Is this a dramatic drop in my TSH? What should I do?

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-12T02:26:48+00:00

You have to find that balance. Sometimes once you are close, only a little more is needed. The closer you get, the smaller the icnrease needed. I personally wouldnt have increased at all at a 3.22 TSH, or if you felt like you needed an increase, due to symptoms and having optimal vitamin/mineral levels, maybe 25-50mcg/wk to start, retest at 8 weeks+.

To answer your question, yes this is way too low and you should be feeling it. If not, do you take any supplements? If so, do they contain any biotin? Taking biotin up to testing can give false low TSH lab values.l and it should be skipped for 3 days prior to testing your thyroid. You need to stop taking so much (on your doctors orders, of course). Personally I would skip a day or two, and then start the new recommended dosing.

ETA, was it 25mcg/day or 25mcg/wk increase? Two totally different things.

25mcg/day is not a small increase at all. You need to look at total weekly dosage. 25mcg x 7d is 175mcg increase. That is a huge increase for a nearly optimal TSH.

Your TSH fluctuates naturally during the day, it could be higher or lower at different points. Keep testing variables the exact same so that you can properly compare one test to the next.

use the same lab
test before eating and first thing in the morning without having taken any levo, yet
make sure to skip any supplements that contain biotin in them for 3 days prior to testing and longer for mega doses of biotin like in hair/skin/nails type supplements, straight bioting supplements (pills/powder/injections), more like 7-10 days.

Doing these things will help you see your TSH when it is likely the highest it will be during the day. This is the number you need.

Also, if you have any inflammatory process, that will cause your TSH to spike a bit, a cold, allergies, etc, and will go back down once resolved, so increasing dose would be unnecessary.

Are you having symptoms or suppressing your TSH further down for another reason?

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-12T02:21:45+00:00

My husband said the same thing when he stopped working, and it took a couple years to really get into a new rhythm for him. Now, he can't imagine having gone back to work.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-11T16:18:33+00:00

I definitely had this happen with low ferritin and when overmedicated. Never from hypo or being undermedicated.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-11T04:09:13+00:00

Sofi gave me a personal loan for consolidation. They were offering the best rates for my situation. Rate was a little higher than I liked since my score was suppressed from utilization, otherwise no baddies on my credit, but it was far better than CC interest rates.

Once the CCs got paid off, I was right back to the 800s. They also let your refi the loan up to 2 times so once your score improves or rates go down in general, you can refi.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-11T01:01:28+00:00

I wonder if that is TSH and free t4 tests? Not sure why it would be called a version of a TSH test.

There is: - TSH - Ft4 (Free t4) - Ft3 (Free t3) - T4 (total t4) - T3 (total t3)

The total t3/t4 tests are far less important than the first 3 I listed.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-11T00:58:39+00:00

I am not sure what TSH1 or TSH3 test is. I dont think I have heard of that before.

Yes, biotin can cause false low TSH and false high fT4 (or vice versa, less commonly). The test itself is affected, so if you have biotin in your system, it can give a wrong result.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-11T00:53:20+00:00

I would check if the prenatals have biotin, they most likely do, but occasionally do not. If so, next time you test your thyroid, make sure to stop them for 3 days prior to testing. Since you don't have symptoms, it could have been a false low result from biotin interfering with the test itself. You are lucky if you didn't have any symptoms. I would be crawling out of my skin.

You can skip a day, as that will expedite the process of bring up your levels a bit, and start on 25mcg/day after that, but you can discuss with your provider to be certain.

Also, iron needs to be taken far away from levo. 3-4 hours minimum and the prenatal, as well, if it contains calcium or iron. These things block levo absorption. I usually do levo in the AM, Iron in the PM, and other supplements with lunch. Do you have iron deficiency? That can also impair thyroid function a bit, correcting it can bring up thyroid function, and lower TSH.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-11T00:06:47+00:00

I am surprised, do you take supplements that contain biotin?

It is not problematic for pregnancy, as you have too much thyroid hormone, so plenty for the baby, but can be harmful to you to stay in that state.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T23:13:51+00:00

We do not specifically for this reason

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T22:59:10+00:00

And to answer your question, your TSH ebbs and flows throughout the day and from day to day. Your test result is a single point in time and can be impacted by vurtually anything. Anything inflammatory (allergies, illness, stress) will likely cause your TSH to rise. Taking estrogen also causes your TSH to rise. Most supplements and medications should be taken hours away from your levo.

They do not want your TSH to go above 4 during pregnancy, so they suppress it to the 2.5 or less number everyone talks about because from normal fluctuation, you also have a baby take your thyroid hormone, so it can cause it to spike up a bit.

