# newly diagnosed-confused about some things



## erika (Oct 17, 2009)

ok here's my story-i have long thought that i had a thyroid problem b/c i've had hypo symptoms for many years. i asked to be tested again in june b/c i had gained weight for no obvious reason. my tsh was 3.49 and my doc said that was normal. i decided to pursue it further & went to an endo. he put me on 100mcg of levothyroxine.

in august my tsh tested at 1.99. i asked the endo if i should still be on the levo and he said yes b/c i "have antibodies". i called today to ask what that meant & he said hashi's. he said my ATA was normal but my ATG was over 500. but my tsh was down to .03 so i should reduce the levo a bit. this is part that confuses me. if my tsh is so low shouldn't i be feeling hyper, rather than hypo? and shouldn't be antibodies be lower if i've been on levo since august?

any thoughts about this would be greatly appreciated...glad to have found this board.

thanks,

erika


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

erika said:


> ok here's my story-i have long thought that i had a thyroid problem b/c i've had hypo symptoms for many years. i asked to be tested again in june b/c i had gained weight for no obvious reason. my tsh was 3.49 and my doc said that was normal. i decided to pursue it further & went to an endo. he put me on 100mcg of levothyroxine.
> 
> in august my tsh tested at 1.99. i asked the endo if i should still be on the levo and he said yes b/c i "have antibodies". i called today to ask what that meant & he said hashi's. he said my ATA was normal but my ATG was over 500. but my tsh was down to .03 so i should reduce the levo a bit. this is part that confuses me. if my tsh is so low shouldn't i be feeling hyper, rather than hypo? and shouldn't be antibodies be lower if i've been on levo since august?
> 
> ...


Hi Ericka and welcome to the board. Keeping the TSH suppressed keeps the antibodies very very quiet and inactive. My TSH is always around 0.03 or even less. I am not hyper; no way! You can determine this not only by the way you feel but by getting the FREE T4 and FREE T3 tests. The Frees are unbound hormone available for cellular uptake and they will tell you in a heartbeat what is going on.

Your doctor appears to be well informed and you are lucky because it is not so for many of us. Stay on your current dose as instructed and you should lab about every 8 weeks or so just to be sure.

Are you feeling good? That is the criteria also.


----------

