No, I made sure to take my temp when I first got out of bed before I had any coffee or water. I had another doctor appointment today, and my temp was 98.1°F. I went through the online patient records and see that in Feb 2022 it was logged at 98.2°F, so it's not all that far off. I'm going to keep that doctor appointment and have my thyroid checked. Maybe I'll get my iodine checked, too.
Maybe. But that's gonna be hard to figure out. I have a catheter, and bacteria always colonizes around them, rendering urinanalysis nearly valueless when diagnosing infection. Add to that the fact that I inject antibiotics every 3 days. We'll have to see.
Women in particular, are happiest when their TSH is around 1.0. Men do seem to mind higher TSH levels, but maybe they are less likely to complain about their health, weight gain, etc. Don't know.... If you can find a provider to prescribe a thyroid supplement, you might be happier @Krystal Shay. You probably know that the TSH level is the inverse of thyroid function, so the higher the TSH, the lower the thyroid function. So-called "normal ranges" do not make you healthy or happy necessarily. One week is not long enough for thyroid function to stabilize, so you may not have realized the effects of supplementation in only a week. Generally, 2 weeks or more are required to feel the effect. I have discussed thyroid function in other threads, so I won't bother here, but if you can't or don't want to take pharmaceutical supplements, Azure Standard markets a desiccated thyroid product that is similar to Armour Thyroid but without prescription. When they measured your TSH, they might have also measured your T4 or Free T4, but they don't always do that for screening. It should always be done IMO when on supplements.
My TSH has been off for many years. It gets tested every year when I have routine blood work done. I have been to probably 4-5 doctors over the years and no doctor has ever been concerned about my TSH even though I know I have some symptoms. The one time that I took the thyroid pills, it was a nightmare for me. (I was prescribed 50mcg of levothyroxine). I had constant pounding/racing heart, extreme shakiness and anxiety, nausea, no appetite. Also, I couldn’t think. I felt drugged. My mind was so slow and I had insomnia terribly bad. When I would finally drift off to sleep for a few minutes, I would be awoken with night terrors. I went to an endocrinologist afterwards to make sure I was ok from taking the meds. That doctor said she never gives anyone thyroid pills until the TSH reaches a 10 because once you are on the pills, you are on them for life. Plus, older folks are more sensitive to meds. I didn’t know what to believe or do after that. Sorry. I didn't mean to high jack this thread with thyroid talk.
You have not hijacked anything. You are participating. I threw the subject of thyroid out there. Man, I hate to see you in this spot. And I appreciate your story, so that I can be prepared for my exam and yet another potential battle with healthcare providers. I don't understand the issue with not getting you treatment because it will make you well forever. My mother and 2 older sisters had their thyroids irradiated and they took synthroid starting at relative young ages...in their 40s or 50s. If you need it, you need it. I won't derail my own thread regarding my dead bladder issues I discussed elsewhere, but I am with my 3rd urology practice and my 7th urologist. I was literally screaming at urologist #6 because he refused to do anything for me, and he acted as though he's been yelled at before. The current guy is a good doctor. It's very tiring, especially when you're not feeling well (and thyroid issues mean you ain't got much energy in the first place.) I'm wondering if some of my current issues aren't from all that stress that's finally hit me now that I'm in a steady state and not in the heat of the battle with "doctors." Perhaps it's thyroid, and perhaps it's patient burnout. Maybe you'll feel like regrouping and trying again. Thyroid issues--especially as common as they are in women--should be a matter of routine to address. bastards
@Krystal Shay I should have mentioned in my previous reply... Here are a couple of threads where folks share their thyroid journeys. Perhaps you'll get some inspiration there. Depression, Serotonin And Thyroid Support My Thyroid Seems To Be Missing
Since low thyroid function is a common (well, not common in the sense that it happens every other week) cause of low body temperatures, it is on-topic here when it relates to low body temperature.
I wonder what is wrong there. 50 mcg of Synthroid shouldn't give you night terrors. New to me. You are not necessarily on thyroid support for life unless you are, like @Ken Anderson without a thyroid. I myself was once on 200 mcg of Synthroid for another reason, and I had typical hyperthyroid symptoms of jitters, nervousness and weight loss, but I moved from my original location and could find no one who understood my condition and simply tapered back to nothing. I have just watched women, especially as they age, lose thyroid function and a bit of support restores their "love of life". If they go off the support, they don't die or even get sick. I suppose if you were on it for years and years, it might take your thyroid a while to regain the function you had. I don't suppose you watched your body temp when you were on the thyroxine to see if it rose.
Oh my gosh, Don, it sure did give me night terrors. About the third night of not sleeping, I finally dozed off and I woke up in a fright, sweating, shaking, heart pounding. I thought what new fresh hell is this now? My poor husband didn’t know what to think was wrong with me. I didn’t know either. It was the only medicine I was on at the time, and I still don’t take any other prescription meds. No, I didn't check my body temp at the time. I didn't think to do that. I am getting my T3 anT4 tested next month. He didn’t think I needed it but agreed to it. It is a nightmare in its’ self to find a good doctor anymore.
As I mentioned to @John Brunner it is often good to get thyroid antibodies tested at least once as they can sometimes give clues to other things going on. T3 will give and idea if you are deiodinating, i.e., turning T4 into effective T3.
I'm having some in home therapists in the last month or so and my temp is taken a lot, at least 2 times week, and it's been 97+ all this time. I am taking lower dose desiccated medicine as price has gone so high. I believe I felt best at the 2 grains I took for some yrs....want to get back to that dose. I would not trust Synthroid and HOPE I never have to go to that med. I run colder all the time. We've had a colder summer to date, no heat spells. And being 20 lbs lighter for the last few years has got to be a factor.
My wife’s body temperature has always been lower than normal. None of her docs have ever expressed any concern over it, probably just individual variation from the norm. That 98.6 as an average is just that.
I should have titled this thread "Below My Normal Temp..." When I was going to church and they were taking everybody's temp as we entered, I looked at the sheet and noticed that almost everyone's temp was low. I know that the infra-red thermometers have a margin of error of ±0.5°F, but there were none on the high side. The woman taking temps that day is a nurse, and she told me that low is "the new normal." I researched it, and the theory is that our average metabolic rates are declining. I would assume this is due to our sedentary [office work] lifestyles.
Perhaps. I know that is the current theory, I am not sure I buy it unless you can show me that very active people have higher body temps than sedentary ones. I don't know that it applies to all cultures and diets either. It probably hasn't been documented well in non-white, non-European cultures. I think something may be changing in humans, or it could just be that thermometers are reading differently or are calibrated differently. I have mentioned before that the mechanical BP cuffs tend to read higher in some or many people, perhaps leading to the uptick in "High Blood Pressure" cases. I think part of that is due to the manner in which things are measured vs. historical methods.
I saw my doctor yesterday, and he did a whole bunch of labs (focusing on thyroid, cortisol, folate and B12), all of which came back normal...except my forever "pre-diabetic" A1C. I had positional chest tightness in the middle of last month so he put in a referral for a stress test.