blood tests

[lollipop3]

serum tsh level 15.71 (0.35-5.50) it was 14.41 mu/L on the 13/042015

serum free t4 level 7.8 pmol/L (7.0 - 17.0) it was 11.4pmol/L (7.0 - 17) 13/04/2015

serum free t3 level 4.8 pmol/L (3.5 ---6.5 )

can anybody please explain what these mean , I got them to day well my t3 was done 5/5/2015 but others today thanks .

[Clutter]

Lollipop, Your TSH is too high. Overt hypothyroidism is diagnosed when TSH is >10. Your FT4 is low and your FT3 is only good because your high TSH is flogging your thyroid and stimulating the little T4 you have to convert FT3. When FT4 drops your FT3 will also fall. Ideally TSH will be around 1-2 with FT4 half way to 3/4 through range and FT3 half to top third of range.

I posted that your doctor can prescribe lactose-free Levothyroxine on your previous post. It may be slightly more expensive than generic Levothyroxine but will be significantly cheaper than liquid thyroxine which is also lactose-free.

[Hidden]

You're going the wrong way (TSH-wise)! Your doctor needs to do something about this, stat. Do I intuit that you can't tolerate standard Levo (from Clutter's reply)? If doc is laggardly here is a good plan of attack posted by 'Jodypody' some hours ago:

"A) Ask admin on here for a copy of the high Wycombe study (this proves that normal TSH is <1.5)

B) Keep calm and to the point. List your symptoms in a matter of fact way using Clutters check list.

C) Do not get emotional. It comes across as feeble and you'll get fobbed off (trust me I'm about as emotional as it gets but you have to think of this as a business transaction) straight talk is more effective especially if it's a male.

D) Check family history, anybody else with issues? It makes a stronger case.

E) Finally, don't leave until that office until they agree to a trial of Levothyroxine or at least a check of your T3 and a referral to Endo. Offer to pay (it costs them an extra £20) if all this fails! "

In your case I suspect E is 'don't leave until they've prescribed a Levothyroxine that you can take without an allergic reaction'.

I will add an (F) : take someone with you if you possibly can. It sometimes leads docs to be less dissmissive.

[lollipop3 in reply to Hidden]

hi there , thank you for your reply , I have had a serum free t3 level done 5/5/2015 it was 4.8 pmol/L (3.5 - 6.5)

satisfactory - no action needed

im due to have a op in 4 weeks and worried I will be ill if still not on anything

and my healing will take longer I have a app for Monday at my doctors so hopefully I can get something sorted then

[Hidden in reply to lollipop3]

I think your concerns are bang on.

Is your op thyroid-related? I think they usually like patients off thyroid meds before they operate on a thyroid. Or that might just be radioactive iodine treatment (not an op as such).

Your T3 is pretty low, actually. 'Satisfactory' covers a multitude of ignorance, as does 'normal' and 'within range'. It wants to be up near 6 on this lab's scale to be in a good place.

Good luck on Monday

[lollipop3 in reply to Hidden]

its laser on my voice box , which I am hoping is sucessful as I may need a tracheostomy which will be just below my thyroid , I have a small like lump in that area but the surgeon says he will try to avoid that but that is just below my thyroid , hence my concern as well as not being on anything .I am awaiting for a ultra scan on my thyroid , but that is the same wait like the endo .

[Hidden in reply to lollipop3]

your vocal chords/voice box and thyroid are so close together that it would seem sensible to treat both together, rather than sequentially, in different Departments. When I first developed a goitre I was sent to Ear Nose and Throat - indeed, I don't think I ever saw a 'proper' Endocrinologist (don't think I missed much there, by all accounts ) so it is certainly possible to have thyroid-related matters seen to in that Department, at least in some parts of the country. I'd ask that the two specialists concerned at least talk to each other - and you - about this before your surgery.

[lollipop3 in reply to Hidden]

im only under my gp at the moment I mentioned it to my surgeon but he did not seem that bothered he says oh I will avoid that im going back to him on the 14th july to have chat and for him to tell me when im to go in , so hopefully I would have had the ulta scan by then then he can look at the results of that ...thanks for your reply