Bottom of T4 range - Graves

[nooneimportant]

Ok - had a mental health crisis over the weekend - not feeling great but kinda sorted myself out.

I was waiting for results which get posted and thought I had gone up the scale turns out T4 is 12 (range is 11-23) lowest it's ever been and TSH is 0.20 (range is 0.27-4.5) - they won't test anything else here, although I think I'll demand it.

So how do I get my T4 up without damaging the TSH recovery? - it was dangerous from a mental health point of view this weekend and I now feel like I have rocks in my throat constipated, I've not been hot at all in this warm weather (apart from some gardening where I got a little sweat on), hands are tingling a tiny bit, hair falling out - I have lots so not too much of an issue, not excessively tired, but barely eating as just not hungry at all :/ yet not losing any weight.... I don't have good relations with my endo - not his fault he's just not really trained well in thyroid.

I am taking 5mg Carbimazole daily - now thinking 5mg then 2.5mg then 5mg etc?

[pennyannie]

Hey there again ;

The TSH may, or may not ever recover - mine never did -

So, without a T3 - the most important reading - concentrate on building up the T4 a little -

by reducing the AT drug a little -

Can you chop your tablets in half - as it is better to have a regular same dose than chopping and changing every day ?

[nooneimportant in reply to pennyannie]

I have rather nifty pill chopper now so can chop in half but wouldn't a drop of 2.5mg a day be too much you think? I am on 5mg atm ...

Oh and I have asked - for the next test to include T3 so fingers crossed he'll allow it ... :/

[pennyannie in reply to nooneimportant]

Well - considering blood tests run around 2 weeks behind symptoms and your T4 was almost at the bottom of the range - it's an option - or if you can use the nifty pill cutter to chop into 1/4s try that first.

If anxious to do this yourself check in with your doctor or endo asking for advice :

Monitor yourself on blood pressure, pulse and body temperature AM and PM - and see how this feels for you - low and slow - tortoise / hare - is always the way to go with thyroid hormones.

[nooneimportant in reply to pennyannie]

This is why I panicked before because I felt so unwell when I reduced it but maybe I just did it too much too soon I will try to chop into quarters and see how I feel for a week 🙂

[pennyannie in reply to nooneimportant]

You ' look ' to have been down towards the bottom of the range since January -

so 4 months now - so take some heart from this and try and find some peace of mind and loose yourself and the overthinking in something you enjoy - even just putting on some music that's special to you - and just switch your focus even to just 1 track.

( That's one of my solutions and full blast when my neighbours are out )

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Unfortunately you seem to have deleted all your past posts/ history, so I’m unable to track suggestions forum members have offered before.

Could you please add your key vitamin results and previous thyroid test results (with ranges), plus the dosage of thyroid meds you were on at the time on your profile.

Please remember, all members are important; we share a goal to improve the thyroid health of ourselves and others 🦋

[nooneimportant in reply to Buddy195]

Sorry - I have to "clear everything" when I have a mental health shift - I dunno why but it helps ... you wanna see the house

I'd have to dig re vitamins but everything was about smack in the middle within the last year - hopefully the photo of results will attach :/

thyroid results

[jimh111]

TSH takes a long time to recover after supression by Graves'. Sometimes it never recovers. There is the additional complication that Graves' antibodies can supress TSH via a paracrine mechanism academic.oup.com/jcem/artic... .

[nooneimportant in reply to jimh111]

thank you - I think antibodies are starting to get in range now - or they were certainly heading that way at last test :/ TSH has been suppressed for a while hence I am hoping any changes won't send it back out again - I worried if I act too harshly I'll be right back where I started :S