Not sure what to expect...help

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-16-2004
Not sure what to expect...help
3
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 2:15pm
I just found out yesterday that my blood tests came back showing abnormal thyroid amounts and tested for hyperthyroid. I am waiting on the specialist to call to set up an appointment but I am not really sure what to expect. What usually happens for them to determine the severity or actually classify they hyperthyroid? I have been showing symptoms for years but was always treated for it and never tested for thyroid until 2 weeks ago. Can anyone fill me in on the process?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-01-2006
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 4:04pm
Hi! I was hyperthyroid (graves disease) about 3 years ago, I am now hypothyroid. What they will be testing your blood is TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), T3 and T4. Now I believe that one of the ways that they can tell that you have hyperthyroid is that your TSH number will be low. For ex: I believe that a normal TSH level is around a 2 or 3, your's would be below that. Like when they found me to be hypothyroid I was at an 8 so I was above it. They will also look at the T3 and T4 numbers but I don't know much about what those are supposed to be at. Depending on your numbers and the cause of why your thryoid is overacting, I would imagine they may put you on medicine to surpress your thyroid hormone. I was on Methimazole, which was generic for Tapazole. I was on that for about a year with gradual increases and then decreases and then I was taken off of it and was in remission for about a year. I believe that I the med I was on worked with my immune system to make me go into remission because of having the graves disease. It will depend on what the cause of your thyroid problem is whether or not you will have the same results or different ones. If you are planning to get pregnant or are nursing then they would put you on PTU because the med I was on isn't safe during pregnancy or nursing. Are you waiting to hear from and endocrinologist?
Well I hope this little bit of info helps you out some. I am just speaking from my experience. Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-16-2004
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 4:42pm
Thank you. The information does help. What exactly does the endocrinologist do on the first visit? Do they do more lab work, etc? My primary physician did blood work and discovered the hyperthyroid and now I am just waiting for the endocrinologist's office to contact me regarding setting up an appointment.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-01-2006
Tue, 07-31-2007 - 5:06pm
I believe that the endo will want to look at a copy of the bloodwork that your primary doctor did, so you should ask for a copy to take with you or have your primary doctor fax one over to them. The endo will go over your lab results with you and talk to you about your symptoms. If you get put on meds they will ask for you to have lab work before the next apt and come back and see them in 4-6 weeks to check and see if your med dosage needs to be adjusted. At least that was what I had to do.
Good Luck and let me know what happens!