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Wednesday, February 08, 2012

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Welcome to The Q&A with Elaine Moore. Registered members are invited to ask any question of Elaine Moore on autoimmune diseases, Graves' disease, other thyroid diseases and subconditions, laboratory work, traditional and complementary medicine, triggers and environmental influences, thyroid and immune disorders in pets and animals, and other relevant areas of inquiry.

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Questions are answered solely by Elaine Moore, a medical writer and clinical laboratory scientist, MT, CLS, with more than 30 years of experience in immunology. Moore has also authored and edited over a dozen books in the area of health sciences and is an editor for McFarland Publisher's Health Topics Series.

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Graves Diagnosis - no symptoms

6/23/2010 1:22 PM

Joined: 6/23/2010

Posts: 1

Graves Diagnosis - no symptoms

Early May, 2010 I noticed increase in bowel movements and a slight weight loss- I thought it was great. I work out a ton and was feeling fantastic for the summer! I happen to go in for my annual physical mid May and after doing routine blood work, my TSH - .01, came up low (FT4 2.6, and FT3 691). So I went to a specialist and she had me do an update and scan - uptake was 38%. Still no other symptoms! But I was diagnosed with Graves this week. I am staying at my current weight but can't seem to gain no matter what I eat. And I still feel great! Here are my current numbers - TSH .01, FT4 2.2 and FT3 610. My Dr. wants me to start 20mg of Tapazol this week for the next 6 weeks.

Since this is so new and has happened all so quickly without other symptoms, do you agree with the my Dr.'s prescription? I don't take any vitamin supplements - I'm 42 and have no family history of Graves of Thyroid issues. Thoughts? Thank you!!

6/25/2010 1:20 AM

Elaine

Joined: 8/1/2008

Posts: 3174

Re: Graves Diagnosis - no symptoms

Hi,

A dose of 20 mg Tapazole should bring your FT4 into range in 6 weeks although FT3 will probably still be elevated and TSH will still be low. FT3 takes longer to fall and TSH takes a very long time to rise. Because we have much more FT4 than FT3, this level is used to determine your ATD dose, and as soon as FT4 falls into range (usually at 6 weeks) your ATD dose can be lowered. Over time as you achieve remission the dose will be lowered.

Because the scan and uptake aren't specific for Graves' disease (although they help rule out nodules) it would be good to also have a test for thyroid antibodies, preferably TSI. TSI antibodies cause hyperthyroidism in Graves' disease. Because your uptake isn't very high, other causes of hyperthyroidism such as thyroiditis are possible. In thyroiditis a 2 month period of hyperthryoidism is typically followed by a similar period of hypothryoidism.

Best, Elaine

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Graves Diagnosis - no symptoms

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