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THE Q & A

Welcome to The Q&A with Elaine Moore. Registered members are invited to ask any question of Elaine Moore on autoimmune diseases, Graves' disease, other thyroid diseases and subconditions, laboratory work, traditional and complementary medicine, triggers and environmental influences, thyroid and immune disorders in pets and animals, and other relevant areas of inquiry.

Each thread represents one question with one answer and will only appear at the time it is answered. Once answered, further replies cannot be made to the same thread since each thread represents only one question. A new thread will need to be started for additional questions.

Questions are answered solely by Elaine Moore, a medical writer and clinical laboratory scientist, MT, CLS, with more than 30 years of experience in immunology. Moore has also authored and edited over a dozen books in the area of health sciences and is an editor for McFarland Publisher's Health Topics Series.


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 2/27/2012 9:55 AM
 

Hi Elaine,

I am new to the site. My questions is I was diagnosed with Graves Disease in July of 2011. The endo started me on tapazole to treat the Graves disease. To make a long story short, I had gone through a few endos and a few different doses of tapazole before moderating. I really started to make progress around Oct. of 2011. I have been on 2.5mg since November, pretty much holding steady and feeling much better than in the beginning. For some reason though which my endo does not seem the least bit concerned about my free T4 pretty low holding around .83notin the abnormal range yet but very close and latest labs of free T3 is 1.9 which is hypothryroid. My TSH was holding steady around 1.75, now it is down around 1.34. My last TSI was 298 having come down since Oct. of 378. I am now taking tapazole 2.5mg every other day. My question to you is do you think I am nearing a remission or in remission? Do you think the antibodies will come down to normal? Is there anything I can do to bring down the antibodies? I have read you writing this is a self limiting conditon. Is this true with everyone?

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 2/28/2012 3:01 PM
 

Hi Fran,

Yes, Graves' disease is a self-limiting condition. Once the immune system heals and stops producing the antibodies, the condition moves into remission.

You're correct in noting that your thryoid hormone levels are too low and that your mmi dose is too high for you. Taking 1.25 daily works better than 2.5 mg mmi every other day as it provides more stable levels. It's important to avoid becoming hypothyroid from meds because this encourages thyroid antibody production, which can trigger eye symptoms.

A good choice for you would be block and replace, where thryoid hormone is added to your mmi. If that's not an option, lowering the dose to 1.25 mg should help.

You're not yet in remission because your TSI is still elevated and being hypothyroid may be preventing it from falling. Taking selenium 200-400 mcg daily can help lower thryoid antibodies and so can avoiding all environmental triggers.

The reason your thyroid hormone levels aren't very high is probably because you also have blocking TSH receptor antibodies that prevent the TSI antibodies from reacting with your cells. So even though your thyroid hormone levels are low with a low mmi dose, you want to see TSI fall before stopping meds. Best, elaine

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TO USERS: Q&A posts are visible to all readers. Users can delete their own threads at any time. Users must provide information which is true and correct to the best of their knowledge as well as provide sources or references to any health / medical information if not taken from personal experience. All users including the moderator must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Advertising and self-promotion is not allowed. The moderator or site administrator has the right to ban users with or without warning for not following the basic rules of this site. All posts by default are not to be considered that of medical professionals unless otherwise indicated. As sole moderator, Moore has no conflicts of interest in the sponsorship of this forum.

 

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