TSH

So . . . I saw my Endocrinologist, Dr. M, today. We discussed the results from last Friday's blood test. Before I get into that, here's a little primer for new readers (and perhaps 'old' readers?) on my life since losing my baby (E) to stillbirth in November. I'll even throw in a little (amateur) health lesson as a bonus because some people have asked what the heck is TSH? :)

Background
In March (four months after E died), I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. I discovered a lump here. Then, I had an ultrasound on my neck. Then I got my blood test results. Then the diagnosis. Shortly after that, I had surgery to remove the cancer and my thyroid (you can read the specifics if you look under 'March' in my archives tab).

(Amateur) Health Lesson
The thyroid gland is very small, yet it serves an important purpose: it controls your metabolism which in turn impacts your energy level. Because I no longer have a thyroid, I take Synthroid (a synthetic hormone meant to make up for my lack of thyroid). One of the main issues for me now is whether or not my TSH is within normal range (.3-5.0). My simple explanation for TSH goes something like this -- when the thyroid functions properly, the pituitary gland produces TSH between .3-5.0 and all is right as rain. But when the thyroid under produces its hormones (or the Synthroid dosage isn't high enough), the pituitary gland kicks it into gear and produces increased levels of TSH to stimulate the thyroid to get to work.

So when somebody is 'hypothyroid', that means the thyroid function (or the Synthroid dosage) is too low. One of the ways to determine this is testing for TSH. If TSH is high, that means the thyroid function (or Synthroid dosage) is too low.

After surgery, I started out on a Synthroid dosage of 125. My first blood test following surgery was in May. My TSH was at 26 (Reminder: normal range is .3-5.0). So Synthroid was increased to 150.

Today
I expected my TSH to still be elevated because I've felt extremely exhausted, depressed, irritable, unable to focus, etc., etc. I hoped for some improvement from last time, but I expected my dosage would be bumped up just a bit and I'd feel better very soon.

Well, I was right about one thing. My TSH is still high. But good golly the number is crazy: 78.6! I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard that. Dr. M started with asking me how I felt, "How's your energy? How's your mood?"I finally asked what the results revealed and he just said, "They're not good."

Dr. M increased my Synthroid dosage to 200. Hopefully, this much higher number will take effect very soon so I can get on with my life. Surely, I'll write more about the issues this crazy TSH creates another day. As usual, I just don't have the energy to write about it now.