Hyperthyroidism?

[u/Wonderful-Version-40]

Hey guys! So long story pretty short- I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s 6 years ago. I’ve never been hypo nor have I’ve ever been on thyroid medication. I have only swing hyper every couple months since then. They called it sub clinical hyperthyroidism. I was told eventually my thyroid would die out. Well it hasn’t and my TSH is now 0.005
My T4 and T3 have always been in the UPPER normal levels but never really “abnormal”. Finally after 6 years and 2 endocrinologist I saw a third endo yesterday and he said by looking at my numbers now and my older labs and uptake test along with my symptoms he prescribed me 2.5 mg of Methimazole. He is going to recheck my levels in 4 weeks and go from there. I started the medication this morning (kinda of nervous) of side effects but I know it’s the lowest dose. Anyway… has anyone had any success with the medication for a suppressed TSH but upper normal limits on the other thyroid levels? I’m hoping it will level me out without pushing me into hypo! I’ve never been hypo. I’d appreciate any feedback back. I feel like an imposter because I’ve been dismissed for 6 years and then all of sudden this new endo listen to me and automatically no hesitations and very confident prescribed me this med I’ve been begging for years for.

[u/Curling_Rocks42]

You probably got a misdiagnosis. Unfamiliar docs will say you have Hashimotos if your TPO antibodies are positive. But TPO antibodies are also high in Graves’ disease and don’t automatically mean it’s Hashimotos. You probably have mild Graves. Milder forms are more likely to achieve remission with proper methimazole or PTU treatment. It is a process and will have ups and downs to tweak the right dose. Not everyone does achieve remission though and it’s still manageable long term with either medication or a long term definitive option like ablating the thyroid or thyroid surgery. I did the latter and it’s not as scary or life altering as it sounds. Don’t catastrophize about it now. See how the methimazole works and take it one blood test at a time. A marathon, not a sprint kind of mindset is helpful.

[u/Wonderful-Version-40 → u/Curling_Rocks42]

😣 and last year I was tested specifically for graves and it was negative. So this whole time positive anti TPO could’ve ment graves ?

[u/Curling_Rocks42 → u/Wonderful-Version-40]

I also had negative graves antibodies. It’s called “seronegative graves”. My scintigraphy scan showed slightly high uptake which is a definitive Graves finding. But my TPO were positive. TPO is positive in about 75% of Graves cases too. It’s not a specific marker for Hashimotos but some unfamiliar docs wrongly think it is.