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Is Thyronorm Related To Weight Loss And Fatigue?
Hi, my husband was diagnosed with Graves' disease in April 2013 with a TSH of 0.07. He was put on PTU for a month. He had been losing a lot of weight. By end of May, his TSH was 0.02 and FT4 58.3. He took the radioactive iodine treatment (10milli curie of I 131) ablation in July 2013. In sep 2013 his values stood at T4 184.19 and anti TPO 539.6. He started gaining some weight and in Jan 2014 his TSH stood at 0.05 and FT4 at 38.84. at this point , he was prescribed Thyronorm 50 mcg once daily on empty stomach. This is when the problems started - loss of appetite, constant feverish feeling, weight loss, general feeling of Unwellness, fatigue etc. On repeating the test, we found TSH of 0.01 in Feb 2014. Are these symptoms related to the dosage of thyronorm? Out of frustration and to experiment, he has stopped thyronorm for the last three days, but the symptoms persist. What could the symptoms mean? To my understanding, a low FT4 calls for replacement therapy, but would intake of thyronorm not bring down the TSH values further? Please advise a suitable course of treatment for the current state of low TSH and low FT4.
Sat, 22 Feb 2014
Hi,
In grave's disease, TSH can remain suppressed for many months even after treatment. But in your husband's case, it remained low even 7 months after treatment with radioiodine treatment. Usually we expect the person to develop hypothyroidism after radioiodine treatment ( very rarely some people become euthyroid which mean thyroid function become normal).
If he had developed Hypothyroidism, a 50 mcg dose of Thyronorm wouldnot bring down the TSH value so low. I suspect that your husband still has residual functioning thyroid tissue and best option would be to stop Thyronorm for 6 weeks and recheck Free T4 and TSH. Please remember that stopping treatment for 3 days will not make any difference. You must meet an endocrinologist
In grave's disease, TSH can remain suppressed for many months even after treatment. But in your husband's case, it remained low even 7 months after treatment with radioiodine treatment. Usually we expect the person to develop hypothyroidism after radioiodine treatment ( very rarely some people become euthyroid which mean thyroid function become normal).
If he had developed Hypothyroidism, a 50 mcg dose of Thyronorm wouldnot bring down the TSH value so low. I suspect that your husband still has residual functioning thyroid tissue and best option would be to stop Thyronorm for 6 weeks and recheck Free T4 and TSH. Please remember that stopping treatment for 3 days will not make any difference. You must meet an endocrinologist
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