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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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The Q & A with Elaine Moore

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7/17/2010 9:16 PM

Claudia

Joined: 7/17/2010

Posts: 1

Please advise

Hello Elaine,

Before anything I want to thank for all your support, this website it’s very helpful. Also thank you so much for taking the time to respond to all our questions.

I was told that I have Graves’s disease on November 2009; I knew something was wrong with me but was not sure, since I was going through separation I assumed was stress related. I was put on PTU immediately, 650 mg per day. Little by little I started to feel better except for my eyes, and of course I have gained 12 pounds since December. I’m very unhappy and depressed about that, I’m a very active person, I exercise everyday, eat right, plus, work 40 hrs. Per week and I’m a part time student.

A month ago I decreased PTU and started to take only 300 mg per day, since I was getting too tired, cold, heavy periods and muscle cramps in my arms, legs and neck. After 2 weeks taking half of dose, the cramps were gone.

I just had my Endo appointment this past Tuesday, told the doctor that I had cut the dose and she say it was probably time to do that. I think I was getting hypo symptoms, what do you think, I would really appreciate any advise. And also about the weight gained what should I do? Is this going to be temporarily? Please see below my labs records.

Jan 12, 2010

T4 free (Direct) 2.91 H ng/Dl

TSH 0.006L Uiu/ mL

Thyroid stim immunoglobulin 466 H %

TPO 337 H IU/mL

Antithyroglobulin Ab < 20

Triiodothyroinene, Free Serum 6.5 H pg/mL

March 5, 2010

TSH <0.006 L uIU/mL

T4 Free (Direct) 1.95 ng/dL

Triiodothyroinene, Free Serum 438H pg/mL

April 28, 2010

TSH 0.010 L uIU/ mL

T4 1.45 ng /dL

Triiodothyroinene, free Serum 4.4 pg/ mL

July 09, 2010

TSH 0.013 L uIU/ mL

T4 1.30 ng/ dL

Triiodothyronine, Free Serum 3.5 pg/m L

I apologize for any misspelling , English is not my first language.

Thank you and many blessings

Claudia

7/18/2010 6:31 PM

Elaine

Joined: 8/1/2008

Posts: 3174

Re: Please advise

Hi Claudia,

You've been on a much higher PTU dose than is generally prescribed. Usually, people start out on 200-300 mg, and by 8 weeks the dose is reduced. The usual maintenance dose, after the first 6-8 weeks, is 25-150 mg daily.

The high dose you were on leads to weight gain and if it causes hypothyroidism (based on your FT4 level) it can trigger or worsen eye symptoms. You want to be on the lowest dose needed to keep FT4 at least at mid-range and preferably closer to the high end of the range. On the proper dose of PTU, you should be able to slowly lose the weight you gained if you keep up your good routine. Now that your metabolism is back to normal (or when it gets there after being slowed down by too much PTU) you'll need to eat less than when you were hyperthyroid but you won't have the increased appetite caused by hyperthyroidism. Best, Elaine

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