PTU dosage and weight gain - Question and Answer Forum - Elaine Moore Graves' Disease and Autoimmune Disease Education

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

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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.

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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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PTU dosage and weight gain

3/2/2012 1:35 PM

jarrah

Joined: 3/2/2012

Posts: 1

PTU dosage and weight gain

Hi Elaine

I was diagnosed with Graves Disease at the beginning of this year and have been on PTU at a dose of 300mg/day (150mg 2x daily) for the past 7 weeks.

About 3 weeks into the medication I felt wonderful for perhaps a week but since then I have been progressively feeling more sluggish, experiencing muscle spasms, headaches, breast tenderness and general "achiness".

My lab results at 01/05/2012 (and pre-medication) were:

TSH 0.014 (range 0.27-4.20)

FT3 14.3 (range 2.0-4.4)

FT4 4.15 (range 0.93-1.70)

After 6 weeks on medication at 02/24/2012:

TSH 0.005 (0.27-4.2)

FT3 3.5 (2.0-4.4)

FT4 0.91 (0.93-1.70)

Today, over the phone, my doctor told me to reduce my dose to 100mg/day (50mg 2x daily). Given my latest lab results would this new dose be appropriate?

Also, since being on the medication I've gained 16 pounds with the majority of that in the last 4 weeks. Is this type of weight gain to be expected when on ATDs?

Thank you so much

Regards, Jarrah

3/4/2012 3:29 PM

Elaine

Joined: 8/1/2008

Posts: 3396

Re: PTU dosage and weight gain

Hi Jarrah,

Your thyroid status in GD depends on your FT4 level and right now you're hypothyroid. TSH will stay low for a long time and a low TSH doesn't mean that you're still hyperthyroid. The new dose of 50 mg twice a day is much more reasonable and should help move you into the optimal range (FT4 between the middle and high end of the range, preferably closer to the high end). You're showing a very good response to meds and over time your dose will be reduced until you achieve remission. You always want to be on the lowest dose needed to keep FT4 at least at mid-range (preferably higher) regardless of your other levels. Best, elaine

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PTU dosage and weight gain

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