Take Amiodarone. Blood Test Showed Tsh Was 6.460. Should I Be Concerned?

Posted on Tue, 23 Jul 2013

Question: I take 200mg amiodarone 1xday last blood test tsh was 6.460 "marked high" should I be concerned?

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (2 hours later)

Amiodarone is known to cause thyroid problems. This issue can be fairly complex even for the expert endocrinologist because amiodarone cause can both an overactive and an underactive thyroid.
Your TSH of about 6 suggests 'hypothyroidism'

i recommend doing a full panel of blood tests related to the thyroid such

1 TSH
2 Free T4
3 Total T4
4 T3 uptake
5 Total T3
6 CBC
7 TPO antibodies
8 TG antibodies

If you have positive antibodies and/ or a goiter (thyroid swelling in the neck), then it is worth starting thyroid medication such as levothyroxine once daily orally, if the TSH upon repeat testing remains above 3.5

If you have negative antibodies then it is worth rechecking thyroid function in a couple months to see if it has normalized. However, in this situation, even if you start thyroid medication now, it would be worth considering a gradual withdrawal to see if your thyroid recovers fully

If for whatever reason the amiodarone is stopped by the prescribing doctor in the future, then a retesting of thyroid blood tests is indicated to assess the status of the thyroid at that point

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar