Atrophied thyroid is Ord’s thyroiditis and autoimmune
It requires same treatment as Hashimoto’s
Technically it’s Hashimoto's (with goitre) or Ord’s thyroiditis (no goitre).
Both variants are autoimmune and more commonly just called Hashimoto’s
In U.K. ….medics just call it autoimmune thyroid disease, and ignore the autoimmune aspect
Hashimoto's frequently affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
IBS is common symptom
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working
Poor gut function with Hashimoto’s can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.
Which brand of levothyroxine are you currently taking
Many people find different brands are not interchangeable
ESSENTIAL to have GOOD vitamin levels when taking levothyroxine for good conversion of Ft4 to Ft3
What vitamin supplements are you currently taking
When were vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 last tested
Usually it’s important to ONLY increase dose levothyroxine by 25mcg at a time - so up to 125mcg and 150mcg on alternate days
Which brand of levothyroxine?
Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription
Many people find different brands are not interchangeable
Malabsorption issues are common with levothyroxine
I have read a few posts that discuss a unusually TSH and atrophied thyroid. In these cases Levothyroxine does not help am I right.
Depends what you mean by 'help'. If your TSH is so low it is causing your thyroid to be under-active, then the only thing you can do is take thyroid hormone replacement - levo - to correct the resulting hypothyroidism. This is called Secondary Hypothyroidism.
There's nothing you can do to help the pituitary itself. But, you should be aware that if the pituitary isn't producing adequate TSH, other pituitary hormones might be sub-optimal, too, and should be tested. Otherwise, levo by itself will not make you entirely well. All hormones need to be optimal.
I’m in hospital and they whacked up my dose to 175 from 100/125 as they have seen a v high TSH but this does not seem to help.
Well, it won't help instantly. It will take about six weeks for the increased dose to kick in. It may lower your TSH, but TSH doesn't cause symptoms.
They said after major surgery and infection Labs are not going to be stable or reflective of what’s going on.
True. So, why have they given you a wacking great increase of 50 mcg? Seems a bit rash, to me.
Yes and it’s making me feel more hyper and I’m already struggling with panic attacks and anxiety due to my emergency surgery and diagnosis so I will stick to the lower dose for nowI think anti anxiety meds which i have been prescribed if needed don’t go well with thyroid meds. They are aiming for me to be discharged next week- I have stoma and physio working on mobility after abdominal surgery
Hi maria, i was reading you previous posts and i was thinking :
if ... Levothyroxine is absorbed in the stomach or lower down in the bowel ? (I don't know the answer)
and if... you current operation is also diverticulitis again ?
maybe it would depend on where exactly in the gut the damage was... but ...
.... i wonder ... is it possible that your diverticulitis can explain some of your previously history of unexpectedly high TSH results on Levo.. ?
you had low fT4 suggesting Levo dose not being absorbed well ... (yes ,you had high fT3 , but as humanbean explained in a previous post, this is common in untreated hypo's , the high TSH prioritises fT3 production and increases T4 to T3 conversion in a desperate attempt to keep you functioning)
.... Not sure if this thought is relevant... sorry if it's not., and very sorry you find yourself in hospital again so soon, you're having a really tough time. xx
Just so you know .. below is what happens to TSH fT4/fT3 results in acute illness.... hence why they shouldn't normally use hospital 'in patient' results to adjust dose by ... however , your history of weirdly high TSH results seem to pre date your hospital situations.... and i notice "VERY high TSH" doesn't seem to figure in that chart .
I think you may be right about the bowel and absorption- as it was there a while probably the diverticulitis then resulted in colon removal and a stoma and now a tumour they have seen on the scan so I am dealing with a lot being in here having to recover from the op then face the next part. So really would like to control the anxiety and attacks
Hi maria . i don't know what to say .. except send you a big hug . If i had that lot to deal with ... i'd happily take the diazepam .. i've found diazepam extremely useful on occasion.
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