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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / January 2004Hypothyroid Confirmed
My wife's elevated liver enzymes (ALT,AST) which prompted a call for a PET scan from our oncologist has led instead to treatment for hypothyroidism. My wife's numbers: T4, <1; TSH, 76; Cholesterol, 396 We avoided the PET which lifted our spirits enormously. I guess we need to track down the cause of the hypothyroidism--radiation seems a likely candidate, but we'll see.  SignatureErik Friedlander erikf@_nospam_erikfriedlander.com http://www.erikfriedlander.com > My wife's elevated liver enzymes (ALT,AST) which > prompted a call for a PET scan from our oncologist has > led instead to treatment for hypothyroidism. YayYayYay! I had hoped she might have the easy-to-handle problem rather than something more dire, so it's great to hear that confirmed. > My wife's numbers: T4, <1; TSH, 76; Cholesterol, 396 . . . and that's a pretty impressive TSH, too, judging only from what people have told me their "bad" results were (mine was 31 IIRC). For those reading this who aren't hypothyroid, the normal range (which varies somewhat by test method) is somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.5-4.5, and they aim to get you down to around 2 by using oral thyroid medication. On most tests, over 10 or so is considered "markedly elevated". Given her results, Erik, I gotta believe your wife is going to start feeling *much* better when they get her thyroid levels back to normal. Good news -- thanks for sharing! Ann T. Remove 'dontsendspam' from address to reply by email > My wife's numbers: T4, <1; TSH, 76; Cholesterol, 396 Horray Erik! I thought my TSH was one of the highest I'd heard (67). As Ann said, your wife should notice a difference in the way she feels soon after beginning thyroid medication. I considered it a little "miracle pill". The Dr. told me it would be weeks before I noticed a difference in the way I felt, but it didn't take nearly that long. I hope the same for your wife! Barb > As Ann said, your > wife should notice a difference in the way she feels soon after beginning > thyroid medication. I considered it a little "miracle pill". The Dr. told > me it would be weeks before I noticed a difference in the way I felt, but it > didn't take nearly that long. I hope the same for your wife! Yes! She's noticing a diff. already. And so am I-- snoring is markedly dimished! (funny because when i read about snoring as symptom it was the final clue--"ah ha") SignatureErik Friedlander erikf@_nospam_erikfriedlander.com http://www.erikfriedlander.com . And so am I-- > snoring is markedly dimished! (funny because when i read > about snoring as symptom it was the final clue--"ah ha") No kidding, snoring!! I didn't know that and have been a snorer for years. Now I can justify it with hubby ;-) Won't he be sorry that he's given me such grief over it? Barb << Yes! She's noticing a diff. already. And so am I-- snoring is markedly dimished! (funny because when i read about snoring as symptom it was the final clue--"ah ha") Hmm, had no idea snoring was in anyway associated... Erik wrote: << My wife's elevated liver enzymes (ALT,AST) which prompted a call for a PET scan from our oncologist has led instead to treatment for hypothyroidism. My wife's numbers: T4, <1; TSH, 76; Cholesterol, 396 That sounds so much like what I experienced. Are they also recommending a statin medication for the choesterol? In article <20040123185701.04510.00000628@mb- m10.aol.com>, kaye301@aol.com says... > That sounds so much like what I experienced. Are they also recommending a > statin medication for the choesterol? Not yet. We're checking in with our GP on Monday. He's going to reccomend a endocrinologist and I suppose we're going to track down the possible causes of this hypothyroidism (radiation? having a child? in reverse order..). We hope that her liver function will improve and then perhaps so will the cholesterol numbers..? Not sure, I'm getting into deep waters here, over my head. SignatureErik Friedlander erikf@_nospam_erikfriedlander.com http://www.erikfriedlander.com That is great news a endocrinologist will help straighten this all up! Alex > In article <20040123185701.04510.00000628@mb- > m10.aol.com>, kaye301@aol.com says... [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > erikf@_nospam_erikfriedlander.com > http://www.erikfriedlander.com << and I suppose we're going to track down the possible causes of this