Any comments on labs appreciated

[Batty1]

Little background no thyroid I'm currently taking Armour Thyroid (2 grains) for almost a year now and prior to both test I did not take the AT until after the blood test early morning. My Endo keeps telling me I'm hyper because of my TSH and have also been told for over 2yrs that the tsh must be kept low to prevent cancer again (I'm currently looking at a recurrence in my lymph nodes ) thank God my tsh has been kept low. On the 2nd lab this month and prior to blood test I had a massive hives breakout that landed me in the ER and on 40mg prednisone for 6 days and not sure if my April bloods are reflected of that as well as I had biologic injection 5 days prior to the test for (psoriatic arthritis). My weather has also changed from winter to summer could this factor in to test?

I don't have any hyper symptoms but I have a bucket full of hypo issues ...IBS--C, weight, body pains , not a big appetite and pretty much no get up and go and now Hives that I think have been and off and on issue since thyroidectomy that was always chalked up to allergies after this recent hives outbreak that was so bad it left my head swollen and sore for 4 days.

January 2019:

TSH: 0.186 (0.27-4.20)

T4 : Test was not run because tsh was not below or above TSH lab range!

T3 : 102.9 (80-200)

FT3: 2.86 (2.0-4.4)

FT4:0.97 (0.93- 1.7)

April 2019: Thyroid Recheck

Had Bad Hives outbreak had to take 40mg prednisone for 6 days prior to this thyroid test.

TSH: 0.048 (0.27- 4.20)

FT4: 1.13 (0.93 - 1.7)

T3: 111.9 (80 - 200)

FT3: 3.250 (2.0 - 4.4)

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Batty1

The doctor who is prescribing Armour should know that taking NDT lowers, and can even suppress, TSH because of the T3 element in it. If they don't know this then they really shouldn't be prescribing - how many people are they keeping ill because of their ignorance? Your doctor needs reminding that when taking T3 in any form (synthetic T3 or NDT) then it's the FT3 level that tells us what we need to know - if it is within range we are not overmedicated. Also remind him that when hypothyroid it's physically impossible to become hyperthyroid (and you don't even have a thyroid) but it is possible to be overmedicated which is a different thing.

Prednisolone is a corticosteroid drug with predominant glucocorticoid and glucocorticoids can affect TSH levels:

From ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

.............

In summary, glucocorticoids can lower serum TSH levels and decrease TSH secretion through direct effects on TRH in the hypothalamus.

...............

How high a dose or how long you'd need to take them for I haven't looked into.

Some people do seem to need to alter their dose of thyroid replacement hormone from summer to winter, that's a very individual thing (I don't need to alter mine).

Your January results suggest that you are undermedicated, your April ones do as well but they may or may not be skewed due to the prednisolone.

[Batty1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks Susie

My Endo is aware of the T3 aspect of my meds as she was while I was taking t4 and t3 combo but then again she really only cares about the tsh number and actually told me Jan I will test the ft3,ft4 but that won't change how I dose you.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Batty1]

It never ceases to amaze me how little they know, they must be responsible for keeping thousands of patients ill.

[Batty1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Amazing is about right at the end of this week I go for lymph node biopsy to see if I have cancer again.....I had to fight for over a year to get ultra sound of my neck even though the clinic protocol is one neck ultra scan per year after thyroidectomy ...it seems low risk to this clinic mean no risk so why bother.... idiots.

[Batty1]

Hi Really fed up

Hives came before the biologic injection. As a kid I had Hives mainly my eyes and mouth. I thought that I out grew them until I had my thyroid removed and been having random hives ever since, this last attack was bad.

I'm not really in love with biologics either when I lost my thyroid my pains increased 10 folds and I found myself unable to leave my house these injections saved me. I do realize all magic comes with a price. I'm going to go to allergy tested again and see if maybe I've developed more allergies.