Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 0:44:19 GMT -5
I know there are a lot of people here on thyroid meds, so I thought I'd ask here before the doctor gets back to me...probably not until next week. I had to have a bunch of lab tests today and my TSH came back as 7.5. It lists normal as 0.34 uIU/ml - 5.60 uIU/ml. I looked back from the past 7 years and I started at 3.0 and creeped up to 4.8 in 2015. Now this jump. Is this take meds level? I really don't want to...what are the symptoms of it being high? I feel fine.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 0:49:35 GMT -5
Shoot. I meant to put this in the off-topic board. Can someone move it please?
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on Jan 14, 2017 1:07:46 GMT -5
I'll move the thread for you. DONE!
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on Jan 14, 2017 1:15:38 GMT -5
My thyroid is acting up, but it's been acting up for over a year. Too high one day, too low the day after that. I was on 0.075mg for bloody ever, now they got me on 0.088mg and they better not change it either. Well frankly they better not try cause I'll shoot their opinions down. They tried me on all kinds of different doses, and it was a damn disaster.
My body just needs to get used to 0.088mg dose tablet. Oh BTW thyroid meds are the most prescribed meds out there.
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dee27
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Post by dee27 on Jan 14, 2017 1:44:40 GMT -5
I saw an excellent endocrinologist who diagnosed me after my last pregnancy. Thyroid disease is very common among women and taking medicine to stabilize the condition helps as long as you are on the correct dosage.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 4:30:25 GMT -5
I wish I'd seen a holistic person before I started meds. Pregnancy often throws you off. And I wish I'd attempted to stimulate my own production before trying meds. Once you start meds your body tends to rely upon them. On the other hand it's not something you want to continue to let go forever...
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Jan 14, 2017 8:52:49 GMT -5
I have been on thyroid rollercoaster for last 2 years. I am going to have my thyroid removed soon.
Mine started when I went for physical for my job 2 years ago. EKG showed my heart was doing half beats on every other beat. I had also lost 20 lbs the previous year, which I needed to and was kind of trying to. So went through all kinds of heart tests ($10k I had to pay!) said my heart was in great shape but blood work showed extremely overactive thyroid, which was also helping lose weight. I had no symptoms.
All my thyroid tests were way out of whack. My endocrinologist says I have 3 different problems, most people only have 1. I have been on meds for 2 years to get all my numbers back in line. I have also gained 40 lbs.
It is very common to have thyroid issues, especially for women and especially as you age. (I am 53). If you can take meds now and prevent future problems that is probably good. Mine caused heart issues, which is pretty scary, although I think I would like to go back to " unexplained weight loss" problem for a while.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Jan 14, 2017 11:25:38 GMT -5
cabbage family veggies depresses thyroid action
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justme
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Post by justme on Jan 14, 2017 11:33:26 GMT -5
I was put on meds when I reached that level. But my family has the autoimmune hypothyroidism so pretty much once my TSH tripped it meant I had developed it too.
Because of that I'm not sure if it's possible for one off things to cause TSH to temporarily go up.
As for symptoms...a) there's a ton and a half of them so you probably have several just don't think you're thyroid is the cause...and it might not be and b) if it's been slowly going up over years your not having symptoms might be more of the slow boiling frog thing so you didn't notice it because they came on slowly.
Kinda like how I don't know how a normal healthy human being feels anymore. I know my normal and when I vary from that, but my normal would be bad for an actually normal health human to feel.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jan 14, 2017 11:52:41 GMT -5
I went to the doctor due to symptoms, and many times doctors prescribe to symptoms rather than blood levels. There does need to be a balance, because even if you have no symptoms, low thyroid has other symptoms that aren't quite so apparent.
For me, I was utterly exhausted. I have a lot of hair and started losing it in clumps. Despite eating very healthily, I was gaining weight like crazy. Despite spending hours at the gym, nothing was helping (and it likely contributed to the demise of my hips because I kept ramping up things there and just chewing more ibuprofens to cover the pain.....at the expense of my kidneys).