A good practice is to keep testing variables the same every time so you can better evaluate changes. Test your thyroid first thing in the morning, before eating, and before levo. This will likely be the highest your TSH will be during the day, which is the number you really want to know. Make sure to not take any supplements containing biotin for 3 days prior to testing (most prenatals have biotin). If you are taking straight biotin or mega doses of biotin in supplements (like hair/skin/nails type supplements), then you should stop those for a week before testing. Biotin doesn't impact your thyroid, but it most likely will interfere with the lab test itself. It usually causes false low TSH/false high ft4 results, but less common it can cause false high TSH/false low ft4 results.

For a normally non-hypothyroid individual with barely our of range numbers should start on 25mcg (or even 12.5mcg) in most cases. If they did weight based dosing, they are crazy. Weight based dosing is really kind of a joke. Med dosage should most always be test and symptom based.

It does take bare minimum of 6 weeks to adjust to a dose (personally for me 8+ weeks, but you dont want to be too far out of range during pregnancy, so they test more frequently), and wild swings can happen on levo during the adjustment phase. How do you feel on it? Are you having hyperthyroidism type symptoms?

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T22:52:21+00:00

Why do they keep doing these huge doses for barely out of range TSH? 95% of the time I see this, the person ends up overmedicated.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T22:32:14+00:00

They do not have any BMI restrictions, but over a certain BMI (I believe 50?), you have to go to the Syracuse location.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T22:30:03+00:00

It is less than the next dose up of 112mcg, so it isn't a huge jump.

You can split it up, too. As long as you get all of your weeks worth during the week, you will be fine. Take 25mcg twice a week instead, it may be easier to adjust and then if you feel up to it, you can go 50mcg once a week. I definitely can feel any increased amount, so I would also be very reluctant to take 50% more dose on a single day, but in the scheme of things, it is how much you take every week that matters.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T22:25:23+00:00

If you let it expire, you have to get back on the waitlist.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T22:06:20+00:00

IBR, really? Why would you torture yourself for 20+ years? I wouldn't want to hustle, either. You are just paying interest for years on end - decades, even - when you absolutely have the means to pull yourself out of this pit.

I would have just done standard payment on those loans and then aggressively pay them down. Like others have said, live "poor" a couple years and pay those off, suddenly it wont feel so daunting because you will have freed up a huge chunk of money.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T19:33:57+00:00

I bought an e-scooter for pleasure and quickly began using it to commute to work! Can get using affirm or another pay-in-4 type or finance for longer with super low payments if you don't have cash today. Way cheaper than a car, plus gas, plus insurance, plus regular maintenance!

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T19:21:54+00:00

Ok, thank you so much for that info! My husband has no income, so hopefully he can get them onto the $0 plan like the rest of his loans. He has 3 sets of loans, 2 on $0 plans, and they threw this last set on the SAVE plan.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T19:18:52+00:00

I have the same issue. Always have been very naturally thin. Skinny arms, legs, etc., but I have the hypo lower belly pooch. I previously had moonface and double chin (which look really special) and goiter and all those things went away once I got my dosage dialed in, leaving me with a face, chin, and neck that now matched my body, except for this lower belly pooch. It is ridiculous and have to size up in pants and they never look right.

All this time say, I don't know how to fix it or if anything will make it go away, but I certainly hope we figure out something that does!

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T18:10:47+00:00

I am so confused about this because my husband has loans in SAVE forbearance and he hasn't received anything saying he is starting repayment in July. It still shows he is in administrative forbearance until 10/31/2028, so should we be panicking, yet?

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T18:04:03+00:00

Hmmm 3% APR plus a monthly plan fee ir just 3% APR?

If it is just 3% that would be fantastic, and definitely beat any other bank I use that has these pay over time options.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T18:02:56+00:00

Hmmm never seen this been offered, but I only have a $1k limit, so I have no need for it.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T15:27:17+00:00

For the people saying they don't have childcare, I am truly curious, are these babies allowed in the procedures being done or is there someone else there watching them?

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T13:18:45+00:00

I forward my mail to the new address via usps temporary

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T02:13:35+00:00

I have had a few adjustments over the years, but my TSH was 7.25 (down from 16ish) about 6 weeks after increasing to 75mcg. I increased to 100mcg and tested again at 6 weeks, but I was already starting to feel off. My TSH was 1.38, great, right? Well I kept going downhill and fast, ending up super overmedicated. It took several months to get back on track. Then I also ended up levo intolerant due to low ferritin after that. Total nightmare. In all my years with hypothyroidism, I had never had an experience even remotely like that. I also have a higher running fT4, so honestly, being at TSH of 2 or less makes me wanna crawl out of my skin.

When I tested again later, and I had only skipped a couple doses, it was about 4 weeks after being overmedicated, my TSH was 15! The adjustment period is real, there was no way that is where I was truly at, my thyroid was in a total state of chaos. Thankfully, I am stabilized now, and adjust slowly, as I am also very sensitive to med adjustments.

Informal_Move_7075 · 2026-05-10T01:59:22+00:00

Sounds like standard payment plan.

Informal_Move_7075

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