What do my levels mean?

[rachaeldp]

Hi,

I have recently had some bloods taken, and when the results came back my Serum free T4 level was <5.2pmol/L and Serum TSH level was >100mU/L. This means nothing to me but have been prescribed 50mcg of Levothyroxine. A friend of mine says I should be on higher, is this the case and what does my levels actually mean?

Many Thanks

[Clutter]

Rachaeldp, welcome to the forum.

Your very high TSH and low FT4 mean you are very hypothyroid. You will almost certainly need a higher dose of Levothyroxine but it needs to be raised gradually otherwise you can become very ill. You should have a follow up blood test in 6 weeks. Take your Levothyroxine after your blood draw or you can skew the results. Your TSH will probably have reduced substantially but is likely to be high. TSH just above or below 1.0 is usually comfortable for most patients with FT4 half way to three quarters of the way through range. Dose increases are usually in 25mcg increments.

Take your Levothyroxine with a glass of water on an empty stomach, one hour before, or two hours after food and drink. Take it 2 hours away from other medication and supplements and 4 hours away from vitamin D, iron, calcium and oestrogen.

Please be cautious driving. TSH >20 has been shown to impair driving reactions more than being over the drink drive limit.

If you post your new blood results please include the lab reference ranges (the figures in brackets after your results) as it helps members to interpret the results.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[rachaeldp in reply to Clutter]

Hi thanks for the reply the lab reference range is (9.0-19.1) for t4 and (0.35-4.94) for tsh.

[Clutter in reply to rachaeldp]

Rachael, as you can see your TSH is considerably elevated above the top of the range 4.94 and your FT4 considerably below the bottom 9.0. It will take time, and probably a couple of dose increases, to bring your TSH down to around 1.0 and raise your FT4 to 15 or 16 where you will be more comfortable.