth,

Euthyroid is pronounced U-thyroid.

Your labs look great, but now that the stores of thyroid hormone in your

gland are used up, you probably should expect your doctor to reduce your ATD

dose.

It can take many, many months for the pituitary hormone TSH to start rising

after you've been hyperthyroid so right now this level doesn't help much. In

fact, many people don't notice a rise in TSH until they become hypothyroid.

You want to avoid this.

Rather than lower your ATD dose, your doctor could add thyroxine and use a

block and replace approach. If he decides to keep you on the same ATD dose,

be sure to arrange to have labs done before your next visit to avoid becoming

hypothyroid.

Take care, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Hi Aldyth,

Euthyroid is pronounced U-thyroid.

Your labs look great, but now that the stores of thyroid hormone in your

gland are used up, you probably should expect your doctor to reduce your ATD

dose.

It can take many, many months for the pituitary hormone TSH to start rising

after you've been hyperthyroid so right now this level doesn't help much. In

fact, many people don't notice a rise in TSH until they become hypothyroid.

You want to avoid this.

Rather than lower your ATD dose, your doctor could add thyroxine and use a

block and replace approach. If he decides to keep you on the same ATD dose,

be sure to arrange to have labs done before your next visit to avoid becoming

hypothyroid.

Take care, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Hi Aldyth,

Euthyroid is pronounced U-thyroid.

Your labs look great, but now that the stores of thyroid hormone in your

gland are used up, you probably should expect your doctor to reduce your ATD

dose.

It can take many, many months for the pituitary hormone TSH to start rising

after you've been hyperthyroid so right now this level doesn't help much. In

fact, many people don't notice a rise in TSH until they become hypothyroid.

You want to avoid this.

Rather than lower your ATD dose, your doctor could add thyroxine and use a

block and replace approach. If he decides to keep you on the same ATD dose,

be sure to arrange to have labs done before your next visit to avoid becoming

hypothyroid.

Take care, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Aldyth Rae wrote:

>

> - the sun is shining too which is nice.

Rain is suppose to be coming from over Cornwall, but it hasn't

made here in Devon yet, my barometer remains pessimistic, it is

getting noticably cloudier, so it'll probably go through Bucks

over night

> FT3 4.4 (it was FT3 after all) range 2.8 - 6.5

Looks good, is that still pmol/Litre as the lab range there goes

higher than here by quite a bit - strange.

> euthyroid - how on earth do you pronounce that????

" eu " - from the greek for fine or well, I thought doctors all

used Latin, see you never can tell with doctors.

So it is the same " eu " as in eugenics (dealing with good or well

genes).

ewe-thyroid - depending how you pronounce " Ewe " I guess.

> TSH is exactly the same as a month ago 0.010 range 0.4 - 6.4

TSH can take a while to come back sometimes, TSH shouldn't

influence treatment too much unless it goes leaping up, then you

have to cut the ATD dose. Did they do fT4 as well?

> the best thing is my white blood count is well within the normal range now,

which has gone from mild neutropenia to middle of normal range.

;-)

You were worrying us all with hypothyroid like symptoms, are

they still lurking, or are you still trying to sort out what is

what?

[Guest guest]

Aldyth Rae wrote:

>

> - the sun is shining too which is nice.

Rain is suppose to be coming from over Cornwall, but it hasn't

made here in Devon yet, my barometer remains pessimistic, it is

getting noticably cloudier, so it'll probably go through Bucks

over night

> FT3 4.4 (it was FT3 after all) range 2.8 - 6.5

Looks good, is that still pmol/Litre as the lab range there goes

higher than here by quite a bit - strange.

> euthyroid - how on earth do you pronounce that????

" eu " - from the greek for fine or well, I thought doctors all

used Latin, see you never can tell with doctors.

So it is the same " eu " as in eugenics (dealing with good or well

genes).

ewe-thyroid - depending how you pronounce " Ewe " I guess.

> TSH is exactly the same as a month ago 0.010 range 0.4 - 6.4

TSH can take a while to come back sometimes, TSH shouldn't

influence treatment too much unless it goes leaping up, then you

have to cut the ATD dose. Did they do fT4 as well?

> the best thing is my white blood count is well within the normal range now,

which has gone from mild neutropenia to middle of normal range.

