hi everyone, i'm new to this whole thyroid thing and pretty darn confused. as background... i'm currently acting as a surrogate for a cousin.. as a part of getting ready to do this, her fertility doctors ordered a whole slew of blood tests. everything except my TSH came back normal.. but my TSH was 6.9. when i asked the doctor what the heck that meant, he would only tell me that it was 'high' and that i'd have to take pills for a while. i continued asking more questions, but he pretty much refused to answer, and it was very frustrating.
when i went to fill my prescription (synthroid), the pharmacist was very helpful, and explained that the TSH being so high actually means that my thyroid function was low.. and that i had hypothyroidism, and would likely be on these pills forever. when i went home and did some online research, that all made sense.
when i spoke to the fertility docs again (different one), he was very insistent that i do NOT have hypothyroidism, which i really don't understand at all. is it possible to have high TSH without having hypothyroidism??
follow up blood work brought my TSH down to better levels.. 2.4 within two weeks of being on a tiny dose.. 0.05/day, and at my last blood draw, i was down to 1.65. since i am now pregnant, it is being monitored by an actual endocrinologist. i had thought that the endo would give me a better understanding of what is going on, but when i had my appointment with her a week or so ago, i left feeling pretty much as confused as i do now. i asked her straight out if i had hypothyroidism, but she kind of danced around the issue.. she even said that if i was not pregnant, she would not treat a TSH of 6.9 .. that she only treats 10 and higher (?!?!?!). from what i've read, TSH should be under 5, and even that is considered crazy high by most people, that under 3 is more reasonable. during the pregnancy, i know i need to keep it under 2.5. i know that there are other test results that usually go along with TSH (free T4 or something???), but i have no idea what those results might be, or if the tests were even ordered. oh, i should add that she has scheduled me for a thyroid ultrasound.. she doesn't think it's necessary, but she wants to have 'complete records', so i do that the first week of september.
as for other symptoms, well, that's hard to say. i have three children, i have worked full time doing home daycare (read 5 toddlers everyday!!) for the last 12 years... of course i'm tired. over the last few years, i have gained weight while not really changing what i eat... in fact, in the first two weeks of being on meds, i lost 7 lbs without exercise/diet changes. this whole TSH has come out of the blue for me.. if it weren't for the initial blood tests, i would have had no idea that anything was going on. i have been under alot of stress for the last few years, so i've now quit my job, and between that and my meds, i feel that i am getting more sleep and have less stress in general. the pregnancy is going well.
the only thing other than my meds that i am taking for my thyroid is this blend of sea veg added to my daily smoothies.. i've read that natural sources of iodine can be helpful. would love any additional advice.