Monday, February 20, 2012

What does this mean?

My nurse from the far away clinic left me a voice mail on Friday. Which of course my phone then got all wonky and would not let me listen to until mid-day Saturday - frickin' technology.

Anyway, she says that my TSH is elevated and that I should contact my primary care doc to get on some meds. Or if I'm already on meds, to have them adjusted.

Ummm...what?

What the hell does this mean? Is there something wrong with my thyroid? Why? Is this common?

I have a message in to talk to her directly, but I thought I'd put it out there to you, oh wise interwebbies. What does this mean?
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6 comments:

  1. MyTwoLinesFebruary 20, 2012 at 11:21 AM

    Pie
    I work in endocrinology. If your TSH is elevated it's because your thyroid gland isn't producing enough thyroid hormone--there is an inverse relationship between TSH and thyroid hormone production (kind of like FSH and egg production). It is not optimal to become pregnant when the thyroid levels are not perfect... the most common cause of hypothyroidism is autoimmune (Hashimoto's). They can check your antibody levels to find out if they are high, but the treatment is the same: replacement thyroid hormone.

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  2. AbbyFebruary 20, 2012 at 12:07 PM

    I think it depends on how elevated it is. After my pregnancy via IVF, my TSH was super low. It turned out I had a hyperthyroid. I assume, since yours is high, you'd be hypothyroid. My main symptom was a crazy rapid pulse. I think for hypo you find yourself extra tired and unable to lose weight. On the flip side, I got mine under control and it turns out it was the reason I wasn't getting pregnant naturally. :) Good luck!

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  3. kateryFebruary 20, 2012 at 12:58 PM

    wish i knew.

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  4. KateFebruary 20, 2012 at 2:51 PM

    I agree with MyTwoLines. You're hypothyroid for some reason and will get put on l-thyroxine/synthroid. Not a big deal as far as I can tell - tons of people I see through work are on it. You just want your FSH and T4 to be in the normal range for conception/pregnancy.
    Glad your girl is thriving and walking and lots of fun!

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  5. PatienceFebruary 20, 2012 at 6:38 PM

    Nothing of value to add- except that I am sorry about the panic over the weekend and hope that you've talked to your nurse by now. Why can't things just be simple for us?

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  6. inBetweenFebruary 20, 2012 at 10:25 PM

    keeping my fingers crossed that this isn't a big deal for your fertility treatments!!,

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