TSH ?

[janvog]

CLL, age 87, IMBRUVICA: Doing well after 3 years. My hematologist offered me to come every month for labs, and I asked him to include TSH to monitor my hypothyroidism , to spare me trips to the lab of my primary doctor. The TSH was in January: "HIGH" 5.29 (055-3.89). In the precending month is was 3.73 - 2.54 - 2.54 - 1.89 - 2.46 - 3.12 - 4.38 "HIGH" - 2.75 - 2.48 . I want to see the next TSH score in two weeks before putting the issue for consideration to my primary doctor. What is your general or specific recommendation or insight ?

[lankisterguy Volunteer]

Hi Janvog,

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My wife (no CLL) had constantly changing levels like yours and it took months of concentrated effort by a top endocrinologist to find the right balance of 2 different drugs, ( Levoxyl and Liothyronine - frontiersin.org/articles/10... ) and the doctor makes fine tuning adjustments every 3 months for the last 10 years.

It is not easy or predictable.

So you may need a much higher level of knowledge and attention to get useful control.

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Len

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to lankisterguy]

Hi Janvog,

I strongly agree with Len's recommendation, because achieving and maintaining the right med balance can indeed be challenging for some. Access to a specialist who has developed their expertise through the observation of plenty of patients can make a huge difference to your quality of life.

Also check out HealthUnlocked's very active Thyroid UK community with over 120,000 members:

healthunlocked.com/thyroiduk

Neil

[janvog in reply to AussieNeil]

Thank you ! At 87 I realize that I have to go with the flow of changes with some elasticity.

[janvog in reply to lankisterguy]

Than you! Very useful! At 87 with CLL, and right now normal CBC and CMP, I probably will have to rely on watching right now and then take it for attention to the primary physician.

[Davidcara]

Ok, not being a medical expert, this is how I interpret it. Your TSH is all over the place. Although, for the most part, it seems within the normal range. Being 87 years old, I would think you could expect your thyroid to get a little tired. Hence two elevated Thyroid Stimulating Hormone elevation results.

How do you feel? I think that should be the primary concern. If you feel ok, and no real signs of hypothyroidism, I would not be surprised if your Doctor does not want to chase it around with the addition of thyroid medication. Might want to continue to monitor TSH. Anyways, would discuss with your MD.

[janvog in reply to Davidcara]

Thank you ! I agree.

[janvog in reply to Davidcara]

Thank you ! My age comes with some decline of endocrene capacity.

[Davidcara in reply to janvog]

Yep, have you ever heard the late Father Guido Sarducci’s take on aging? He felt we should come into this world old and decrepit. And as time goes by, we should becoming younger and younger. Basically reverse aging. Start out old and over the years become younger and younger. And in the end, we should crawl into our Mother’s womb.

[janvog in reply to Davidcara]

The Paje (Shaman) of the Suruwaha tribe in Brazil's Amazon preached another theology: To avoid getting old and decrepit, kill yourself while young and beautiful to assure that you will return as young and beautiful. You can research under SURUWAHA and HAKANI . Video: HAKANI LEVEND BEGRAVEN . Also interesting: SANDRA TERENA BREAKING THE SILENCE . (Brazilian law does not prohibit traditions among tribes which are not integrated )