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Do you think I'm Hyper?
I'm sure my Endo will ask me to reduce my 2 grains of Armour Thyroid even though I'm not having hyper symptoms ...however occasionally my pulse does rev up after eating some carb like bread or bagels I don't know why this happens, my sugar is fine.
January 2019:
TSH: 0.186 (0.27-4.20)
T4 : Test was not run because tsh was not below or above TSH lab range!
T3 : 102.9 (80-200)
FT3: 2.86 (2.0-4.4)
FT4:0.97 (0.93- 1.7)
April 2019: Thyroid Recheck
Had Bad Hives outbreak had to take 40mg prednisone for 6 days prior to this thyroid test.
TSH: 0.048 (0.27- 4.20)
FT4: 1.13 (0.93 - 1.7)
T3: 111.9 (80 - 200)
FT3: 3.250 (2.0 - 4.4)
January 2019:
TSH: 0.186 (0.27-4.20)
T4 : Test was not run because tsh was not below or above TSH lab range!
T3 : 102.9 (80-200)
FT3: 2.86 (2.0-4.4)
FT4:0.97 (0.93- 1.7)
April 2019: Thyroid Recheck
Had Bad Hives outbreak had to take 40mg prednisone for 6 days prior to this thyroid test.
TSH: 0.048 (0.27- 4.20)
FT4: 1.13 (0.93 - 1.7)
T3: 111.9 (80 - 200)
FT3: 3.250 (2.0 - 4.4)
Hello again Grace. Yes, Barb is right, it probably won't do much good to tell off the Endo. I absolutely agree with your plan to get your other doctor to handle your thyroid stuff.
Re your racing pulse. You should get your doctor to order an electrocardiogram or 24 hour Holter Monitor. It sounds an awful lot like what I have, which is atrial fibrillation. It can be caused by low thyroid (as well as high). So you should look back thru your diary. When did the racing heart start? Did you have it when you were on 100+15? Did it increase after you went on 2 grain NDT? If it seems to be related to the 2 grains, perhaps you could increase slightly or go back to 100+15.
Re your racing pulse. You should get your doctor to order an electrocardiogram or 24 hour Holter Monitor. It sounds an awful lot like what I have, which is atrial fibrillation. It can be caused by low thyroid (as well as high). So you should look back thru your diary. When did the racing heart start? Did you have it when you were on 100+15? Did it increase after you went on 2 grain NDT? If it seems to be related to the 2 grains, perhaps you could increase slightly or go back to 100+15.
Hi Grace,
These test results definitely do not indicate that you are hyper. However I'm sure that you have seen here that doctors often misinterpret a very low TSH as indicating hyper when the patient is taking Armour.
Two grains Armour (containing 76 mcg T4 and 18 mcg T3) is quite a low dose and in fact many people are distinctly hypothyroid on 2 grains.
If your doctor says that you should take less Armour, I suggest that you remind him that in 2018 you took 100 mcg T4 plus 15 mcg T3 and you were not hyper, so how the heck can you be hyper on 76 +18? If that does not change his mind, go on to tell him in no uncertain terms that you will not take less two grains. If he still does not relent, make a scene in his office that he won't soon forget.
good luck.
These test results definitely do not indicate that you are hyper. However I'm sure that you have seen here that doctors often misinterpret a very low TSH as indicating hyper when the patient is taking Armour.
Two grains Armour (containing 76 mcg T4 and 18 mcg T3) is quite a low dose and in fact many people are distinctly hypothyroid on 2 grains.
If your doctor says that you should take less Armour, I suggest that you remind him that in 2018 you took 100 mcg T4 plus 15 mcg T3 and you were not hyper, so how the heck can you be hyper on 76 +18? If that does not change his mind, go on to tell him in no uncertain terms that you will not take less two grains. If he still does not relent, make a scene in his office that he won't soon forget.
good luck.
3 Comments
I once refused to accept a lower dose and my doctor simply refused to write a new script when mine expired.
Unfortunately, if doctors refuse to write the scripts, we're out of luck no matter how big the scene we create in the doctor's office. All that does is give us a reputation of being a difficult/non-compliant patient.
