Under active thyroid?

[karyn]

Hi all,
I just got back my most recent lab test.... I was diagnosed hypothroid 3 years ago and have been on 75 mcg on Synthroid since. My first lab test after starting medication 3 years ago... my TSH went from 4.56 to 3.5. I felt like a completely different person! my hair stopped falling out in handfuls - every day! I had more energy than I knew what to do with. Unfortunately, the endo that diagnosed me wasn't very good with diabetes so I left him for the Barbara Davis Center. I complained to my doc there (a year ago) that my hair was falling out again and all that I wanted to do was sleep.... my blood tests a month ago show my TSH at 4.98! Also, my triglycerides were above normal - for the 1st time ever (normally, hovering above the low end). My HDL and LDL are perfect! So weird... My doc won't do anything...

I am going to my PCP this week and would like to know specifically what tests to ask for? Should I suspect something other than that my thyroid medication is too low these days? The triglyceride result was the only out-of-normal test in the bloodwork.

Any ideas? thoughts? I appreciate any thoughts or ideas!

[catgalla]

My suggestion would be to go see an endo. They specialize in both thyroid and diabetes. Every 3 months I go to my end and he tests both my a1c and my tsh (hypothyroid) which I have as well. If this new doctor is an endo I'd suggest a new one. Good luck and keep us posted :o

[duck]

Karyn, you need to have your TSH, Free T4, T4 uptake, Free T3 and T3 uptake measured. What is happening to you is typical for someone with hypothyroid, rarely do we get a spell where our dosages remain sufficient or dialed-in for a long time. For years my TSH readings bounced from too high to too low to just right to too high to even higher to too low...from one test to the next...it can take a while to get dialed-in.

There is also a lot of controversy over the use of TSH alone for the yardstick to measure thyroid hormone availability, but we'll leave that debate for another thread.

Some suggestions: Take your thyroid meds at the same time EVERY day. Take it on an empty stomach with WATER. Synthroid and the like CANNOT compete with numerous dietary substances; milk and coffee in particular will basically compete so much with your meds, you might as well flush your Synthroid down the toilet. I take my Synthroid as soon as I get up for my shower...by the time I am done with my shower and dressed, enough time has passed to safely allow for the consumption of foods.