My lab results have come back mid range tsh, below range free t4 and above range free t3. I have dr telephone consult what will he say

[Ladytara17]

Past results (since June 2013) free t4 has been gradually getting lower until below range,

[Hennerton]

What medication are you on and could you please post thyroid blood results with reference ranges, so that people can comment?

[Ladytara17]

I'm on no medication,

Tsh 2.62 mIU/L no range but should be less than 3

Free t4 12.1 pmol dr said abnormal should be over 12.5

Free triiodothyronine (ft3) 4.5 pmol no range

[galathea in reply to Ladytara17]

Do you have antibodies? Have you had any nasty illnesses.... Shingles, glandular fever?

[silverfox7 in reply to galathea]

Your question interested me as I have suffered from shingles so wondered what the link is or could be?

[galathea in reply to silverfox7]

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

Shingles seem to be worse when thyroid levels are low.....

[Hidden in reply to Ladytara17]

unfort depending where you live i:e UK or US it differs here in the uk the ranges are between 4.0-5.5 wheres US is 3.00 and under also here in the uk they dont really treat unless its over 10.00 wheres US again treat if 3.00 unless u have a good gp most of us here in the uk struggle to get diagnosed and treated just keep pushing and go armed with lots info on how US is so far ahead of us, im sure someone else with comment to help you, im still waiting for my results think i have hypo problems, best of luck

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Hidden]

I suggest that you are not seeing the actual ranges used by actual laboratories in the USA.

The other day I posted some links - and one of them contained a list of TSH ranges from real, live USA labs:

Reference

range

0.1 - 5.5

0.1 - 5.5

0.4 - 3.7

0.3 - 4.8

0.2 - 5.5

0.1 - 5.5

0.4 - 6.0

0.3 - 4.0

The PDF is linked here:

aacc.org/members/loc_sectio...

And the above appears on page 30.

As you can see, the very lowest top of range is 3.7.

This claim of 3.00 being the top of the reference range has been repeated all over the place. But, so far as I can tell, it is not backed up by what I have seen. PR4NOW posted about this the other day - seems it was a recommendation but was never implemented.

Further, the very papers which made the recommendation of tightening the ranges did not adequately take into account the differences between the various analyser machine/kit manufacturers and labs. All too many papers seem to assume standardised reference ranges (at least across the country the paper comes from) but this is simply sloppy science/medicine.

Rod

[Heloise in reply to helvella]

Rod, I was surprised when my P.A. wanted my TSH to be lower than 2 even though the lab range is currently .3 to 3.8. This is the range submitted by LabCorp, one of the largest labs in the U.S.

[Donnaf in reply to helvella]

Rod, It is my understanding that the "reference range" refers to the lab test they are doing. The lab test ("assay") is able to provide TSH values of between 0.1 - 5.5 (for example). This is not considered the normal range, but merely the range of TSH values that can be read by the particular assay they are using. (I used to be a Lab Tech)

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Donnaf]

The implication of that is that no-one can have a TSH test with a result higher than 6.0 (based on the ranges I quoted). As so many people seem not to get treated until their TSH reaches 10, I guess not many will ever get treated!

Also, I have seen many results up over 100.

Similarly at the bottom end - we do see people posting results more like 0.01.

Could you, perhaps, be thinking of another term? Something like the "valid range" - I can't think what that term might be.

Rod