# Looking for some info



## DGJ1 (Sep 21, 2011)

Hello everyone, 
I am new here and this is my first post. Just a little bit of background about me, I am currently a cancer survivor of the Tonsil with lymph spread, had surgery and radiation, completed treatment Nov. of 2010. I have been on Thyroid medication for more than 10 years (.125 mcg Synthroid) prior to the Cancer diagnose. Long Story short, the GP, and now Endo can not get the dosage correct. I have went from .125 mg down to 88 mg and back to .125, and now back down to 100 mcg. This has now been 14 months and still trying to get it correct. I also just learned that I do have Hashimoto.
I am trying to education myself on this condition, but I am not finding the answer to all the questions. I have talked with my GP and he agrees to ask the ENDO as he is not sure of all the answers to my questions. Im am waiting on a call from ENDO to reschedule my appt sooner. (sorry so long)My TPOab reading was 169. Does this number measure the degree of autoimmune? Does it mean something different with a reading 169 vs 100 or 300? Also my GP says this is a condition that will not go away. He also said that it may not get the level right. Could be that sometimes I produce the protein and sometimes not. would be very interest in those here sharing their knowledge about this.
Thanks
Debbie


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

DGJ1 said:


> Hello everyone,
> I am new here and this is my first post. Just a little bit of background about me, I am currently a cancer survivor of the Tonsil with lymph spread, had surgery and radiation, completed treatment Nov. of 2010. I have been on Thyroid medication for more than 10 years (.125 mcg Synthroid) prior to the Cancer diagnose. Long Story short, the GP, and now Endo can not get the dosage correct. I have went from .125 mg down to 88 mg and back to .125, and now back down to 100 mcg. This has now been 14 months and still trying to get it correct. I also just learned that I do have Hashimoto.
> I am trying to education myself on this condition, but I am not finding the answer to all the questions. I have talked with my GP and he agrees to ask the ENDO as he is not sure of all the answers to my questions. Im am waiting on a call from ENDO to reschedule my appt sooner. (sorry so long)My TPOab reading was 169. Does this number measure the degree of autoimmune? Does it mean something different with a reading 169 vs 100 or 300? Also my GP says this is a condition that will not go away. He also said that it may not get the level right. Could be that sometimes I produce the protein and sometimes not. would be very interest in those here sharing their knowledge about this.
> Thanks
> Debbie


Welcome to the board, Debbie!!!

First please let me say that I am so sorry for what you have been through; bless your heart! And I am glad you are a "survivor" to the max.

Did you have to have follow-up radiation? It may have done a number on your thyroid if you did.

Could you please share your most recent lab test results (TSH, FT3 and FT4) with us and include the ranges also?

TPO Ab is suggestive of many things. It could be residual from the cancer you had. It is hard for a layperson such as myself to really know but I would ask the oncologist.

Here is info.

TPO Ab
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003556.htm

TPO Ab should be negative, 0
http://www.medlabs.com.jo/docs/Leaflet-17.pdf
(The normal thyroid has TPO but should not have antibodies to TPO)

Glad you are here and perhaps we can help you get to the bottom of things.

Is the endo running the Frees in order to titrate your Synthroid?

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.
http://www.drlam.com/articles/hypothyroidism.asp?page=3









Thanks for hopping by!


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## DGJ1 (Sep 21, 2011)

Thank you Androw for the web sites. Lot of information. This thyroid can be very complex. To answer some of your questions, yes I had 33 treatments of radiation to the head/neck area. Here are the test results I have from my ENDO.

FEB 2011
TSH RESULT .039-5.00 NO FLAG RANGE .034-5.00

April 2011
TSH RESULT 13.10 FLAG H RANGE .034-5.00

JUNE 2011
TSH RESULT 1.97 NO FLAG RANGE .034-5.00

AUGUST , 2011
FREE T4 RESULT 1.39 NO FLAG RANGE .089-1.85
FREE T3 RESULT 378.0 NO FLAG RANGE 150.0-410.0
TSH RESULT .08 FLAG LOW RANGE .034-5.00

As far as the Cancer, as we survivors say" Cancer the desease that just keeps on giving"

Thanks, 
Debbie


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