Many of us are left with the option of remaining on too low doses or trying to obtain medications elsewhere/self-medicating.
Unfortunately, if doctors refuse to write the scripts, we're out of luck no matter how big the scene we create in the doctor's office. All that does is give us a reputation of being a difficult/non-compliant patient.
Many of us are left with the option of remaining on too low doses or trying to obtain medications elsewhere/self-medicating.
Opps....Racing Pulse issues have plagued me since I lost the thyroid I go for a while without any issues and all of the sudden it seems constant, like the hives just random. I do mostly get the racing pulse after bread or bagel but I've pretty much have it when ever and for no particular reason...I had this issue while on synthyroid, synthyroid and Cytomel and now Armour. My beats if my watch is correct go from 60 to spikes of 100 down to 80 up to 120 mostly it's normally around 60 I can feel it and freaks me out a bit. I'm not sure is lymph node disease can effect my pulse or not I have 3 large suspicious nodes along side my throat.
Hi Tulus2
I liked the 100mcg synthyroid and 15mcg Cytomel thats when my Endo convinced me to lower my does to 88mcg synthyroid and 15mcg Cytomel due to what she says was hyper lab results.
I do like the Armour Thyroid simply because everything is in one pill and less to mess with. Once my lymph node biopsy comes back good or bad Im just going to start having my functional medicine doctor deal with my thyroid and make sure I get appropriate ultrasound done once per year....if I hadn't acted like a 5 yr old the ultrasound that I just had that revealed possible problems and confirmed by cat scan w/dye wouldnt have happened Im considered low risk even though I had ovarian cancer and I inject immunosuppressive therapy. Overall just a nightmare.
I liked the 100mcg synthyroid and 15mcg Cytomel thats when my Endo convinced me to lower my does to 88mcg synthyroid and 15mcg Cytomel due to what she says was hyper lab results.
I do like the Armour Thyroid simply because everything is in one pill and less to mess with. Once my lymph node biopsy comes back good or bad Im just going to start having my functional medicine doctor deal with my thyroid and make sure I get appropriate ultrasound done once per year....if I hadn't acted like a 5 yr old the ultrasound that I just had that revealed possible problems and confirmed by cat scan w/dye wouldnt have happened Im considered low risk even though I had ovarian cancer and I inject immunosuppressive therapy. Overall just a nightmare.
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Both of your TSH levels are below the lab range of 0.27, so you're right, it's likely your doctor will assume you're hyper, since that seems to be what most doctors do.
You said your heart rate "revs up" - I assume you mean it beats more rapidly than normal; how fast does it actually become? Does it seem to be irregular and is it uncomfortable?
In the January tests, both your Free T4 and Free T3 are near the bottom of their ranges, so it's pretty obvious that you weren't hyper. Did you have any hypo symptoms then? In the April tests, your Free T4 is only at 26% of its range and your Free T3 is at 52% of range. It's recommended that Free T4 be maintained at/about mid-range and Free T3 be maintained in the upper half to upper third of its range. Your current levels still do not indicate over-medication in spite of the low TSH.
It's quite common for TSH to be low/suppressed when one is taking replacement thyroid hormones, particularly one with a T3 component such as desiccated hormones, so I'd resist having the dosage decreased if I were you.
You said you had hives and had to take Prednisone prior to "this" test - which test was that and did you/your doctor determine the cause of the hives?
How long have you been on the 2 grains of Armour?
Do you know the cause of your hypothyroidism - Hashimoto's, thyroid removal, etc?
Have you had Vitamin B-12, D and Ferritin tested? If so, could you please post those results? If not, can you get them tested? All three of these vitamins/minerals are necessary for proper metabolism of thyroid hormones.
You said your heart rate "revs up" - I assume you mean it beats more rapidly than normal; how fast does it actually become? Does it seem to be irregular and is it uncomfortable?
