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THE Q & A

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.

Each thread represents one question with one answer and will only appear at the time it is answered. Once answered, further replies cannot be made to the same thread since each thread represents only one question. A new thread will need to be started for additional questions.

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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 3/1/2009 3:14 PM
 
gramma8
No Ranking

Joined: 2/20/2009
Posts: 7
Hi Eliane,

I was wondering about what specifically to ask the endo for blood tests for the antibodies you describe to rule out Grave's or thryoiditis. I've read about TSI test. Is that the right one? Are there others I should ask for?

Also I looked back over my labs from physicals and noted yearly progressive fall in TSH 2004 1.27; 2007 .72; Aug. 2008 .15 and then of course Sept 2008 unmeasurable. I didn't find my labs for 05 and 06, but you had mentioned that maybe Grave's had been developing and then "flared" last Sept. and I thought maybe the fall in TSH over time might suggest that or maybe it's just coincidence.

Also now that my T-4 free is 1.0 (normal) and TSH only slightly elevated why do I still not feel well...I'm struggling most with depression, but also not being able to lose weight yet (at least I'm not gaining now), cold (which I have tended to be most of the time before all this started and since I started taking Norvasc some years ago) and really tired all the time. It still bothers me a lot to have anything around my neck and it feels like there's something stuck there especially when I lay down on my back. I know it takes a while for our bodies to catch up to labs but hoping I can start getting back to my old self????

Thanks again for your encouragement and support and the time committent you make in helping others walk through this maze.

blessings!
"gramma"
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 3/1/2009 9:27 PM
 
Elaine
1st Level Poster

Joined: 8/1/2008
Posts: 3531

Hi Gramma,

A TSI test is used to confirm Graves' disease. Now that FT4 is low, if you had TSI, it would probably be falling now. If you had high levels of other thyroid antibodies such as thyroglobulin and TPO antibodies show up during your diagnostic workup, these two could be used to help confirm Graves' disease.

Even though an FT4 of 1.0 is within range, for most people it would be too low for the body's needs and could cause symptoms of hypothyroidism. Your elevated TSH suggests that this is the case. Depression is one of the earliest symptoms of hypothyroidism to occur. Other symptoms include joint pain, weight gain, etc. Similar to hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism usually causes a few predominant symptoms but not all symptoms.

If your next labs still show a low FT4 it's likely that you've moved into subclinical or overt hypothyroidism and may want to ask about thyroid replacement hormone. Both thyroiditis and Graves' disease can move into spontaneous hypothyroidism. Best, Elaine
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TO USERS: Q&A posts are visible to all readers. Users can delete their own threads at any time. Users must provide information which is true and correct to the best of their knowledge as well as provide sources or references to any health / medical information if not taken from personal experience. All users including the moderator must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Advertising and self-promotion is not allowed. The moderator or site administrator has the right to ban users with or without warning for not following the basic rules of this site. All posts by default are not to be considered that of medical professionals unless otherwise indicated. As sole moderator, Moore has no conflicts of interest in the sponsorship of this forum.

 

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