[Julie3588]

#1058926

So the Graves’ monster has been calm for quite some time now. I’ve been on the same dose of Synthroid for about a year and a half now and was starting to feel sooo much better until the past few months. In this past year I have graduated from college, started a new job, moved, gotten engaged, and a host of other changes.

My questions is, can major life changes send our thyroid levels all out of wack? I wasn’t feeling like myself at all this past December after the move and got my levels checked but my endo said they were normal. It made me wonder if they did swing around a bit and by the time I had the lab done they were back to normal. My endo told me that symptoms follow numbers so this doesn’t seem entirely out of the question.

Once again, I’m not feeling like myself. It’s the classic hyper symptoms: anxiety, a bit of weight loss without trying, slight trembling. I’m thinking of getting a lab done again, just to be on the safe side.

This makes me wonder, when we’re on a prescribed dose of hormone, does our body not adjust during big life changes like it would if we still had our thyroid? I’ve also read that stress can activate antibodies even if we don’t have a thyroid anymore. Is this true?

Sometimes I really feel like I am going crazy, especially since my RAI was 2.5 years ago.

Thanks for all the support here.

-Julie

[snelsen]

#1171001

Hi, it absolutely does NOT adjust itself anymore. We and our docs need to do that. You are right, the first thing to do is get a labs, including the three labs that have been mentioned here several times. TSH, T3 and T4. Since your last labs were ok in December, and you now have more symptoms, i think that is the first step, to see your endo, preferably AFTER you get the labs, so you have something to discuss. Your symptoms, as you know and as you stated, do sound hyper again.

And, congratulations on your accomplishments, your graduation and your new job. Can you get labs pretty darn soon? I hate to have you feel they way you do if there is an “answer.” A reminder, that if your dose is changed, it will take a while for you to feel changes and improvements, and you need to wait at least 2 months before another lab. As someone who has taken Synthroid for many years, I have a thyroid panel at least every year, more if I notice changes in myself.
Do write again!
Shirley

[Julie3588]

#1171002

Thanks Shirley. My endo is mailing over a lab slip so hopefully in the next few days I’ll get this taken care of. I always have this fear, though that the labs will come back “normal” even when I’m not feeling “right”. It’s the same fear I have when I’m feeling “right” and then get worried that the lab will come back “hyper/hypo”.

I have a question for you if you don’t mind. In all your years on Synthroid, have you had to have it adjusted often, and if so, does it seem to correlate to life events at all? I’m so curious about the extent to which this occurs with people post RAI, but there’s hardly any info out there and my endo is no help. He originally had me under the assumption that once we found a dose that made me euthyroid, I’d be good to go forever. I now know this is not the case. I just hate feeling so out of control of my body, after 7 years of it I just want to feel better, and not live in fear of another thyroid “episode”.

[Julie3588]

#1171003

So I got my labs back last night and my endo’s first response, as usual, was “everything’s normal”. I pressed him this time for an answer because I have just not felt like myself lately. He compared my current levels to my past two labs and it appears that my thyroid is getting “faster”. Since this past December, my TSH has decreased and my free t4 has increased, t3 normal. He said this could explain symptoms, even though my levels are all within range. He then said that my free t4 the past two times have been just on the brink of hyper but still normal. He said this may have been caused by taking my Synthroid right before the labs, but I always do that and my t4 hasn’t been this high when I’m feeling good. I’ve also lost weight the past year and he said that that can affect dosage since my bmi has decreased.

I guess what I’m really wondering, is does all of this make sense? Sometimes I don’t know if my endo is just throwing info my way. He suggested I try a lower dose and I’m going to start it tomorrow. Sometimes I just feel so confused.

[snelsen]

#1171004

Hi Julie,
I am in an airport, getting ready to get on a plane to Sun Valley, but I have a few minutes before we board. If i don’t get all my thoughts “said,” I write again later today or tomorrow.

Yes, over the years, I have had my Synthroid adjusted up and down. It is a fine tuning of:
-how I am feeling, which, on occasion, prompts me to call to ask for labs. This is probably the reason most changes have been made. They are usually little tweaks up or down.

By “how I feel,” examples are:
-felt sluggish, not like myself, super constipated, not wanting to eat because I felt constipated, cold all the time.
-or, I began to feel more anxious, without any specific reason of anything different happening in my life. It can be as simple as feeling angry and impatient while waiting for the bus, thinking it was late.

So, aside from having labs once a year or so, I call and ask for labs if I feel “different.”

The following paragraph does not exactly address your situation right now, but it kinda does. I hope it is helpful in at least an academic way. I apologize in advance if it is too long and not exactly relevant to your-but it kinda is, in a way.

And the big point I want to make is, that our endo should listen very carefully to our report of how we are feeling, and have the utmost respect that we have learned to know our own bodies pretty darn well. I think the following description of my experience is most likely an exception, but all our experiences with endos can be helpful at some time in our lives. One development that occurred in my situation, is that there was a period of time when I felt GREAT, lots of energy, happy with everything,but also sleeping less, working harder at work, and had a voracious appetite. My TSH was slightly more suppressed, and my T4 was elevating just a slight bit over around 9 months. Probably in this situation, my Synthroid should have been reduced a bit. I was on 150 mcg. So she kept me at that dose for several years, and I continued to love being just a bit hyper. She said, “well, if you like how you are feeling now, let’s just keep you there!” I was like this for about 10 years with this endo. My primary care doc was continually concerned about this, for she said too much thyroxine running around our bodies increased the incidence of cardiac complications, specifically atrial fibrillation, and increases the possibility for osteopenia and osteoporosis.
End of story, I switched endos, and he said he really would like to work with me to decrease Synthroid, very slowly and incrementally, for the reasons stated above. We did that over almost 2 years, changing about every 4 months. The result? I got very hyPO. The outcome? Now my diagnosis is iatrogenic (definition is physician caused or induced by medical or pharmaceutical treatment) hyperthyroidism . This situation teaches us a couple things. Long time hyperthryoidism is detrimental, yet at the same time, and docs need to use their knowledge combined with labs and symptoms to make good decisions. THe outcome is that I am on more Synthroid than docs prefer for me, but if I take any less, I am thrown into debilitating hypo state.

To answer your questions, aside from the rambling description above, over my lifetime, my Synthroid need and symptoms changed during and after menopause, and before that, during a very stressful year during a divorce many years ago. I love my new endo, and feel that he respects and understands me. I always take a new lab slip with me after I see him, and get labs before the next visit. Unfortunately, once we are euthyroid, it is not the same forever, and we can never forget that we have this dumb condition.
I think it is good that the end result of your visit is that you will decrease your Synthroid dose, based on the TREND of your labs, plus how you are feeling. I also think that the fact that you took Synthroid before your labs has nothing to do with anything. It does sound like you are doing this, but always take your supplement at approximately the same time every day, and avoid the supplements for 4 hours. Clearly, you are doing that.

The factors that can mess up lab results all relate to inconsistency of taking it, plus the supplements plus eating. True confession time for me, for I take mine first thing in the morning with a full glass of water,but I always have my cup of coffee with a little cream in it shy of 1/2 hour. At least I am consistent.

I hope you notice a difference in a good way with the reduction in your dose.
It takes a while. For me, I usually see a difference in about a month, maybe a bit more. Before that, I can’t really be sure.
Plane was late, so I got to finish this.
Shirley

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