For TD, it was utter exhaustion, and it scared the crap out of me. When I was having to go to Seattle weekly for doctors, he was damn near falling asleep driving down I5. We hit every Starbucks between Bellingham and Seattle in the 100 mile drive, and there was no way for me to drive. He had a doctor appt scheduled, so I suggested he try a couple weeks of my levothyroxine to see if this would help. It did, like night and day. He had his appt and had to confess to his doctor.....who was PISSED but at the time we didn't have an option. Turned out that he needed meds too, and I'm kind of pissed at his endocrinologist looking back as due to some other issues he has, thyroid SHOULD have been looked at and was not.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 13:00:13 GMT -5
Two years ago when my hair was falling out like crazy, thyroid was the first thing the OB and the dermatologist thought it was. I was tested then, but it was just at the upper level of normal, so they said, "nope, not that". Now I wonder if it wasn't what caused it? My hair is still nothing like it used to be. I'm sort of tired, but it's kind of understandable considering my schedule with the kids. Weight is up some too but that's no shock either considering how most of my time this past year has been spent sitting at a desk, sitting in the van, or sitting in front of the TV. I don't know why they checked thyroid this time. She was worried about not getting my period back since getting Mirena removed. She said if it was menopause my migraines should have gone too. I thought the Mirena just screwed me up.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 13:01:12 GMT -5
I wish I'd seen a holistic person before I started meds. Pregnancy often throws you off. And I wish I'd attempted to stimulate my own production before trying meds. Once you start meds your body tends to rely upon them. On the other hand it's not something you want to continue to let go forever... What can you do besides meds? I want to avoid them if that's possible.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 13:07:19 GMT -5
Anything I'd give you would be just based on my reading, stop eating raw broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, turnip, collard greens, bok choy, brussels sprouts, radishes... do add nori and other seaweed to your food.
But im not a doctor, and if I was doing it over I would see a holistic practitioner... but for me pregnancy threw off my system, which it does a lot and it makes sense to me that trying to bring it back online do to speak might have been a better first alternative then lifetime med protocols. Unfortunately I was 6 years into meds before I read enough to make m question what my doctors had recommended.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 13:10:45 GMT -5
Anything I'd give you would be just based on my reading, stop eating raw broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, turnip, collard greens, bok choy, brussels sprouts, radishes... do add nori and other seaweed to your food. But im not a doctor, and if I was doing it over I would see a holistic practitioner... but for me pregnancy threw off my system, which it does a lot and it makes sense to me that trying to bring it back online do to speak might have been a better first alternative then lifetime med protocols. Unfortunately I was 6 years into meds before I read enough to make m question what my doctors had recommended. No problem there! I never touched that stuff to begin with. Thank God you didn't say pizza.
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emma1420
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Post by emma1420 on Jan 14, 2017 13:16:11 GMT -5
Anything over 2.0 uIU/ml can warrant meds. However, many physicians don't put people on meds until they reach 4.0 uIU/ml even though "normal" goes up to 5.60 uIU/ml.
I have my dosage increased if I go above 2.0 as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) recommend that patients have their levels below 2.0 if they are of child bearing age. Other organizations have other recommendations, but I think the ACOG guidelines have some of the best data.
There is no diet and no amount of exercise that can fix a failing thyroid long term. All the meds do is replace a horome that your body should be producing naturally but isn't.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2017 13:36:59 GMT -5
Well, crap. I'm sure she'll contact me early next week. It's been between 4.3 and 4.8 since my son was born in 2010. Before that it was 3.
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emma1420
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Post by emma1420 on Jan 14, 2017 14:16:25 GMT -5
Well, crap. I'm sure she'll contact me early next week. It's been between 4.3 and 4.8 since my son was born in 2010. Before that it was 3. At 7.5 you should be on meds. By having your TSH levels so high you are at increased risk for heart disease, and a host of other things. And unlike a lot of other meds, there are no side effects, and the generic is cheaper. I pay $30 a year for my meds, and I pay out of pocket.
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engineerdoe
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Post by engineerdoe on Jan 14, 2017 14:17:38 GMT -5
My symptoms were not being able to find the words I wanted to use and agitation. I'm sure during my worst episode that my colegues thought I was on drugs.
(see told ya)
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jan 14, 2017 15:35:57 GMT -5
Well, crap. I'm sure she'll contact me early next week. It's been between 4.3 and 4.8 since my son was born in 2010. Before that it was 3. At 7.5 you should be on meds. By having your TSH levels so high you are at increased risk for heart disease, and a host of other things. And unlike a lot of other meds, there are no side effects, and the generic is cheaper. I pay $30 a year for my meds, and I pay out of pocket. This is really ironic, but the mutts eye ulcers could have also been caused by his thyroid issues. I don't know if this happens in humans, but low thyroid can cause plaques to form in the cornea of dogs. These plaques flake off, and can cause ulcers. Inadequate thyroid causes increased cholesterol (which is likely the cause of increased risk of heart disease), and the plaques in the eye were largely comprised of cholesterol deposits. I thought this was really interesting, because the eye vet wanted to see the mutt's thyroid as within normal limits before she did surgery. Walmart has the generic on their 3 mo for $10 plan, which means it runs about $40/year.
