[Anonymous July 8, 2008 at 12:34 pm Post count: 93172]

#1020022

Hello everyone. I had a question about my up and down TSH. I had RAI of my thyroid back in 1999 and shortly after I went on Synthroid. Every 6 months I have a blood test to see what’s up with my TSH and I never get consistency. It’s always different but this last time I went it had jumped a lot. It was .35 in Feb and then in April it went to 2.26. For me, I don’t do well with anything over 1.0 so I suspected something. I had started taking calcium about the beginning of the year and reading other postings about malabsorption I wonder if this is what’s up with me. I take my vitamins before bed and then early in the A.M, I take my Synthroid. I’ve stopped taking my calcium to see if this makes a difference. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Lori

[Anonymous July 9, 2008 at 1:18 pm Post count: 93172]

#1075755

You are taking your calcium and Synthroid far enough apart that it should not be an issue. The best person to ask is your pharmacist. They can tell you the interactions of prescriptions and over the counter supplements on your hormone replacement.

Part of the reason our meds may not be absorbed into our systems well could be what you eat with or after your meds. Foods high in bran or Oatmeal for example bind to what we eat. If we take our meds with bran or oatmeal for example they could bind to our meds and reduce the effectiveness.

Or you can still have some functioning thyroid left and it is being active and dropping your levels or making them a moving target.

It took my thyroid about two years to stop producing hormone. During that period I had to have regular adjustments to my meds.

Jake George
On-line Facilitator
Co-author “Graves’ Disease In Our Own Words”

[Anonymous July 11, 2008 at 5:25 pm Post count: 93172]

#1075756

Hi Jake, thanks for responding. I’ve had these malabsorption issues since having RAI back in 1999. I have been really good actually about my meds. I don’t eat anything for at least 3 to 4 hours after my synthroid. I drink coffee in the morning which is about 3 hours after taking my dose. I am not a big breakfast person so food isn’t my issue. I have switched endos and see a new doc on the 30th of this month. My previous doc only did a TSH and never looked into anything else. He always checked my neck and said he “couldn’t feel anything” so assumed my thyroid was all gone. Never did he do an uptake test again or anything. I’ve heard great things about my new endo and maybe I will get an answer. Thanks for writing back.

Lori

[Anonymous July 24, 2008 at 3:41 pm Post count: 93172]

#1075757

It is a common assumption in patients that “all” thyroid cells get destroyed when we have ablative RAI. Actually the reality is that most likely some thyroid cells will be left behind, actively producing hormone. The presence of these cells will produce fluctuations in our hormone levels. What we hope for is that these fluctuations do not put out outside the bounds of “normal” levels of thyroid hormone. Provided that we can be maintained within normal levels, our health will not be adversely affected.

I have been on replacement hormone since a few months after my RAI. So there have been lots of labs in those years. My levels have fluctuated. And in those years, I have noticed that there is little correlation, within normal zones, of how I “feel” with what my levels are. I have felt hyper, and gone in for a blood test and turned up with a TSH of 2. I have felt distinctly “hypo” and gone in for a blood test, and had a TSH of 2. And, yes, I have felt normal, had a routine blood test for a physical, and turned up with a TSH of 2.

Now, if I had gone only had a certain level when I was feeling “off”, I know that I would insist that it was due to the TSH level. But I know, from my own tests, that the TSH level when it is well within the normal range, is not likely to be the cause of my feeling “off.”

Bobbi — Online Facilitator

[Author]

Posts