In the January tests, both your Free T4 and Free T3 are near the bottom of their ranges, so it's pretty obvious that you weren't hyper. Did you have any hypo symptoms then? In the April tests, your Free T4 is only at 26% of its range and your Free T3 is at 52% of range. It's recommended that Free T4 be maintained at/about mid-range and Free T3 be maintained in the upper half to upper third of its range. Your current levels still do not indicate over-medication in spite of the low TSH.
It's quite common for TSH to be low/suppressed when one is taking replacement thyroid hormones, particularly one with a T3 component such as desiccated hormones, so I'd resist having the dosage decreased if I were you.
You said you had hives and had to take Prednisone prior to "this" test - which test was that and did you/your doctor determine the cause of the hives?
How long have you been on the 2 grains of Armour?
Do you know the cause of your hypothyroidism - Hashimoto's, thyroid removal, etc?
Have you had Vitamin B-12, D and Ferritin tested? If so, could you please post those results? If not, can you get them tested? All three of these vitamins/minerals are necessary for proper metabolism of thyroid hormones.
3 Comments
Sorry, Grace - I wasn't thinking... I know you've been around a while and you've had thyroidectomy... :-)
Hi Barb
My B12 was tested in Jan it was high I supplement and I also supplement D3 as this was tested in Jan as well it was at the very end of normal so Endo thought that was good enough.
I started journaling my crazy health since I lost my thyroid in 2016 and never realized that I have been having random hives (never) medically diagnoised they always chalked it up to nothing to worry about until this last hive attack was scary and sent me to the ER I had so many hives that felt like I had 3rd degree burns in my head on my neck and scattered around body I looked like a monster, this is where the 40mg per day prednisone and histamines come in. I had only been off the pred for 6 days before the thyroid blood test. I still don't know if these hives are thyroid induced or not I had issues with hives as a kid mainly my mouth and eyes as I got older they seemed to disappear. I might see about doing another allergy test but I had done allergy injections for 6 yrs stopped those few yrs ago and was allergic to certain trees.
My B12 was tested in Jan it was high I supplement and I also supplement D3 as this was tested in Jan as well it was at the very end of normal so Endo thought that was good enough.
I started journaling my crazy health since I lost my thyroid in 2016 and never realized that I have been having random hives (never) medically diagnoised they always chalked it up to nothing to worry about until this last hive attack was scary and sent me to the ER I had so many hives that felt like I had 3rd degree burns in my head on my neck and scattered around body I looked like a monster, this is where the 40mg per day prednisone and histamines come in. I had only been off the pred for 6 days before the thyroid blood test. I still don't know if these hives are thyroid induced or not I had issues with hives as a kid mainly my mouth and eyes as I got older they seemed to disappear. I might see about doing another allergy test but I had done allergy injections for 6 yrs stopped those few yrs ago and was allergic to certain trees.
Vitamin D at the "end" of normal isn't good if it's the low end of normal; it's like a lot of other parameters - just being "in range" isn't good enough. You need to be somewhere between 50-70 in order to be adequate.
Some people do get hives in relation to thyroid; it's often related to food consumption - a sensitivity or intolerance. Since you seem to get elevated heart rate when you eat bread or bagels, have you considered eliminating gluten to see what happens? Some of us are sensitive to gluten once we have thyroid issues, even if we never were before. It's always worth a try. Others are sensitive to sugar (even with normal blood glucose levels) or dairy, etc. An elimination diet will often yield a lot of information about ourselves.
I believe hives in the mouth are called thrush. I used to get that as a kid, also. Some people get it in relation to thyroid, but I've not had it since I've been an adult and/or developed thyroid condition.
Some people do get hives in relation to thyroid; it's often related to food consumption - a sensitivity or intolerance. Since you seem to get elevated heart rate when you eat bread or bagels, have you considered eliminating gluten to see what happens? Some of us are sensitive to gluten once we have thyroid issues, even if we never were before. It's always worth a try. Others are sensitive to sugar (even with normal blood glucose levels) or dairy, etc. An elimination diet will often yield a lot of information about ourselves.
I believe hives in the mouth are called thrush. I used to get that as a kid, also. Some people get it in relation to thyroid, but I've not had it since I've been an adult and/or developed thyroid condition.
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