Basal temperature help please

[Corinne]

Hi can anyone recommend what type of thmometer to use, digital or mercury one does it make a difference or give a better reading?

Thanks

Corinne

[beaton]

Digital,don't think you can use mercury now.

[Issy]

For adrenal tests, then an old fashioned one.

[helvella Administrator]

Mercury thermometers are no longer available in normal retail outlets.

The dangers of mercury from broken thermometers is probably fairly low in an ordinary house, but thermometers do get broken - especially when shaken hard, the mercury does escape, it does go on to produces mercury vapour for along time.

I suggest you do some searching. Our digital ear thermometer appears very consistent and, so far as we know, is quite accurate. However I do know some people do not think they are good for basal temperature whereas others think they are good!

Rod

[Corinne in reply to helvella]

Thanks Rod,

Have had a look and Will try standard digital I think,thanks for your help

[Corinne]

Thanks for your help guys x

[RedApple Administrator]

This info might help:

The Basal Temperature Test

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

.

[Redditch]

you need one that takes your temp in F and with two decimal places

i.e 97.01 is low... but 97 could mean anything from 97.01 to 97.99 and if you had a temp of 97.99 it wouldn't be low..

If you're looking for what thryroid patients get.. My waking temp over a ten day period was.

97.45

97.2

97.12

96.8

96.5

97.02

96.8

97.2

97.2

96.8

I did the set the alarm for 3am test as well and got temps as low as 95.4

[Corinne in reply to Redditch]

Hi Redditch

I will get one reading F and do over week to begin with.

Thanks

[Hidden]

Can you still get thermometers in Farenheight? My digital is just in centigrade. What's interesting before treatment I was in the 35's now i'm in the 36's, it's taken nearly 2 years to get this far. Still feel very hypo.

You have a lot more self discipline than me Redditch! I took mine on waking and before getting out of bed. Although when I crash mid afternnon I think it may be lower as I am often shivering. I noticed yesteday my nail bed was purple!

[helvella Administrator in reply to Hidden]

Given that the USA still uses quarts, cups, ounces, and so on, yes, they still use Fahrenheit. So many products which are intended for international markets do indeed support Fahrenheit.

Mind, I see little argument in favour of using Fahrenheit. I really doubt whether a temperature can reliably be measured to the second decimal place in the real world. Certainly it can be indicated but whether the difference between, say, 97.01 and 97.02 means anything is debatable. The second decimal point could certainly be identifying a difference between "only the tiniest bit over 97.0" and "quite a bit over 97.0, indeed, almost 97.1". At that level the fact that 0.01 C is 0.018 F probably has no relevance.

Rod

[Hidden in reply to helvella]

Interesting Rod, thanks for your comments.

On another note i clearly can't spell correctly these days. I'm so embarrassed. :-0

[Zabby]

I've been told that the geratherm ones are very accurate. They use some sort of fancy modern alternative to mercury.

[sporty333 in reply to Zabby]

Indeed they do and I have one, bought one recently :0)

[Corinne in reply to Zabby]

Hi Zabby,

I have bought a Geratherm one, and am starting to record temp, hope will be accurate.

Corinne

[Zabby in reply to Corinne]

I've heard good things about them. Although one thing I don't like about my one is that it beeps before it's reached its final temperature, unlike my previous thermometer that only beeped when the temperature had stopped changing. So I just ignore that and leave it in for a while!

[Corinne]

lol x