[scanders]

#1060548

My latest labs are still low normal, and I just don’t feel well. My TSH, however, did drop to just the low end of normal, as well. My endo, while not thrilled, has said I could drop my MMI dose, but I most likely will become hyperthyroid or subclinically hyperthyroid. She said she could live with the latter, as the risk to my bones and heart would be minimal if that were the case. Or, her preference would be to stay the course at my current dose and see if I gradually improve. I had a drop in hormone levels a few weeks after my OD, after being stable at midrange for a few months, and we dropped the dose of MMI at that point. I know you aren’t doctors, but does anyone have experience with SH?

Also, the risk of hyperthyroid threatens my ability to move forward with the eye muscle surgery, should I get a green light at my next appointment, as the one thyroid condition the surgeon said that would delay the surgery would be hyperthyroid.
How do we weigh out the pros and cons? Feeling rotten, or risking hyper? Oddly, it’s harder because now I’ve had those few months of feeling pretty well, and I know there’s a possibility I could feel better.

So many questions, still…I thought this thing would get easier to reason out by now, but it seems our thyroids do what they want when they want to, which sometimes seems to throw the “science” of it out the window. (Silly me, feeling poorly when levels are normal….)

[Kimberly]

#1183243

Hello – Hopefully, others will jump in on their experiences with subclinical hyperthyroidism.

In terms of dosing, it sounds like your endo is willing to be flexible. Could you talk to her about a halfway point, such as adjusting the dosing 3-4 days a week and keeping the dose the same on the other days? Another option is that some patients end up splitting pills into halves or quarters to find that “sweet spot” dose.

Keep us posted on what you decide!

[scanders]

#1183244

I revisited with my endo. Reminded her that people with brain fog might be challenged to reason things out. She suggested just reducing to 2.5mg every other day for now and recheck in 4 weeks, since she felt that dose would have a better chance of helping me feel better in the near future, which, I guess, trumps borrowing trouble from the “what ifs”. If my levels increase too much, then we make another adjustment. There just are no short cuts. I have to keep working on this patience thing.

I must say, I really appreciate that she does seem to hear me when I tell her I don’t feel well, even if the numbers are “normal”. (Of course, we’ve had a little time to develop this relationship…)

[Liz1967]

#1183245

I do not miss the brain fog! I don’t know if this helps, but before Graves, if I felt bad or had headaches or insomnia, I blamed it on my allergies. After Graves, I blamed everything on my thyroid levels. Some of my hyper symptoms were the same as my hypo ones. Finally I picked one or two symptoms I felt were classic for me like higher BP for hyper, and then stuck pretty much with that for minor adjustments within normal range. You did just have relatively major surgery and I am sure you are pretty stressed. Hopefully it will all level out for you. It is great that you can be on such a low dose.

[scanders]

#1183246

It’s stressful to be frozen, foggy, fluffy, and fatigued. But I’m going to be optimistic that this train will be turning around soon with the dose decrease, since there was that little bit of movement with the levels. And whether it’s SH or hyperthyroidism, it’s still just that, I guess–hyperthyroidism.

That’s a good suggestion to choose a symptom or two to focus on for symptom management. I think my main ones are brain fog, and being frozen for low. Especially the first–those close to me comment on my fogginess when it’s bad. (“Don’t you remember?” “I already told you that”. Sigh…) I don’t do as well at recognizing hyper symptoms, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because it feels better than hypo, so I ignore it?

[Liz1967]

#1183247

I did find this article that does mention steroids and other drugs interfering with thyroid tests.

http://www.ucsfcme.com/2012/slides/MFC13003/14SchneiderControversiesInThyroidDisease.pdf

[scanders]

#1183248

Thanks for the link! I have found a few things to indicate that the steroids, even short term, may have wreaked some havoc with the thyroid hormone levels. Of course, it could be coincidental. Now I wait and see if things turn around, and hope, as the endo said, that we don’t overshoot with the dose decrease. But again, no sense borrowing trouble. (But oh, I sure wish I had a crystal ball..)

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