# Have I gone Hypo



## marshlakemom (Oct 25, 2010)

I am traveling for the winter and for the past several months I haven't been feeling well at all:

-insomnia, fatique, brain fog, itchy skin, gaining weight, terrible back and leg pain, eyes weak, vision blurry--- so I went and had a thyroid panel blood draw and this is the results:

TSH is 7.780 ulU/ml This was flagged as *H* Ranges were: 0.450-4.500
T4 is 10.0 ug/dl Ranges were 4.5-12.0
T3 Uptake is 30% Ranges were 24-39
Free Thyroid index 3.0 Ranges were 1.2-4.9

I am on 137 mg Synthyroid daily/had radiation done two years ago on thyroid as I had full blown Graves Disease....hyper

Do you think I need to lower or raise my dosage of medication...

I'm just open to suggestions here.

Thanks


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Are you able to post the ranges? If you are, the knowledgeable folks will appreciate it!


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

If you are asking whether to lower your dosage of Synthroid, I would say definitely no, based on your TSH level. If anything, you may need an increase.


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## marshlakemom (Oct 25, 2010)

I re-did my post showing the ranges of the lab report


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

It appears that you have gone hypo. I would not feel well either with my TSH that high. In my opinion you need an increase in your dose of Synthyroid.


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## marshlakemom (Oct 25, 2010)

Thanks for your input...the problem is that I don't have a doctor where I am travelling and wonder if I could take a 137 mg. tablet, divide it into 4 and take one of the 34.25 mg section as well as a full 137 mg tablet...which would put me at 171.25 mg. Is that too much of a increase....increase of 34.25......try that for 4-6 weeks, and go to a lab and get another blood panel done and see how my tsh is then, as well as seeing if I start to feel any better. I believe the next step up tablet wise is a 150 mg., but not sure how to get them without seeing a doctor, and I'm out of country.

I understand there are no medical doctors on this forum.....just looking for opinions.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

marshlakemom said:


> I am traveling for the winter and for the past several months I haven't been feeling well at all:
> 
> -insomnia, fatique, brain fog, itchy skin, gaining weight, terrible back and leg pain, eyes weak, vision blurry--- so I went and had a thyroid panel blood draw and this is the results:
> 
> ...


What has your doctor suggested you do?

You could get a better idea of your status if you had the tests below run although you cannot deny the TSH. Wow! That is high!

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=2#diagnosis: standard laboratory test

Any changes in your diet or any new meds?


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## northernlite (Oct 28, 2010)

I think that is a fairly large daily increase. If that proves to be your only option, I think I would start with an extra quarter every other day.

I would think it would be very difficult to quarter Synthroid. i went through a period of time when I was trying to quarter my dog's T4 (similar in size and consistancy to ours!) and it was scored so I broke it in half and then tried to put it in the pill cutter and cut it it half again. Rarely did I end up with two fairly equal pieces and a lot of time I had one piece and a pile of powder.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

marshlakemom said:


> Thanks for your input...the problem is that I don't have a doctor where I am travelling and wonder if I could take a 137 mg. tablet, divide it into 4 and take one of the 34.25 mg section as well as a full 137 mg tablet...which would put me at 171.25 mg. Is that too much of a increase....increase of 34.25......try that for 4-6 weeks, and go to a lab and get another blood panel done and see how my tsh is then, as well as seeing if I start to feel any better. I believe the next step up tablet wise is a 150 mg., but not sure how to get them without seeing a doctor, and I'm out of country.
> 
> I understand there are no medical doctors on this forum.....just looking for opinions.


That sounds like a bad idea to me. First, dividing the tablet into 4 is not easy...and it would never be divided evenly, no matter how hard you tried. And because you would need it to be exact for a true reading, that just wouldn't work. Also, I think 171 mcg would indeed be too much. Yes, your TSH is higher than it should be, but it's not outrageously high, so an increase of that much would be too big of a jump and would likely put you into hyper territory pretty quickly.

Assuming you have a doctor in your home country...can you call that doctor and get a new prescription for 150 mcg, and have a friend or family member send them to you in your current location?


