[mamabear]

#1072508

My Endo told me at the time, that when a dose is changed you should wait 4 weeks before testing again to give the meds and your body time to work. But they did do 2 weeks in between "just in case".
They even told me that you can have your tsh tested one day and be 0.01 and the next day be 0.03 and the next day be 0.20, they said it can fluctuate like that, that is why they wait 4 weeks to see if there is any improvement.
Not sure this was right but it seemed to be when I was on the meds.
Not sure if things have changed in the last two years OR Dr’s vary in what they say.

[enough3]

#1072509

Interesting. Thanks Mamabear:)

[gonzalezgirl2001]

#1072510

Hi my name Shirley Gonzalez and I have few questions for anyone. A little background I got sick in June 2008 with hyperthyroidism and that specialist doctor put me on PTC. The doctor had a bad bed side manner so I went to a family doctor. He has kept me on PTU since then and I was wondering how long do you have to be on it. Also I really think I have went to hypothyroidism but no body is listening to me. Any suggestions?

[belldandy112]

#1072511

Hi, Shirley. How often are you having bloodwork run? During my first round of treatment, I had TH levels done once a week the first month I was on medication — then once every two weeks. Once my levels were o.k., I still had labs done once a month until a year passed, at which point, I went off Methimazole. I had a pretty diligent endo at that time.

Might be a good time to request that your levels be checked again. It really is the only way to know. Good luck! ” title=”Smile” />

[Ski]

#1072512

When you’re attempting remission, you need at least a year (more likely two years) on PTU first. The medication will control your levels during those two years, then you stop taking it to see if your body can maintain the normal thyroid hormone levels without it. Dose is typically adjusted several times before arriving at a "maintenance" dose that keeps your levels just right. The dose starts very high, in order to get your levels down quickly, then drops as needed. The only way to tell where you are right now is with blood tests, so if you feel hypo, get labs done to confirm. It’s impossible for us to know, based on how we feel, where our blood levels are. We may THINK we know, and sometimes the tests may prove us out, but some symptoms are shared across either imbalance, so blood tests must be the bottom line.

TSH lags behind because it is a hormone excreted from the pituitary gland in response to a sort of "running average" of T4 levels in the bloodstream (think weeks). In addition to that, when we’ve been hyper, there can be a lag time before the pituitary "wakes up" and sends TSH out again. At this point, your T4 is a more valuable number. After you’ve been treated for a time and your levels have been largely stable, TSH is the gold standard of measurements.

[enough3]

#1019563

Good Morning Everyone,

I was in the ER 2 weeks ago for my GD. The Dr. thought I was having a thyroird storm. (I don’t know how you can have a thyroid storm on 200mg of PTU??) But anyway, my Dr. raised my dose of PTU to 300mg b/c my TSH was only 0.02.

So, yesterday I had my labs done again and my T4 was within range and my TSH was 0.100. It is still well below normal. Is that a good increase in 2 weeks?

Dr. told me one time that there is a "lag" time with PTU. What is that lag time and how much longer on 300mg till I get in a normal range?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[enough3]

#1072513

thanks Ski:)

[Kimberly]

#1072514

I just want to re-iterate Ski’s comment that you should have labs done if you start feeling hypo. If this happens, it’s important to be aggressive and get them done ASAP — as opposed to waiting for your next scheduled appointment.

Some people respond FAST to ATDs — I did. I went from being hyperthyroid to being on the very lowest end of the "normal" range in just 8 weeks. My endo did my initial dosing off of TSH instead of T4, and I would have ended up seriously hypo if I hadn’t thrown a fit and demanded a new set of labs when I felt miserable. She finally decided to listen to me when she saw that my Free T3 and Free T4 were scraping the bottom of the "normal" barrel.

Good luck!

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