What would cause my TSH levels to be high after thyroid has been removed?

[4mygood]

What would cause my TSH level to be high if I do not have a thyroid?  My medication has been changed from .100 to .88 now the doctor wants to move it back to .100. When I had my thyroid removed in 2001, my weight was 185lbs.  I have lost weight and I am able to maintain my weight at 166 or so.  I had a ultra sound and no thyoid was seen in my neck.  I have been drinking a drink twice a day for the last year and I believe it has caused me not to gain weight and my hair is growing back, it is not as thin in the top as it use to be.  I do not understand what could cause my TSH levels to be high?????  I am not tired, sometimes I word 10-12 hours a day and I feel great.  Can someone help me understand what is going on in my body?  What should my TSH level be anyway since I have had my thyroid removed?

Thanks,
4mygood

[goolarra]

Please post your wife's TSH along with other recent thyroid tests.  Include reference ranges since they vary lab to lab and have to come from her own lab report.  

Which thyroid meds is your wife on?  What is her dose?

TSH (high or low) causes NO symptoms.  TSH is nothing but a messenger from the pituitary to the thyroid to tell it to produce more hormones.  TSH is a pituitary hormone and a very indirect measure of thyroid status; it's subject to many influences other than thyroid hormone levels.  FREE T3 and FREE T4, the actual thyroid hormones, are a direct measure.  

How does your wife feel?  Does she have either hypo or hyper symptoms?

[mineral53]

My wife, 61 yrs. young, had her thyroid removed 2 yrs ago and now she has low TSH levels. The DR. is trying to stabilize the level. Can someone please tell us what are the symptoms of low TSH after the thyroid was removed.

Thank you,
Her loving husband

[stella5349]

A higher TSH clearly says you are becoming more hypothyroid.

The higher the TSH to more hypothyroid you are.

The lower the TSH - the more hyperthyroid you are.

You may not be reading the test correctly and for me to throw in FT3 and FT4 tests right now may confuse you. Just keep in mind that the TSH is not the ONLY and best indictor of what happening with your thyroid meds.

Most find a TSH of 1.0 is where they like to be at.