Can a surgery mess with your thyroid levels?

[Rweir39]

I don't have my thyroid anymore and, have hashimoto's. Recently I had a breast explant surgery (removal of my 10 yo breast implant) due to possible breast implant illness. I've been so ill for all if 2018. TT in February 2018, recent surgery December 2018. Now my thyroid levels got worse! I'm on NP Thyroid for the last 4 months. I've gotten worse and my Dr wants to switch me to synthetic again. I'm trying to stick it out and wondering if my my latest surgery had anything to do with my levels dropping?

I'm on 105mg of NP thyroid. Which is an equivalent of 150mg or more of synthetic hormone.

H 7.720 range: 0.358-3.740

T4 Free 0.70 range: 0.70-1.46

T3 Free 1.94 range: 2.18-3.98

All my vitamins are fine.

Thank you!

Rita Weir

[prussianblue]

Hi Rweir, sorry to hear that you’re going through such a rough patch. I think it would be helpful if you could post your test results and ranges so we can understand a little more what your test results show. The surgery will have been a stress to your body and believe that stress can upset levels. Where possible a tweak is usually better than a change of treatment as that is going back to the beginning and may take months to stabilise. Is it just TSH that your GP is concerned about?

[Rweir39 in reply to prussianblue]

Thank you for your reply. I tried to edit my post but couldn't figure it out. Here are numbers:

TSH 7.720 range: 0.358-3.740

T4 Free 0.70 range: 0.70-1.46

T3 Free 1.94 range: 2.18-3.98

All my vitamins are fine.

[MaisieGray in reply to Rweir39]

It seems quite clear that you are considerably under-medicated, in which case you need to increase your dose of NDT, not swap to something else. NDT may or may not suit you in the long term but right now you simply aren't ingesting enough to know that. If your Dr can't see that from those numbers, I'd think about getting a new Dr.

[Rweir39 in reply to MaisieGray]

Thank you, for your input 😊 my Dr. Believes that my body doesn't work well with NDT and wants me on synthroid again. These results were a month ago today. She did up my dosage and I'm getting labs done again today so, hopefully it went up. Just wondering if the pain of my recent surgery affected my levels in any way? I've been in a lot of pain due to this breast surgery.

Thank you again!

[MaisieGray in reply to Rweir39]

To judge if a particular type of thyroid replacement hormone works for us or not, we need to be at least optimally medicated with it, to say. At the moment, what she's doing is putting a gallon of fuel in the car, expecting to drive 1000 miles on that gallon, and when the car slows to a stop, blames the type of fuel and not the paltry amount put into the tank! The other factor is that one NDT may suit each of us better than another, but at the moment with a TSH double the upper level of the range, a free T3 below range, and a free T4 on the bottom number of the range, there doesn't seem to be an indicator that it's doing silly things to you, but that there's just too little of it.

[Rweir39 in reply to MaisieGray]

Now that you put it that way, I realize why I feel so awful! The surgery recovery has been so slow and painful. Thank you for breaking it down for me!

[MaisieGray in reply to MaisieGray]

BTW To edit your post, you click on 'more' at the bottom right hand corner of it, and then click on 'edit'.

[Angel_of_the_North]

I think you are just undermedicated, but the stress of an operation (and illness) can increase cortisol, which might have a knock-on effect on your thyroid. I'd ask for a dose increase anyway (no point removing a source of T3 when you already have so little) and also do what you can to support your adrenals and general recovery - rest, meditation etc.

[Rweir39 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

That does make sense, thank you. I appreciate your reply. I'm trying to rest and I took a month off work but, I'm back now and, it's hard due to the breast pain. Not sure why I'm not healing as quickly as others 😢

[greygoose in reply to Rweir39]

Because you have low T3.

[Rweir39 in reply to greygoose]

Oh, I didn't know that would cause it. Thank you for letting me know.

[greygoose in reply to Rweir39]

It's not that low T3 causes breast pain after surgery, but it affects how well and how fast your heal. Low T3 affects just about everything.

[Rweir39 in reply to greygoose]

Ha ha I figured that but, thank you for clarifying it. My NDT dosage was even lower 1 month ago and the Dr. Increased due to the huge drop in my levels and my insistence. No wonder it's been such a slow recovery. Eveyone else that had this surgery is all happy after a week and here I am, in pain 6 weeks later ugh. Thank you again for letting me know that I'm not crazy or just a cry baby 😉

[greygoose in reply to Rweir39]

No, I very much doubt you're crazy or a cry baby! But, six weeks is a long time. Have they checked to make sure you don't have an infection or something?

So, have you gone up to 120 mg NDT now? That's still quite a low dose. Do you take your hormone on an empty stomach and wait at least an hour before eating or drinking, etc. just like you would with levo?

[Rweir39 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you and yes, I'm getting checked for an infection now. But with a different Dr. Because this surgeon thinks I'm just complaining.

I had blood work yesterday, after 1 month of being on NP thyroid 105 mg. Approximately 1.5 grains.

New results today:

TSH 1.338 range 0.358-3.740 (went down a lot finally)

T4 Free 0.74 range 0.76-1.46 (went up only 4 pts)

T3 Free 2.71 range 2.18'3.98

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me!

Rita

[greygoose in reply to Rweir39]

So, you do need to increase to 1 3/4 grains because your FT3 isn't even mid-range.

[Rweir39 in reply to greygoose]

I see the endo at the end of this month and hopefully she'll want to increase it! Thank you again

[greygoose in reply to Rweir39]

You're welcome.

[thyr01d in reply to Rweir39]

Hi Rweir, I think Greygoose's advise about checking for an infection is important to follow up on. After surgery I was doubled-over in pain a few weeks later when everyone else was up and about and being discharged, with the staff telling me there was nothing wrong with me and behind my back telling other patients I was institutionalised. Then my wound burst open revealing a huge infection and I was kept in for weeks as it slowly healed.

[Rweir39 in reply to thyr01d]

Wow! That's awful and, yes that's exactly how I'm being treated. My surgeon pretty much washed her hands and told me to go to a pain management Dr. I have an appointment tomorrow. They said that they would do an MRI because I told them, that I'm not looking for pain pills! Looking to figure out why I'm still hurting ugh. Like you, it could be an infection or they cut a nerve or left something inside?! I paid for this surgery out of pocket and now the Dr. Wants nothing to do with me. It's only 1 breast that hurts

[thyr01d in reply to Rweir39]

Oh I'm so sorry, what's happened to you is awful. It's shameful that having paid the Dr she now doesn't take good care of you. A friend of mine once had a breast abscess and said it was agony, you don't have a stitch abscess do you?

[Rweir39 in reply to thyr01d]

My incision looks a little red but, don't see any infection but it could be internal I guess. But, she's not willing to investigate further ugh. I'm praying that the Dr. I see tomorrow can help me

Thank you for your reply

[rejuvaaesthetica]

Of course surgery itself is somewhat debilitating, but in your case, your symptoms and your rise in TSH level may be an indicator of the need for increased meds. Further, it appears that your FT3 level is not in balance with FT4, and it is low in the range.

[rejuvaaesthetica]

After surgery, your doctor will continue to monitor your thyroid hormone levels. ... Damage to the laryngeal nerve, also located close to the thyroid gland, could lead to voice changes or breathing problems. When surgery is performed by an experienced surgeon, less than 1 per cent of patients have permanent complications.

[rejuvaaesthetica]

After surgery, your doctor will continue to monitor your thyroid hormone levels. ... Damage to the laryngeal nerve, also located close to the thyroid gland, could lead to voice changes or breathing problems. When surgery is performed by an experienced surgeon, less than 1 percent of patients have permanent complications.