Topic of the Week
Why do we give TSH the lowest priority when managing Graves/Hyperthyroidism with an intact thyroid?
Topic of the Week!
Why do we give TSH the lowest priority when managing Graves/Hyperthyroidism with an intact thyroid?
It’s simple biology. The Graves antibodies (TRab – TSH Receptor Antibodies) attach to the TSH receptors on your thyroid. TSH is a pituitary hormone not a thyroid hormone. Your pituitary sends a low TSH number to your thyroid trying to tell it to stop making too much hormone. Due to these Graves antibodies attached to your TSH receptors on your thyroid, essentially hijacking this signal, your thyroid never sees it. It’s that simple.
We never, never, never manage Graves by TSH alone. If your doc is doing this it’s your big red flag that your doc is not Graves/Hyper savvy and has no idea how to manage your treatment and is ignoring the simple biology of how this disease manifests. Don’t allow it!
It can take months to years with anti thyroid med treatment for TSH to be seen by your thyroid again. Be patient.
Over medicating with anti thyroid meds to get TSH to come up is very bad and horrible mismanagement. Making you hyPO will not lead to good quality of life or will it lead to antibody remission. It also causes inflammation, goiter and increased antibodies.
Using L-Carnitine to raise TSH is a false victory. It only looks good on paper. It has not lowered thyroid hormone levels or the antibodies that are causing your hyperthyroidism. In the long run it’s actually more detrimental than beneficial.
When do we pay attention to TSH? Or, give it a higher priority? Only when it gets too high. Remember, with TSH a low number means hyPER and a high number means hyPO. It’s backwards. Once TSH does start responding again it’s very important that it never gets above 2.0. This is the only universal test range. The variances in the reference ranges for TSH is so minimal worldwide we can safely say anything over 2 will lead to inflammation, goiter, hyPOthyroidism and increased antibodies.
If your doctor is managing your Graves or Hyperthyroidism by TSH alone please get with me for a 1 Hour Consultation so I can teach you how to properly manage your disease into antibody remission for your best quality of life!
I 
my ! Learn to your too!
