Can you tell me how its best to wait between thyroid function tests ?

[Fiaxseed]

I had last one on 6 august.

[Lalatoot]

Minimum 6 weeks.

[Fiaxseed in reply to Lalatoot]

My gp says a month. I dont understand why in that case. If you were told to stop carbimazole because its making you under active. How long would you wait then. ? Same ? What happens when you stop cold turkey as I've been told to do ?

[Valarian in reply to Fiaxseed]

If you are hyper, the priority is to get your thyroid levels under control. Certainly with Graves’, you will usually remain on carbimazole for 12-18 months as this is thought to give the best chance of achieving remission. Because it’s difficult to predict the dose required (or what your Graves’ will do), it’s not unusual to dip below range, but even then, they usually reduce the dose rather than stop it completely. If you have Graves, your thyroid levels will normally come back into range pretty quickly once the carbimazole has been reduced.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

For levels to settle you need 6-8 weeks. Personally I need 8 weeks.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Seems to take longer to settle after dose reduction

Personally I try to wait 8-10 weeks on dose increase and 12 weeks on dose reduction

[Fiaxseed in reply to SlowDragon]

And if dose has been stopped cold turkey . How long then?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Fiaxseed]

Some people can collapse extremely quickly, others it's slow decline

[Fiaxseed in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you

[Valarian in reply to Fiaxseed]

Fiaxseed, you need to clarify what you are stopping cold turkey. It sounds as if it may be carbimazole, but most people here are hypo and will tend to assume you mean levo

[Fiaxseed in reply to Valarian]

Oh heck no. I mean carbimazole. I had thyrotoxixosis.sorry. x

[Valarian in reply to Fiaxseed]

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I really don't know to be honest. I would have thought it was hormone levels settling rather than the thyroid. When we take thyroid replacement hormone it's because our thyroid isn't working properly or, as yourself, there is no longer a thyroid.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

It’s probably the rest of the endocrine system that takes long time to rebalance

Adrenals in particular are affected by changing thyroid levels

[Fiaxseed]

Janeyjaney this is fiaxseed and I'm not on thyroid hormone replacement. And currently I've still got my thyroid gland.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Which would most likely be adrenals

[Valarian]

Are you still on carbimazole, and are you euthyroid yet ? When first diagnosed with Graves’, and on a high dose of Carbimazole, it’s not unusual to have tests every month. Once your results are back in range, a high dose could cause you to drop straight through the bottom of the range, so either the carbimazole needs to be reduced (titration) or you need levothyroxine to replace your own hormones (block and replace). So you might start out with monthly tests, then see them reduced to every six weeks and then every three months as your condition stabilises.

Do you know why you are hyper ? If you’ve got Graves’, you would normally expect to have been on carbimazole for 12-18 months and stable within range for at least a few months before going ‘cold turkey’ - and unless you were on ‘block and replace’ this would typically be from a dose of 5mg/day or less.

Of course, if you are having severe side effects from the carbimazole, you might need to stop straightaway.

[Fiaxseed in reply to Valarian]

Nonono I was doing well on carbi. I dont have graves. Within 3months Test show my tsh euthyroid status but low ft4. Told to stop carbi and have a thyroidectomy instead.ha ha ha. I want to stay on carbi on lower dose but I can't get my gp to understand what the problem is. Anyway I've got appointment with her on Monday. I'll sort it all out then. I read the link I was sent. Helen Moore's? Explain s what can happen if overmedicated on carbi. So I took that and ran with it. Make sense or not ?

[Valarian in reply to Fiaxseed]

Elaine Moore - but I’m not sure what she has said about this in particular. If you don’t have Graves’ it’s fine to stop the carbimazole straight off if you are euthyroid and likely to remain there, but you still need to know why you are hyper, as this may affect your view of whether thyroidectomy is the best solution or not.

Your GP isn’t a thyroid specialist -you need (and have a right) to discuss this with a specialist.

[Fiaxseed in reply to Valarian]

Was on 10mg a day. Toxic multinodular goiter. Feeling really good up til a month or so ago. Then symptoms of hypo really set in. Got function test done. Showed where I am now.

[Valarian in reply to Fiaxseed]

Right, sorry, didn't see this before my last response.

The thing about toxic multinodular goitre is that surgery may be the most appropriate option, or you may not need it at all, so you need to understand a specialist's rationale for making the recommendation. Sometimes there may be cancerous cells, or cells that appear likely to become cancerous, sometimes the goitre may be growing fast, causing problems with swallowing or breathing, or be unsightly, while other times it can be safely left alone.

There is some information here btf-thyroid.org/information...

[Fiaxseed in reply to Valarian]

I 've had heaps and heaps of great conversations on this program and lots of advice and links and things but a lot of misunderstanding too.I Dont mind dealing with this on my own - that's cool. I can do that. And what am doing on a hypo channel ? Did I press the wrong button ? Greatest love to everybody i've spoken to on this show. Some have made me laugh and some of brought tears. Bye for now.

[Valarian in reply to Fiaxseed]

This forum isn't specifically for people who are hypo, it's for people with thyroid problems. However, hypo conditions are far more common than hyper conditions, so thare are fewer hyper people on the site than hypos.

[Fiaxseed in reply to Valarian]

I'll know more on Monday in my gp's office valarian. I'll get back to you.