my TSH changed from 0.79 to 4.47....am i in the normal range and is this a real drastic drop?

[annie68]

[galathea]

I's a fairly drastic increase and now shows that you are hypothyroid. Anything over 3 would be treated in any country in the world. But not in the UK. In the uk you are left to suffer unless you have antibodies.... then you are left to suffer, but maybe not for as long

How do you feel? A normal TSH is 1. Are you on meds?

[annie68]

I feel tired,irritable,sore joints,I have been on levo for 16 years

[PinkNinja in reply to annie68]

If you are on levo then your TSH should most definitely be below 1. You need an increase in your dose. You can argue that since the considerable increase in your TSH, you are no longer feeling well.

Dr Anthony Toft, in his book "Understanding Thyroid Disorders", states that TSH should be below 1 if you are taking thyroid medication and that your T4 should be near the top of the range. Some people need an even lower TSH to feel well.

Dr Toft is former chair of the British Thyroid Association and the book is published in association with the BTA so your GP shouldn't really have reason to argue with what he says.

Everyone has their own very narrow range of "normal", yet the NHS normal range is very wide. You and your doctor should note the range at which you feel well and then aim to stay within that range.

I hope that helps

Carolyn x

[marram]

Have I just ranted at you on FB? The answer is the same. The doctor reduced your thyroxine on the basis of the TSH citing osteoporosis as a "risk", while reducing the thyroxine makes heart trouble, weight gain, raised cholesterol, depression, joint and muscle pain, breathing problems, and poor quality of life a "certainty"!

At least if he has increased it a bit you should start to feel a bit better in about a week or so.

BUT if he really thinks you are at risk from osteoporosis he should definitely check your bone density as much can be done to avoid it, it is not inevitable unless he sits back and cries doom and gloom without bothering to do anything except juggle with your thyroxine dose.

Am I right in saying you are now on 150 or is it 175? If so, that's quite a reasonable dose, hopefully you will feel better soon, if not, time to look into it further. Keep in touch as there is lots of help here!

Marie XXX

[shaws Administrator]

A link re osteoporosis.

web.archive.org/web/2010122...

This is an excerpt and link re adjusting doses of meds according to your TSH. Cursor to question dated January 25th 2002.

Dr Lowe: Your observations don’t suggest to me that your pituitary gland isn’t functioning properly. In fact, your observations are consistent with what science tells us about a patient's T4 dose, her TSH level, and her metabolic health or lack of it. If the goal of a doctor is metabolic health for his patient, he has no scientific basis for adjusting her thyroid hormone dose by her TSH level. If the doctor is going to make the imprudent choice of treating the patient with T4 (rather than T3 or a T3/T4 combination), he should be aware of the relevant physiology and treat her on the basis of it. Otherwise, he's likely to ruin her health, as your doctor appears to be doing to yours.

The TSH level is not well synchronized with the tissue metabolic rate. (Probably most doctors falsely assume that studies have shown that the TSH and metabolic rate are synchronized. But despite my diligently searching for years for such studies, I’ve yet to find them.) Adjusting the T4 dose by the TSH level is like adjusting the speed of your car by a speedometer that's out of synchrony with the actual speed of the car. Adjusting the speed of a car by an out-of-sync speedometer, of course, will get the driver into trouble—either with other drivers who'll object to the car traveling too slowly, or with a police officer who'll object to the car going too fast. And adjusting the thyroid hormone dose by the TSH level gets most patients in trouble—almost always because their tissue metabolism is so slow that they are sick.