;-)

You were worrying us all with hypothyroid like symptoms, are

they still lurking, or are you still trying to sort out what is

what?

[Guest guest]

Aldyth Rae wrote:

>

> - the sun is shining too which is nice.

Rain is suppose to be coming from over Cornwall, but it hasn't

made here in Devon yet, my barometer remains pessimistic, it is

getting noticably cloudier, so it'll probably go through Bucks

over night

> FT3 4.4 (it was FT3 after all) range 2.8 - 6.5

Looks good, is that still pmol/Litre as the lab range there goes

higher than here by quite a bit - strange.

> euthyroid - how on earth do you pronounce that????

" eu " - from the greek for fine or well, I thought doctors all

used Latin, see you never can tell with doctors.

So it is the same " eu " as in eugenics (dealing with good or well

genes).

ewe-thyroid - depending how you pronounce " Ewe " I guess.

> TSH is exactly the same as a month ago 0.010 range 0.4 - 6.4

TSH can take a while to come back sometimes, TSH shouldn't

influence treatment too much unless it goes leaping up, then you

have to cut the ATD dose. Did they do fT4 as well?

> the best thing is my white blood count is well within the normal range now,

which has gone from mild neutropenia to middle of normal range.

;-)

You were worrying us all with hypothyroid like symptoms, are

they still lurking, or are you still trying to sort out what is

what?

[Guest guest]

Hi Aldyth,

Your doctor could add more of the ATD but that would increase your risks of

side effects from the meds. With a small amount of thyroxine, you'd be at the

high end of the normal range. That's where you want to be with block and

replace since the idea is that your thyroid cells are brought to a state of

rest and for this, you want levels at the high end of normal.

Also, you can notice hypo symptoms before they're reflected in the labs. From

the symptoms you mention, it sounds as if your FT3 will continue dropping.

And FT4 often falls before FT3 does when you're on ATDs. Take care, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Hi Aldyth,

Your doctor could add more of the ATD but that would increase your risks of

side effects from the meds. With a small amount of thyroxine, you'd be at the

high end of the normal range. That's where you want to be with block and

replace since the idea is that your thyroid cells are brought to a state of

rest and for this, you want levels at the high end of normal.

Also, you can notice hypo symptoms before they're reflected in the labs. From

the symptoms you mention, it sounds as if your FT3 will continue dropping.

And FT4 often falls before FT3 does when you're on ATDs. Take care, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Hi Aldyth,

Your doctor could add more of the ATD but that would increase your risks of

side effects from the meds. With a small amount of thyroxine, you'd be at the

high end of the normal range. That's where you want to be with block and

replace since the idea is that your thyroid cells are brought to a state of

rest and for this, you want levels at the high end of normal.

Also, you can notice hypo symptoms before they're reflected in the labs. From

the symptoms you mention, it sounds as if your FT3 will continue dropping.

And FT4 often falls before FT3 does when you're on ATDs. Take care, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Aldyth Rae wrote:

>

> Thanks Elaine...if he decided to add thyroxine and keep me at the dose of 20mg

of Carbimazole, would I not have to be slightly hypo before he did this, or at

least be at the bottom of the range? If he added thyroxine now, my levels are

mid range, would I not go hyper again?

Just as TSH has a big blurry hypo margin up at values over two,

fT3 towards the bottom of it's range can make you hypo, but

allegedly " normal " .

This is why Jody keeps muttering about finding what works for

you.

When I had some of my worst hypothyroid symptoms, much of the

time my results were inside the " normal range " , but those

symptoms were not normal.

Unless a doctor has been there, I don't think they get a feel

for how sensitive we can be to even slightly below optimal

levels of thyroid hormone.

You end up using the blood tests more as constraints on

treatment, rather than as a guide. So my doctor didn't let me

lower my ATD, because my fT3 was at the limit, and it turns out

he was right because I had a virus giving me symptoms similar to

hypothyroidism, but otherwise the blood tests are more to

confirm what your symptoms are saying.

You have hypo symptoms, and blood tests within limits, I see

this as " margin " to reduce the ATD, to try and get rid of the

symptoms, or alternatively as Elaine suggests " margin " to start

adding thyroxine.

If you are already have symptoms of hypo, your biggest risk is

going further hypo and getting depressed.

