Recently diagnosed with Hashimotos and Hypothyroidism at 55 yrs old. The lab tests confirming diagnosis are:
• Free T4 (value 0.57)
• TSH (value 40.10)
• TPO Antibodies (value 12,609)
My family practitioner started me on Euthyrox 75mcg to treat only the Hypothyroidism. He didn’t seem concerned with the extremely high TPO or treating the Hashimotos. I can’t get in to see an Endocrinologist until November. I would like to get to the root cause of my issues. Any more lab tests that I should request for more thorough evaluation. At this time, I would like to assess my risk for future medical problems and initiate preventative measures via natural herbal supplements. Pharmaceuticals terrify me. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I want my life back😢 Thank you for listening.
Dear Sammy,
There is no cure for hashimoto's disease, your endo can only treat the resulting hypothyroidism of hashimoto's and once that is done correctly and properly you should experience no hypo symptoms.
TSH goes counter intuitive, it is like control on your thyroid status from the pituitary gland, when it is high it means you are hypO and when it is low, it means that you are hypER.
Your TSH is quite high, however, starting with 75mcg T4 per day is a large initial dose, you should repeat the TSH test 6 weeks after starting T4 (Euthyrox in your case) or after any change in the dose of T4.
some times six weeks is not enough to see the TSH true value after a new dose, that is why it might take 3 months to see the full effect of the medication on the TSH, for example in your case you have a TSH of ~40, when you start 75 mcg euthyrox it will bring your tsh down in 6 weeks but after another 1.5 months your tsh might rise again indicating the need for another increase in the dose, this should be done as a process, it can not be accelerated.
You need to ask your endo for an ultrasound of your thyroid gland, this is to check for nodules or tumors on your gland.
Best,
There is no cure for hashimoto's disease, your endo can only treat the resulting hypothyroidism of hashimoto's and once that is done correctly and properly you should experience no hypo symptoms.
TSH goes counter intuitive, it is like control on your thyroid status from the pituitary gland, when it is high it means you are hypO and when it is low, it means that you are hypER.
Your TSH is quite high, however, starting with 75mcg T4 per day is a large initial dose, you should repeat the TSH test 6 weeks after starting T4 (Euthyrox in your case) or after any change in the dose of T4.
some times six weeks is not enough to see the TSH true value after a new dose, that is why it might take 3 months to see the full effect of the medication on the TSH, for example in your case you have a TSH of ~40, when you start 75 mcg euthyrox it will bring your tsh down in 6 weeks but after another 1.5 months your tsh might rise again indicating the need for another increase in the dose, this should be done as a process, it can not be accelerated.
You need to ask your endo for an ultrasound of your thyroid gland, this is to check for nodules or tumors on your gland.
Best,
Actually some people can CURE Hashimoto today. Its rare , but possible if caught early. Unfortunately there is no one definite path to get there though.
Conventional Drs and patients who follow "conventional" medicine do not know this. Any autoimmune, no matter what body part is most affected,(like thyroid) is actually a WHOLE BODY problem of some type of inflammation..... yes, that's right.
Finding the inflammation cause is very tricky and needs to be patient learned / studied. Many times the problem is a lingering infection of some type or food intolerance's that are not to obvious in "feel/symptoms" but can be found with non-conventional food testing. Gluten is a big one here, as it inflames the thyroid gland in many people.
I had TWO highly elevated thyroid antibodies , both discovered in the late 90's. For the last four years, Ive had only ONE elevated antibody and my thyroid dose/need keep on going down. I thoroughly studied gut health and tested intolerance, eat whole foods/ minimal man made food chemicals. Corn syrup is a food chemical.
Ive read about people getting completely healed with labs that prove it. My thyroid is physically damaged per ultra sound and the one remaining high antibody is getting lower but fact is, its taking forever. Just lowered my thyroid med need AGAIN though. Im not giving up.
Oh....and I feel better.
And my 15 year thyroid nodule also dissolved per ultra sound.
Never say never.
Conventional Drs and patients who follow "conventional" medicine do not know this. Any autoimmune, no matter what body part is most affected,(like thyroid) is actually a WHOLE BODY problem of some type of inflammation..... yes, that's right.
Finding the inflammation cause is very tricky and needs to be patient learned / studied. Many times the problem is a lingering infection of some type or food intolerance's that are not to obvious in "feel/symptoms" but can be found with non-conventional food testing. Gluten is a big one here, as it inflames the thyroid gland in many people.
I had TWO highly elevated thyroid antibodies , both discovered in the late 90's. For the last four years, Ive had only ONE elevated antibody and my thyroid dose/need keep on going down. I thoroughly studied gut health and tested intolerance, eat whole foods/ minimal man made food chemicals. Corn syrup is a food chemical.
Ive read about people getting completely healed with labs that prove it. My thyroid is physically damaged per ultra sound and the one remaining high antibody is getting lower but fact is, its taking forever. Just lowered my thyroid med need AGAIN though. Im not giving up.
Oh....and I feel better.
And my 15 year thyroid nodule also dissolved per ultra sound.
Never say never.