Posted by Cecilia on August 18, 2004, at 3:16:45
Several people here seem to know a lot about thyroid issues, so maybe someone can answer my questions. I`ve been depressed virtually my whole life, but every time my thyroid was checked it was reportedly "normal." I did try a low dose of levothyroxine once in an attempt to "augment" whatever AD I was on at the time but couldn`t stand the side effects. In May my TSH was 12, hypothyroid, so my doc started me on 0.05 mg levothroxine. After 2 weeks I called her saying no way can I stand this-same awful side effects-palpitations, anxiety etc. She told me to cut the dose in half and check a level in 6 weeks. My TSH after 6 weeks on 0.025 mg was 5.2, still hypothyroid from what I`ve read, my understanding is that TSH should be between 0.3 and 3. So I asked her if I should try taking 0.0375 and she said no, 5.2 was normal. Apparently my HMO still lists 0.5 to 5.5 as the normal range. I know this is outdated, but I`m terrified to argue with her, doctors can be so arrogant and patronizing. And I don`t know whether increasing the levothyroxine that little bit would make any difference anyway. No amount of thyroid is going to cure my life long depression, and I HATE the way the stuff makes me feel, but on the other hand maybe if I could titrate to an amount I can stand that would put me closer to the normal range it might help a little bit. Would going from 0.025 to 0.0375 be enough to make any real difference? Even though my TSH was elevated my T4 was in the normal range. Cecilia
poster:Cecilia
thread:379005
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040817/msgs/379005.html