On a brighter note, the kind of adjustments you make now tend to

be smaller and slower, so there are less sudden changes

(although I did find I got a bit of a shock to the system

switching from Carbimazole to PTU, fortunately Elaine and Jody,

et al, were shouting at me to take it in smaller more frequent

doses than it was prescribed - he's a good doc but reading the

prescribing advice is no substitute for having taken the pills).

[Guest guest]

Aldyth Rae wrote:

>

> Thanks Elaine...if he decided to add thyroxine and keep me at the dose of 20mg

of Carbimazole, would I not have to be slightly hypo before he did this, or at

least be at the bottom of the range? If he added thyroxine now, my levels are

mid range, would I not go hyper again?

Just as TSH has a big blurry hypo margin up at values over two,

fT3 towards the bottom of it's range can make you hypo, but

allegedly " normal " .

This is why Jody keeps muttering about finding what works for

you.

When I had some of my worst hypothyroid symptoms, much of the

time my results were inside the " normal range " , but those

symptoms were not normal.

Unless a doctor has been there, I don't think they get a feel

for how sensitive we can be to even slightly below optimal

levels of thyroid hormone.

You end up using the blood tests more as constraints on

treatment, rather than as a guide. So my doctor didn't let me

lower my ATD, because my fT3 was at the limit, and it turns out

he was right because I had a virus giving me symptoms similar to

hypothyroidism, but otherwise the blood tests are more to

confirm what your symptoms are saying.

You have hypo symptoms, and blood tests within limits, I see

this as " margin " to reduce the ATD, to try and get rid of the

symptoms, or alternatively as Elaine suggests " margin " to start

adding thyroxine.

If you are already have symptoms of hypo, your biggest risk is

going further hypo and getting depressed.

On a brighter note, the kind of adjustments you make now tend to

be smaller and slower, so there are less sudden changes

(although I did find I got a bit of a shock to the system

switching from Carbimazole to PTU, fortunately Elaine and Jody,

et al, were shouting at me to take it in smaller more frequent

doses than it was prescribed - he's a good doc but reading the

prescribing advice is no substitute for having taken the pills).

[Guest guest]

Aldyth Rae wrote:

>

> Thanks Elaine...if he decided to add thyroxine and keep me at the dose of 20mg

of Carbimazole, would I not have to be slightly hypo before he did this, or at

least be at the bottom of the range? If he added thyroxine now, my levels are

mid range, would I not go hyper again?

Just as TSH has a big blurry hypo margin up at values over two,

fT3 towards the bottom of it's range can make you hypo, but

allegedly " normal " .

This is why Jody keeps muttering about finding what works for

you.

When I had some of my worst hypothyroid symptoms, much of the

time my results were inside the " normal range " , but those

symptoms were not normal.

Unless a doctor has been there, I don't think they get a feel

for how sensitive we can be to even slightly below optimal

levels of thyroid hormone.

You end up using the blood tests more as constraints on

treatment, rather than as a guide. So my doctor didn't let me

lower my ATD, because my fT3 was at the limit, and it turns out

he was right because I had a virus giving me symptoms similar to

hypothyroidism, but otherwise the blood tests are more to

confirm what your symptoms are saying.

You have hypo symptoms, and blood tests within limits, I see

this as " margin " to reduce the ATD, to try and get rid of the

symptoms, or alternatively as Elaine suggests " margin " to start

adding thyroxine.

If you are already have symptoms of hypo, your biggest risk is

going further hypo and getting depressed.

On a brighter note, the kind of adjustments you make now tend to

be smaller and slower, so there are less sudden changes

(although I did find I got a bit of a shock to the system

switching from Carbimazole to PTU, fortunately Elaine and Jody,

et al, were shouting at me to take it in smaller more frequent

doses than it was prescribed - he's a good doc but reading the

prescribing advice is no substitute for having taken the pills).

[Guest guest]

I go tmy copy of lab results today. I picked them up because Friday Dr. made an appt with Rheumatologist for Tuesday morning. Rheumatologist wanted me to carry them to him when I come in.

I don;t have a clue what they all mean.

My ANA titer said borderline. On one day the tests said homogenous pattern and on the other day it said speckled.

Is that normal?

Thanks ya'll

Ruth in CA