borderline low thyroid

saiph · 03-08-2007, 12:00 AM

My dr just ran some routine yearly bloodwork and told me my thyroid test came back "borderline low" and since I've been feeling a little tired and depressed recently she wants to treat it. This is alarming to me as I've always thought of the thyroid as very important, but my little bit of research tonight on the web implies that it's not that hard to treat. I'm going to do some more research, but is there anyone out there like me who is borderline low and treating it who can give me a first-hand account?

mommavia · 03-09-2007, 04:21 PM

I was not borderline low...but it is relatively easy to treat! You take a thyroid hormone replacement to help get your body's thyroid levels back in check. It's important to follow-up with your doctor to make sure you are on the correct dose and that your bloodwork and how you feel correlate. It can take some time to get the dose just right, but it is soooooooo worth it!

Cynthia

micheleinnewjersey · 03-09-2007, 07:21 PM

Mommavia -

As thyroid cancer survivors I was told that our TSH needs be kept low .01 - .5. My TSH is now .26 and I am experiencing some hyper symptoms. The endo said that this is exactly where they want me. Has this happened to you?

mommavia · 03-11-2007, 03:18 PM

After my first surgery, a completely thyroidectomy with several lymph nodes removed, I did experience some hyper symptoms at first. Within a couple weeks they were gone. I am pretty sure this is common. My endo likes to keep my TSH as close to 0.01 as possible. He has been very happy with my last few bloodtests at <0.01.

You just had your surgery in November? You siggie says you had a partial thyroidectomy, did you have another surgery to have the remaining thyroid removed after thyca dx? If not, this may be contributing to some of your hyper symptoms. The remaining thyroid tissue may still be working and producing thyroid hormone and with your medication it may be overloading your body a bit. As I understand it, eventually the remaining portion of your thyroid will stop producing as much T4 and your meds will be doing most the work.

What kinds of hyper symptoms have you been having?

Cynthia

micheleinnewjersey · 03-11-2007, 07:39 PM

I have an appt. tomorrow with the endo and they will tell me whether or not I am going to have the other side of the thyroid removed. The cancer was 8mm which is called micropapillary thyroid cancer. The cancer was contained within the thyroid and there was no lymph node involvement. The University of Penn removed half the thyroid and I will follow up tomorrow regarding the long term treatment. My surgeon said that the decision to remove the other half is made on a case to case basis.

My hyper symptoms are insomnia and random hot flashes and sweating. I have had a huge increase in my appetite. That has never happened to me! Luckily, I haven't gained any weight from a PT or increased appetite.

In the last 7 days I have been experiencing the most severe pain in my joints and muscles. I am sure that it is my Hashimoto. I get flares every 3-6 months. At this point, I can deal with the hyper symptoms if the pain would just go away. I am practically dibilated by it. If the other side of the thyroid is removed, do you think the symptoms of Hashimoto will disappear?

I will see what the doctor says tomorrow. I feel like I am falling apart!

mommavia · 03-12-2007, 03:07 PM

I had papillary and Hashi's too...but didn't know about the Hashi's until after my thyroidectomy. Since Hashi's is antibodies attacking your thyroid, it's make sense that you'd eventually stop having problems with it once your thyroid is completely gone. My thyroid antibodies were detectable until I was completely cancer free. Since I still had thyroid tissue in my body, the antibodies had something to eat, and now that I don't, they got hungry and went somwhere else for dinner. Make sense?

It's be worht talking to your doctor about.

saiph · 03-20-2007, 10:03 PM

Just an update - my PCP re-ran my levels and the T4 and TSH were still borderline. She says she's inclined to treat borderline low hypothyroid and gave me a prescription. She ran antibody tests this time, too, but they haven't come back.

Edit: Antibody tests are now back and they're fine, but she wants me to treat anyway - I'm on .075 MG of Levothyroxine - low, but we'll see how it goes and test again.