# New labs, New Doc



## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

I'm on 150 mg Armour, and have been on this dose for a few months now. Got labs run last week and see my doc on Monday. I'm seeing a new doc while my doc is out on maternity leave, and a third doc in the office reviewed my lab results. How confusing is that?

9/8/ 2011 
TSH (.55-4.78) .044(L) 
Free T3 (2.3-4.2) 3 
Free T4 (.89-1.76) 1.08

The note I got with the labs said, "please repeat when your doc returns to make sure your thyroid med is not too high." (he obviously has no clue that I have an appointment Monday.) Now I'm scared that the doc is going to try and lower my Armour dose, which is a recipe for disaster because I was really hypothyroid at a lower dose, adn I still feel hypothyroid now. The thing is that my TSH seems to jump all over the pace for no good reason, despite where my FT3 and FT4 are. And seeing as my FT3 and FT4 are both in the lower half of the reference range, I would like to ask for an increase. I'm crossing my fingers and praying that the new doc knows what she's doing and is willing to listen to me if I ask for a higher dose.

Previous Labs:

7/13/11 6/20/11 6/2/11 5/17/11 4/4/11 2/11
TSH (.55-4.78) .1.757 9.171(H) 4.413 23.93(H) 29.53(H) .639
Free T3 (2.3-4.2) 4.6(H) 2.3 2.4 4.5(H)
Free T4 (.89-1.76) 1.1 .89 1.2
Armour Dose 150 mg 120mg 120mg 105mg 90mg 120mg


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

Don't take a medication with T3 myself so I don't have anything valuable to add to the discussion but your FT3 does a bit of jumping around too. Seems to make it hard to find your sweet spot and correct dosage.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

lavender said:


> I'm on 150 mg Armour, and have been on this dose for a few months now. Got labs run last week and see my doc on Monday. I'm seeing a new doc while my doc is out on maternity leave, and a third doc in the office reviewed my lab results. How confusing is that?
> 
> 9/8/ 2011
> TSH (.55-4.78) .044(L)
> ...


As you already know, your FT3 is below the range. That won't work. It has to be around 75% of the range varying a bit from patient to patient.

One possible reason for TSH jumping all over is that you may not be converting too well. Sometimes you are and sometimes you are not. Yet another reason for an increase of your Armour.

FT4 is normally low when taking any form of T3 and it should remain so.


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

When I posted those old labs, it all lined up and was readable. I never looked at what it looked like after I posted, and it turned into a jumbled up mess! Let's see if I can fix it...

The reason my FT3 has jumped has been when I took my Armour dose relative to when I got labs done. If I take it before, my T3 ends up high, if I wait and take it later, my T3 ends up lower. So, it's not so inconsistent if you only look at the times I waited until after I had labs drawn to take it. I know I need to be consistent in what I do when I get my labs...when I have taken my dose before the labs were drawn, it's because my doc has drawn them in her office in the afternoon instead of sending me to the lab before I see her. I'm asking her to just order them before my next appointment now so I can be more consistent in what I do. I'm also asking her to check my FT3 and FT4 every time now because I realized she was ordering different labs every time if I didn't ask.

9/8/ 2011
TSH (.55-4.78) .044(L)
Free T3 (2.3-4.2) 3
Free T4 (.89-1.76) 1.08 
Armour dose: 150mg, 10 weeks, took Armour after lab work
Starting to have a tiny bit more energy, but still depressed and not functioning well

7/13/11 
TSH (.55-4.78) 1.757 
Free T3 (2.3-4.2) 4.6(H) 
Free T4 (.89-1.76) 1.1 
Armour Dose: 150 mg, 3 weeks, took Armour before lab work
felt awful, no energy, depressed

6/20/11 
TSH (.55-4.78) 9.171(H) 
Free T3 (2.3-4.2) 2.3 
Free T4 (.89-1.76) .89 
Armour Dose: 120mg, 4 weeks, took Armour after lab work 
felt awful, no energy, depressed

6/2/11 
TSH (.55-4.78) 4.413 
Free T3 (2.3-4.2) 2.4 
Armour Dose: 120mg, 2 weeks, took Armour after lab work 
felt awful, no energy, depressed

5/17/11 
TSH (.55-4.78) 23.93(H) 
Armour Dose: 105mg, 3 weeks, took Armour after lab work
felt awful, no energy, depressesed

4/4/11 
TSH (.55-4.78) 29.53(H) 
Armour Dose: 90mg, 8 weeks, took Armour after lab work
was feeling good, started feeling bad around the time labs were drawn, but felt well before that.

2/11
TSH (.55-4.78) .639
Free T3 (2.3-4.2) 4.5(H)
Free T4 (.89-1.76) 1.2
Armour Dose: 120mg, 6 weeks, took Armour before lab work
was feeling good


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

I have heard really good things about the new doc, and I'm hoping I like her and can stay with her if I do when my doc gets back. While my doc has been willing to prescribe Armour, seems genuinely interested in helping me feel better, and actually believes I'm as sick as I say I am, she's felt a bit clueless in how to help me once my TSH jumped to 29 and I started feeling wretched again, and didn't know what labs to order unless I told her. So I am keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow...


