Comment

Comment by The Diabetic Welfare Queen on March 6, 2010 at 11:21am

Hi Odessa,

One of the big disadvantages of undergoing radioactive ion therapy to treat an overactive Thyroid (such as in the case with Grave's Disease), is potential for Hypothyroidism. About 20-50% of patients who undergo this treatment will become Hypothyroid in 10 years, and about 80% will become Hypothyroid in 20 years. The likelihood that you are developing Hypothyroidism, as witnessed by your accompanying symptoms is very real. Now, I am not sure how consistently you have taken your medication, or followed up with your doctor... But, generally, when a patient is first diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, they are placed on a very low dose of medication for a small period of time -- usually about 6 weeks to 6 months. Those doses often start anywhere from 25 mcg to 100 mcg, and are adjusted later, depending on labwork. Whichever dose you are started on, depends on the judgement of that particular physician. There are several things to test for, when it comes to Hypothyroidism, and I always recommend people have their levels of TSH, T3, T4, and Thyroid antibodies tested. Many physicians only stick to the TSH, as the golden standard for diagnosing Hypothyroidism, but ignore the other potential indicators for the disease. While you may not have markers for Hashimoto's Thyroditis, it is very likely that you may be experiencing significantly lower levels of T3 hormone, or even produce impaired levels of T3, as well. Synthroid only covers you for T4 hormone. In this case, while your T4 hormone production may show as fine, you will still need extra medication to cover for that T3, such as Armour medicine. Also, keep in mind that any time we show antibodies for either Grave's, or Hashimoto's, these antibodies can throw off levels of TSH present in our system. In this case, it is just better to test for Free T4, T3 and Reverse T3 levels. Tell your doctor about your symptoms, and perhaps ask for more detailed testing. Some endocrinologists are more thorough about dealing with individual patient's symptoms, than others... Some will prescribe a low grade dose of hormone, even if a TSH comes back on the high side of normal, but all symptoms are there.

Comment by ODESSA BROWN on March 6, 2010 at 10:44am

hi lizmari
told i have graves disease in 2007 and give radioactive iodine to kill the thyroid.started on 100mcg,then stopped,then started on 50mcg,then started on 25mcg is where i am now,if this will help on comments

Comment by ODESSA BROWN on March 6, 2010 at 10:33am

HI LIZMARI
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENT
ODESSA

Comment by ODESSA BROWN on March 6, 2010 at 10:31am

HI LIZMARI
MY ENDO TOLD ME THAT MY THYROID WAS UNDER ACTIVE JUNE OF 2007,THAT WAS A BAD YEAR FOR ME,SICK ALL THE TIME AND ALWAYS COLD.I AM ALWAYS COLD 365 DAYS A YEAR.GOT STARTED ON SYNTHROID 50MCG FOR ABOUT A EIGHTEEN MONTHS,THEN STARTED ON 25MCG.I AM BEGINNING TO HAVE NO ENERGY,ACHES AND COLD ALL THE TIME.DO YOU THINK MY DOSES IS TO LOW? I WILL SEE MY ENDO IN AUGUST.PLEASE LET ME HEAR FROM YOU.
ODESSA

Comment by The Diabetic Welfare Queen on March 6, 2010 at 6:38am

Went to get my TSH this morning, to see how things are going with my new dosage.... Yay :)

Comment by Asma on March 3, 2010 at 10:09am

not yet,I haven't seen the endo yet,just the results so not sure yet :)

Comment by The Diabetic Welfare Queen on March 3, 2010 at 7:56am

That's wonderful, Erika! Good to hear there's other alternatives, in case there's no more Armour manufactured... there's a shortage of it going on, right now, apparently.

Comment by The Diabetic Welfare Queen on March 3, 2010 at 6:09am

That's wonderful, Saya! :) Are they gonna adjust your meds some more?

Comment by Asma on March 3, 2010 at 4:17am

hey Lizmari
just so your group,by the way,my test results cme back,they look better :)

Comment by The Diabetic Welfare Queen on March 2, 2010 at 2:23pm

I would think if you have a good Endocrinologist for your Diabetes management, that he would also be okay for your other Endocrine concerns (Pituitary/Adrenal/Thyroid)... But I could be wrong... some of these doctors are not as knowledgeable as others in different areas within their field. Hopefully another member will have a good place to point you to... I found this great, in-depth link on Pituitary issues, and it just seems like it would be an infinite amount of tests based on whatever the symptoms or concerns are... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pituitarydisorders.html. Similar for Adrenal problems.... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/adrenalglanddisorders.html, and more specifically for Addison's Disease (or Adrenal Insufficiency) -- http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/addisonsdisease.html. This Thyroid and Endocrinology clinic looked promising in my search: http://www.austinthyroid.com/.

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