hypothyroidism (radiation? having a child? in reverse order..). >> There does seem to be some type of association somewhere. I think I had read that it might also be associated with the Arimidex. Then again I also had 3 unexplained attacks of acute pancreatitis and my cholesterol was quite elevated at the time--occurred about 3 mos after I started the Arimidex. Then again I had radiation and chemo as well. Then there is also the added possibility of Herceptin which I was on...then again could there have been anything malignant taking place since my tumor markers started to rise in addition to ast going above normal and bilirubin getting to highest level of normal. In addition my CEA went above normal and my CA 27-29 jumped 10 pts (about) although was still w/in normal limits. It's so hard to know what caused what. > Erik Friedlander wrote:<< and I suppose we're > going to track down the possible causes of this [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > (about) although was still w/in normal limits. It's so hard to know what > caused what. http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic2/anastr_ad.htm Arimidex The principal adverse event more common with ARIMIDEX than megestrol acetate was diarrhea. Adverse events reported in greater than 5% of the patients in any of the treatment groups in these two well-controlled clinical trials, regardless of causality, are presented below: <have to look there, it's in table format> Other less frequent (2% to 5%) adverse experiences reported in patients receiving ARIMIDEX 1 mg in either Trial 0004 or Trial 0005 are listed below. These adverse experiences are listed by body system and are in order of decreasing frequency within each body system regardless of assessed causality. Body as a Whole: Flu syndrome; fever; neck pain; malaise; accidental injury; infection Cardiovascular: Hypertension; thrombophlebitis Hepatic: Gamma GT increased; SGOT increased; SGPT increased Hematologic: Anemia; leukopenia Metabolic and Nutritional: Alkaline phosphatase increased; weight loss Mean serum total cholesterol levels increased by 0.5 mmol/L among patients receiving ARIMIDEX. Increases in LDL cholesterol have been shown to contribute to these changes. Radiation does not cause hypothyroidism unless the thyroid has been radiated for thyroid cancer. If you name the chemo, I can look it up and see which causes what. Back later with herceptin. J. J wrote: << The principal adverse event more common with ARIMIDEX than megestrol acetate was diarrhea. >> Nope, never had that problem ;-) << These adverse experiences are listed by body system and are in order of decreasing frequency within each body system regardless of assessed causality...SGOT increased ... Alkaline phosphatase increased; ... Mean serum total cholesterol levels increased by 0.5 mmol/L among patients receiving ARIMIDEX. Increases in LDL cholesterol have been shown to contribute to these changes. >> My SGOT did increase and was above normal. This happened 5 mos after I started the Arimidex and 5 weeks after last atack of acute pancreatitis. Interestingly, one week after 3rd atttack of acute pancreatitis, blood levels were taken--and all were normal. However, I didn't have a lipid profile (cholesterol panel) done. My alkaline phosphatase level went from the 70's to the 90's during and/or after the last pancreatitis attack and remained in the 90's for 6 months. 3 months after I stopped Herceptin it made it's largest jump (by 20 pts) from 96 to 116--the highest it ever was. (Normal is 121 or less). The following month I had a prophylactic Zometa infusion (had osteopenia in one hip) and also started prophylactic Doxycycline (which may help control and/or reverse bone metastases). The next month my alkaline phosphatase level stabilized at 114. It has steadily decreased since and for the past two months it has been close to what it was at time of dx--last count was 58. The cholesterol issue is interesting. At time of dx my levels were normal although almost borderline. I then changed my diet--gave up probably the worst offender--cheese--lost 40 lbs, gave up caffeine, sugar, most processed foods. The next time I had my cholesterol taken may have been when I was on Arimidex and for the first time it was above normal. It stayed above normal for about a year and a half--until I started a statin drug--which may also have an anti-tumor effect as well. My last lipid panel--last month--was normal. |
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