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WholeLottaNothin
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Post by WholeLottaNothin on Jan 14, 2017 20:43:13 GMT -5
I am hypothyroid due to radiation treatment I had when I had cancer. I have been on meds for it since 2008. When they finally figured out I needed thyroid meds my level was 29! I was on levothyroxine for 7 years which helped but I never felt quite right. I am lucky that I have a doctor that will listen and work with me. I switched to Armour in 2015 and I feel better but it's pricy. I still struggle to lose the weight I have gained due to pregnancies etc.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jan 15, 2017 0:11:23 GMT -5
I was an insane, exhausted mess when my levels were just under 4. I did some reading after confirming with my doctor what I'd suspected and there seemed to be consensus that over 2 is not normal even though some labs give it up to 5ish. I asked her & she confirmed that 2 was a good place to aim for and that's what we did. I'm so glad she listened to me because I was never outside some definitions of "normal" but I was so tired I was angry about waking up every day. Was too tired to wake uo but I had to. Along with a million other issues, but the exhaustion was the worst.
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on Jan 15, 2017 0:17:02 GMT -5
Yeah that's part of why 2016 was so damn hard on me, my thyroid was out of whack most of 2016. I didn't get the 0.088mg tablet until October 20, 2016. That's why I'm telling them to just stuff it cause I'm sticking with this dosage.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2017 0:30:35 GMT -5
My symptoms were not being able to find the words I wanted to use and agitation. I'm sure during my worst episode that my colegues thought I was on drugs. (see told ya) I've been having those problems for years.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jan 15, 2017 0:32:56 GMT -5
If mine goes above 1 I'm almost always getting a higher dose. Started at the lowest and am now on 125. Fwiw for several years every 3 to 6 months I was getting bumped up. I don't know if that's normal, something to do with getting diagnosed at 21, or random.
I actually feel best when my TSH is too low. I don't get the normal hyper symptoms and I feel like a normal human being. Unfortunately my doctor won't let me stay there - the best I get is three more months to see if it bumps back to acceptable.
It's sort of like a lot of ranges on tests. It says b12 in the 200s is ok up to the 900s. Studies have shown under 500 is low. I need to keep mine as close to 1000 as I can. Similar to how my vit d needs to be on the upper range...that one sucks cuz you can od on that.
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naughtybear
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Post by naughtybear on Jan 15, 2017 9:26:33 GMT -5
I inject b12 weekly and barely ever hit 500.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2017 11:33:58 GMT -5
b12 shots? vit D monitoring? I'm totally not up for physiology micromanaging. I couldn't even remember to take birth control pills on a daily basis.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jan 15, 2017 13:04:32 GMT -5
b12 shots? vit D monitoring? I'm totally not up for physiology micromanaging. I couldn't even remember to take birth control pills on a daily basis. Lol! B12 shouldn't be an issue unless you're vegan/vegetarian or have an issue (like I do). For vit D I just keep a bottle on my coffee table and take one when I think of it...being in Minnesota that might be helpful. (I live in fl but apparently have vit d issues) I only keep track of it cuz it's been proven I need to and the symptoms overlap with thyroid.
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on Jan 15, 2017 13:08:45 GMT -5
Vit D is a very needed vitamin supplement in winter months, especially in the snow belts. I take 1000IU and it negates the effects of SAD. Make sure it's the D3 that you take, your body can absorb it easier, or something like that.
I keep my D3 in the fridge above the wine. I know where it's at this way.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jan 15, 2017 15:56:09 GMT -5
My doctor also put me on a few vitamins because the levels were so low. Most have been mentioned D, B, C and iron. I might be missing one... I try to get them done daily but don't always.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2017 9:15:49 GMT -5
Do Thyroid problems make you stupid? That's the main thing I've been having issues with the past year or two. Ok...maybe stupid is not the correct term, how about...brain dead. Seriously, I have spent more time on boards the past year because I can't focus on anything else. I get distracted by everything and I want to kill all my cube mates. Ok, maybe not thyroid. Maybe I'm just getting to be an old crab ass.
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