# Early Stage Hashimoto's - When should I start meds?



## lmc0912 (Jan 22, 2015)

I've been a passive reader of these boards for a few months, but now making the plunge into posting.

I'm relatively newly diagnosed with Hashimoto's and was told by my endocrinologist that the disease is pretty early at this point and will progress over time until my thyroid functioning stops working and I'll need to go on medication. My latest lab results (from Jan. '15) are in my signature below.

My questions for the group are all over the place, mostly because I'm not really sure where to start. I'm a 34 year old woman, in relatively good health. My diagnosis has helped me to make sense of some symptoms I've had for a while - dry skin, weight gain, brain fog (yes!) and forgetfulness - though I sometimes wonder if I should/would be experiencing any of these at this early phase of the disease and with what I'm told are thyroid functioning levels that are still pretty decent.

I'm also concerned about Hashi complications with pregnancy and wondering if I should start on a low dose medication now to get a jump start on normalizing everything so that I'm better prepared when I'm ready to go down that road.

Also, my endo doesn't seem to acknowledge any non-clinical treatments for treating/managing life with Hashimoto's, so wondering if I should focus on researching those options on my own or find another doctor to help me navigate through this.

So that's where I'm at. While it's a lot of info, there aren't many very specific questions for you, but wondering if anyone has thoughts on or related experiences to share that I can take some advice from.

Thanks!


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

With those labs, I would suggest starting treatment now. As soon as I read your age and the fact that you are female, I had concerns about pregnancy. With a TSH of 7, you will have difficulty conceiving and maintaining a pregnancy. Getting in a better range with all of your labs will give you a big head start for when you're ready to conceive. Besides, you already have symptoms, so why wait to treat those symptoms?

Welcome, by the way! Glad to have you here.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> I'm also concerned about Hashi complications with pregnancy and wondering if I should start on a low dose medication now to get a jump start on normalizing everything so that I'm better prepared when I'm ready to go down that road.


Yes, You should address this with a low dose of levothyroxine.

You are more hypo than you think. Most try to be at least 1/2 and closer to 3/4 of range.

Note where in your cycle the Ferritin was drawn. I had low ferritin and supplemented to get to 70ish and as soon as Ms. Flow came - I was at the bottom of range again. Take iron and calcium supplements at least 4 hours either side of your levothyroxine.

You are at 1.1 while 1/2 of range is 1.3 and 3/4 of range is 1.55

Insist your doctor run Free T-4 and Free T-3 to confirm you are converting properly.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Understanding the Thyroid: Why You Should Check Your Free T3
http://breakingmuscle.com/
(Copy and paste into your browser)

Dr. Mercola (FREES)
http://www.mercola.com/article/hypothyroid/diagnosis_comp.htm

Free T3 and Free T4 are the only accurate measurement of the actual active thyroid hormone levels in the body. This is the hormone that is actually free and exerting effect on the cells. These are the thyroid hormones that count.

TPO and Thyroglobulin Ab
cancer TPO and thryoglobulin Ab
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1699-0463.1994.tb04888.x/abstract

Understanding Thyroglobulin Ab.
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/thyroglobulin/test.html

Welcome to the board. It is my humble opinion that you definitely need to be on thyroxine replacement and more importantly, you need an ultra-sound. Do not fluff this off.

And...............................a FREE T3 test would be awesome! Also, Thyroglobulin Ab.

Sadly, we kind of grow in to not feeling well. This does need to be addressed.


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## lmc0912 (Jan 22, 2015)

Thanks so much for the responses and info. You all have confirmed for me what I was thinking, so it's good to hear the validation.

I actually met with my doctor this week to get updated bloodwork done and discuss the pregnancy situation and she agreed that even if my results are still "subclinical" which, according to her, it appears they are -- my latest TSH results are at 5.2 with reference range of 0.4-4.5, and Free T4 remains at 1.1 with range of 0.8-1.8 -- she's starting me on a low dose of Synthroid (25 mcg) to get started and see how it works.

I don't believe she has tested for Free T3 at all (and it hasn't come up in our conversations), so I'll have to ask about that and get that included in my next round of tests in about six weeks.

The info you've all provided has been great and helped to prioritize some of the information that's out there. It's hard to know where to start and what really matters, so thanks again for that!


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