[ncpatches]

#1059022

I finally found where I wrote them, I have become so disorganized and forgetful, it makes me nuts! But, none the less, here they are, taken 5 days before the Uptake and Scan testing.(labs done april 20th) Scan 25th and 26th, diagnosed april 26th.

TSH – .0008
T4 – 2.46
T3 – 9.2

Pretty ugly huh? 😮
So now we know why I’m on 40mg a day of my ATD, pending shoulder surgery on the 18th. But I am taking my meds as directed, religiously, I won’t have another lab done till the end of the month, I’m praying this will keep me safe during the surgery.

I got to admit, this all scares me to death.

[emmtee]

#1171615

Every lab has different “normal” ranges, so we can’t really tell how far off your numbers are without knowing your lab’s ranges. If you don’t have them, you could probably call the lab and ask.

That being said, they look similar to my starting numbers, so if your ranges are similar to my lab’s, then yes, your numbers are ugly.

BTW – Has your doctor told you what might happen if your T-3 and T-4 don’t return to normal before the surgery? I know you’ve waited a long time for your surgery, but is it possible they’ll postpone it if your hormone levels aren’t normal? I don’t want to worry you, but if it’s a possibility, I think it’s best to be mentally prepared for it. The Graves’ makes everything harder.

[ncpatches]

#1171616

According to my report, lab ‘normal range’ is as follows:
TSH .3-3.5, mine being .0008
T3 2.3-4.2, mine being 9.2
T4 .8-1.8, mine being 2.46 (hard to read my writing, it’s either 2.46 or 2.56)

I specifically ask Dr if he wanted me in for new labs a couple days before the surgery and he said it wouldn’t have time for the difference to show…..I guess they (my Dr and the Endo board at UNC) are going by the dosage of ATD and expecting it to be more under control. Obviously, the Ortho will be aware of the risk factor, ect, but you can only wait so long with complete tendon separation, before having an atrophy issue etc. I injured my shoulder in early Feb, I’ve had this surgery date for over 2 months, Ortho in high demand, it was the earliest I could get.
Back to the Grave’s though, at 40mg of ATD a day, hopefully it will be enough to get me thru without anything serious happening. Dr did say that the dose would be reduced considerably after the surgery. I expect Dr and Ortho to have a powwow before the surgery, I hadn’t been diagnosed when I saw the Ortho. Have to drop off papers at Dr today, will ask about this.

I do know that dealing with both these issues is more than I can cope with, either one alone, is one thing, but my plate is full, on top of stress from work, battling the insurance company and workmans comp and people that just don’t understand what I’m going thru.

[NLBatten]

#1171617

Sorry to hear you have to have shoulder surgery. I have had 4 of those in my lifetime. 3 on 1 shoulder / 1 on the other. Most recent was about 18 months ago – pretty good size rotator cuff tear.

Just a note though, my understanding is that you really need to talk to the anesthesiologist if your thyroid is unstable. If you can find out who it is, see if you can at least speak to them the night before. Having said that, I was at my ob/gyn this week discussing a procedure she wants me to go through and I asked where my thyroid level would need to be in order for her to consider surgery, and she said as long as TSH was under 4.5 and my endo was ok, then she was ok. Also, I had a surgery for kidney stones with general anesthesia in November of last year before I knew I had Graves, but would guarantee you that I already had unstable thyroid and just didn’t know it and came through fine. (I wouldn’t recommend that though. I was just really lucky.)

Bobbi has told me before exactly what you dr said which is retesting too soon wouldn’t help to show accurate results. I had my very first shoulder surgery post-poned (12 years ago) because the dr was sick and I can’t tell you how disappointed I was, so I completely understand how you will feel if they do postpone, but just remember if they do, it is for your safety and better in the long run. Just as emmtee said, you need to mentally prepare yourself for that possibility.

Best of luck. Keep us posted.

PS if you want some shoulder surgery recovery tips, email me at address in my profile. I am an old pro after 4 of those surgeries. :0)

[ncpatches]

#1171618

I hope I won’t have to be a pro at shoulder surgeries! Actually, my pre-op is Monday and I’ll be with the anesthesiologist for a while then, so we’ll be talking about it. Have to see a couple other people then too.
Funny, working retail, in a sling, I now know just about every person in a 20 mile radius that’s had shoulder surgery. The 2 biggest things I’ve heard repeatedly? 1. Don’t skimp on the pain meds. 2. You absolutely MUST do your exercises if you want to heal properly. Both of those make sense to me. I just never thought I could tear tendons lifting a 40lb copier, I thought rotator cuff injuries were for young athletes. But here I am, with 2 complete tendon separations and another thing, a word I don’t remember, but I looked it up and it has something to do with tearing the small upper head of the bicep. Doc says it age (LOL) truly, that the tendons rub against the bones all your life and bone is like fine sandpaper, eventually they shred and just lifting or falling on it can do real damage. This ‘getting old’ crap is so highly over rated!
Thanks all!

[Kimberly]

#1171619

Just a quick note that although it takes several weeks to know if a particular dose of replacement hormone (like Synthroid) is right for you, patients on Anti-Thyroid Drugs can potentially respond much more quickly to changes in meds.

No two patients will respond exactly the same way, but just as an example, my Free T4 went from hypER to the top end of the normal range about 2.5 weeks after starting ATDs.

[ncpatches]

#1171620

Right now, I’m just praying for it to be controlled enough not to cause complications with the surgery. Once that is over, I’ll have time to both heal the shoulder and tackle the graves monster.

[emmtee]

#1171621

ncpatches wrote:

According to my report, lab ‘normal range’ is as follows:
TSH .3-3.5, mine being .0008
T3 2.3-4.2, mine being 9.2
T4 .8-1.8, mine being 2.46 (hard to read my writing, it’s either 2.46 or 2.56)

It looks like the ranges for your lab are pretty close to mine. Mine are:
TSH – .450 – 4.500
T3 – 2.0 – 4.4
T4 – .82 – 1.77

Of course, everyone is different, but your current levels are pretty close to what mine were after 4 weeks on 20mg of methimazole.
TSH – <.006 (both my test and range are a bit higher than yours, so we're probably about the same)
T3 – 8.1 (our ranges are almost the same, but my T3 was a bit lower)
T4 – 2.5 (our ranges and tests are practically identical)

After this test, my endo increased my dosage to 40mg, and after another 6 weeks my T4 was barely in the normal range (1.76) and my T3 was about half way to normal (6.0). TSH hasn’t changed since my initial diagnosis.

So, 40mg almost got me in the normal ranges. Hopefully, it will get you all the way there. BTW, for the sake of comparison, I’m a 47 yr. old female and was about 155 lb. at the time of these labs. Did you get a copy of your uptake and scan results? Mine estimated the size of my thyroid to be 50 grams. My uptake at 4 hours was 57% (normal 5 to 15%) and my uptake at 24 hours was 73.5% (normal 10 to 30%.)

[ncpatches]

#1171622

LOL Did you ask if I ‘remembered’ something? I’m lucky to remember my name at this point. Seriously though, I wrote down the numbers for my uptake, I do remember the 4 hr was just over the top of the normal range and the 24 hr was within the normal range although on the high side. The ranges were different though, cause the 4hr was like 10-24 and mine was like 26, the 24 hr was like 20-50 and mine was 48. I’ll have to look for that paper I wrote it on. I’m going to get a journal at work today and start writing this stuff down, can’t keep up with paper and have a bad case of CRS.

Oh and I’m 54, was 151 at testing, have stayed that way for a couple weeks now, makes me happy! I really don’t want to lose more, have no place for the extra skin!:o

[Author]

Posts