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

lavender said:


> When I posted those old labs, it all lined up and was readable. I never looked at what it looked like after I posted, and it turned into a jumbled up mess! Let's see if I can fix it...
> 
> The reason my FT3 has jumped has been when I took my Armour dose relative to when I got labs done. If I take it before, my T3 ends up high, if I wait and take it later, my T3 ends up lower. So, it's not so inconsistent if you only look at the times I waited until after I had labs drawn to take it. I know I need to be consistent in what I do when I get my labs...when I have taken my dose before the labs were drawn, it's because my doc has drawn them in her office in the afternoon instead of sending me to the lab before I see her. I'm asking her to just order them before my next appointment now so I can be more consistent in what I do. I'm also asking her to check my FT3 and FT4 every time now because I realized she was ordering different labs every time if I didn't ask.
> 
> ...


Thank you for clarifying. it is true; you must ride the "same" horse to the labs every time! ROLF!! I prefer to not take my Armour since they changed the filler because it now absorbs faster (which is a good thing) and has a tendency to peak after 4 hours. So, that truly messes up "my" labs because I take Armour @ 5:30 AM and am getting blood drawn @ 9:30 AM. LOL!

You do need an increase based on your Sept. labs. 1/4 to 1/2 grain.

Yeah; see what happened on 7/13/11?? That's the new filler; I am telling you true!


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

One more bit of info, I started taking Prozac 2 weeks ago, and just read that it can affect how well my thyroid med works. I'm wondering if that explains the drop in my TSH.

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/thyroiddrugs/ht/takemeds.htm
scroll down to #8

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/tsh-fluctuating.htm
scroll down to #13


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

lavender said:


> One more bit of info, I started taking Prozac 2 weeks ago, and just read that it can affect how well my thyroid med works. I'm wondering if that explains the drop in my TSH.
> 
> http://thyroid.about.com/cs/thyroiddrugs/ht/takemeds.htm
> scroll down to #13
> ...


Actually, I think that it would cause a rise in TSH not a decrease. But I am not sure; would have to do futher research.

Do you have an insert that came w/your Rx? It should say.


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

Yup, I knew it was a bad idea to have the labs drawn after I took it. Same thing on 2/11, FT3 was high (and almost the same as it was on on 7/13.)

I take my Armour at about 8 am, and usually see my doc in the afternoon. I hate having to wait to take it that late because then it seems to keep mt up all night. Doc's office actually couldn't find a vein last time and sent me to the lab. I was thinking about waiting and having them run it the next day, but they told me to go right away because they had already printed out the lab slip. Maybe I should just tell them I'm a bad stick (which I am, they almost always send me to the lab and even they have problems finding my veins), and routinely ask them to print the slip for the next day.


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

Can't seem to find the pharmacy print out. I'm moving and have been shredding lots of paper to pack boxes since I don't get the newspaper! I do need to go the pharmacy today. Maybe I could ask them to re-print it.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

lavender said:


> Yup, I knew it was a bad idea to have the labs drawn after I took it. Same thing on 2/11, FT3 was high (and almost the same as it was on on 7/13.)
> 
> I take my Armour at about 8 am, and usually see my doc in the afternoon. I hate having to wait to take it that late because then it seems to keep mt up all night. Doc's office actually couldn't find a vein last time and sent me to the lab. I was thinking about waiting and having them run it the next day, but they told me to go right away because they had already printed out the lab slip. Maybe I should just tell them I'm a bad stick (which I am, they almost always send me to the lab and even they have problems finding my veins), and routinely ask them to print the slip for the next day.


On that day after labs, I just take half of my dose. It has not caused any harm so far that I am aware of.


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

That might be a better idea. I know I tried splitting my dose for a while, taking half in the morning and half in the afternoon, but found that my sleep schedule was off. I'm already off from waiting to take my meds until after labs on Thursday. Once it gets messed up, it takes me forever to get back on track. Tomorrow won't help. I'm a bit concerned because I have class in the evening, and need to be awake and functioning, but then I don't want to take my Armour in case my doc decides to re-run the labs.


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble....

I saw my cardiologist this morning. She's been following up with me for my heart palpitations, which have finally gotten better for most of the last month until a few days ago.

She saw my TSH #, and wants me to talk to my doc today about lowering my dose! I explained to her that things were WORSE when I was on a lower dose, and she just kept saying my TSH was too low! My BP and pulse are normal. I am on a Beta-Blocker, and she's changing the one I'm taking. And the heart palpitations are definitely not the same as they were when I was hyperthyroid.

The last thing I need right now is to lower my Armour dose! I'm at least getting off the couch right now for the first time in months.

So she's not prescribing my Armour, thank goodness, but I'm still concerned that the new doc will agree with her. I'm not sure how to convince her to look at my Free Ts instead of my TSH when my FT3 was high the last time it was checked.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

lavender said:


> Can't seem to find the pharmacy print out. I'm moving and have been shredding lots of paper to pack boxes since I don't get the newspaper! I do need to go the pharmacy today. Maybe I could ask them to re-print it.


They should be happy to do so!! Bless your heart! What work; moving! I would not even want to think of it!

If I was there, I would help you though! Seriously!


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

Stupid doctor lowered my dose. Even though I told her I was feeling better, that I know what it feels like to be hyper, and I'm not hyper. I'm just barely getting off the couch. At least I convinced her not to lower it back down to 120 mg. I'll be taking 135 mg instead, and she said I could some back in if I started to feel bad again. But otherwise, I'm supposed to wait 8 weeks for labs and to return to see my regular doc, which is just fine by me. My regular doc is more willing to listen to me and knows I haven't been functioning for months. I'm so frustrated. I don't know how I'm supposed to get better and function if I don't have enough hormones in my body to even think straight.


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## lavender (Jul 13, 2010)

Andros said:


> They should be happy to do so!! Bless your heart! What work; moving! I would not even want to think of it!
> 
> If I was there, I would help you though! Seriously!


Thanks, I could use some help right now.


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