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## marshlakemom (Oct 25, 2010)

Has anyone heard of supplementing with Iodine2Plus

and what is your opinion of adding 25 mcg Cytomel (T3) to my existing TSH level of 7.78 to help with my hypo symptoms

I just don't know what to do because I can't go to a doctor in the States as it will affect my medical coverage while I'm away..... I am Canadian. I don't go home until April 2012


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

marshlakemom said:


> I just don't know what to do because I can't go to a doctor in the States as it will affect my medical coverage while I'm away..... I am Canadian. I don't go home until April 2012


Can you not call your Canadian doctor and get a prescription filled at a Canadian pharmacy, to be picked up by a family member and mailed to you?

Also, are you sure you understand "the rules" correctly for your coverage abroad? I'm not familiar at all with the Canadian healthcare system and coverage, but what you're saying doesn't seem right to me. Canadians travel abroad all the time...surely you should be able to see a doctor in another country if you need to??? How would it change your coverage, exactly? You may indeed be correct, but sometimes, we "think" we know the rules, but upon further research, what we thought we knew turns out to be incorrect...worth a try! 

If you absolutely, definitely cannot see a doctor where you are, and you cannot get new pills sent to you, then I would say your idea of breaking them into quarters is better than not changing at all...but I agree with the other poster who suggested maybe adding a quarter-pill every other day rather than every day. I would try to get new pills first, though.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

marshlakemom said:


> Has anyone heard of supplementing with Iodine2Plus
> 
> and what is your opinion of adding 25 mcg Cytomel (T3) to my existing TSH level of 7.78 to help with my hypo symptoms
> 
> I just don't know what to do because I can't go to a doctor in the States as it will affect my medical coverage while I'm away..... I am Canadian. I don't go home until April 2012


If you can't see a doctor, how would you get Cytomel? I don't think it would be wise to add that unless your doctor prescribed it specifically for your issues.

I live near the Canadian border and my husband is in the medical field. He sees Canadians all the time -- in fact, he's treating two good friends, both of whom are Canadian. They do pay upfront for services, but then are reimbursed (up to a certain %) by the national health care system. I would imagine seeing someone in the States would be fine, although it might cost you upfront.


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## marshlakemom (Oct 25, 2010)

Thanks for all your input folks...think I will try to see a doctor here.......I have to do something, just feeling poorly and probably not thinking correctly.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Since it looks like this is going to cost you something...are you able to obtain the correct blood tests using the lab tests online, and maybe you could contact your own doctor for the new medication when you have the results? Just a thought...

I also live near the Canadian border , not too far from Montreal!


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

I am sorry you are not feeling well. Upping your dose with out medical consult could cause more problems. I hope you'll feel better soon.


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

marshlakemom said:


> Thanks for all your input folks...think I will try to see a doctor here.......I have to do something, just feeling poorly and probably not thinking correctly.


Good to hear. I think that's your best bet. Be sure to bring those lab results with you, and hopefully you won't have to pay for another set of labs. Keep us posted.


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## marshlakemom (Oct 25, 2010)

Hope this makes sense!!

I ended up going over to Mexico and spoke to a pharmacist there.....no doctors available there for what I wanted to talk about. I read online that there were two pharmacies there that would be able to help me, as they had knowledgeable pharmicists on duty. I showed him my lab report and he agreed that I should up my dose to 150 ...so that's what I'm trying. I did call home to Canada before going over, and was told that my results were 1.46 (ref 0.4-4.0) in April, 2011 and my lab from Thursday past shows almost 8.0. They wouldn't agree to me faxing my recent lab report home and having my doctor prescribe me the higher dose...said they just can't do that !!! So it is what it is!!! Would have cost me $300.00 to see a doctor here in AZ, so I decided to go across the border and get the 150 dose tablets there.

I was diagnosed and radiated 18 months ago for Graves Disease, and slowly graduated up in dosage to 137 mg and like I said when I last had my blood work done almost a year ago, my overall score was 1.46. Life has been stressful this past 6 months, so may account for my tsh numbers as they stand now.

Thanks guys, I do appreciate your comments,


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

How unfortunate that you couldn't get what you needed either where you're from or where you are now. But I'm glad you did get what you needed.

I've never gotten pharmaceuticals in Mexico...do you feel confident that they're the real deal and the equivalent of what you'd get in the U.S. or Canada?


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

I am glad too. You must have felt awful. Hope the new meds kick in soon!


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