Higher Thyroid (TSH)

[vdarora]

Myself Vas Dev Arora, age 63; mail. Have been keeping good health but started losing some weight during the last 8-9 months. I have lost about 7 kg weight. On getting thyroid test conducted, TSH has been on higher side. My reports are as under:

T3 1.05

T4 6.20

TSH 10.43

My height is 5'6" and present weight is 73 kg. P\

Please guide about remedial measures.

Thanks and regards.

[Heloise]

Hi vdarora, Yes indeed, your TSH is far too high. This means your pituitary is calling your thyroid to produce more hormone and it is not obeying at the moment. There can be many reasons for that and primarily it may be under attack by white blood cells who mistakenly feel it is foreign. There are antibody tests that you should request immediately in my opinion. TPO is one

Disorders of the thyroid gland are frequently caused by autoimmune mechanisms with the production of autoantibodies. Anti-TPO antibodies activate complement and are thought to be significantly involved in thyroid dysfunction and the pathogenesis of hypothyroidism.

Also,

mayomedicallaboratories.com...

Remediation is to find out the cause of the autoimmune attack and/or to supply T4/T3 and bring your TSH down to a normal range of 1.0 or 2.0.

[Mary-intussuception]

Hi Vdarora.

Yes your TSH is high and your T3 and T4 low but it would be helpful to give the normal ranges in brackets.

Were you given any diagnosis or did you only receive test results?

Is there any reason for your weight loss?

Have you had any difficulty with eating that has caused you to eat less?

Any problem with lumpiness in throat? Swallowing problems? Tenderness?

Could you ask your Doctor to arrange for you to have an Ultrasound scan of your Thyroid gland?

You will also need Thyroid Antibodies blood tests.

If you then have diagnosis of Hypothyroidism your Doctor should treat you with low dose Levothyroxine to begin with and retest in 6 - 8 weeks and increase dose gradually.

In my experience people with Hypothyroidism have unexplained weight gain. My Hypothyroidism was caused by Hashimoto's Autoimmune Thyroiditis.

You say you have been in good health apart from weight loss. Have you experienced any symptoms at all?

Your weight loss averages out at less than 1kg per month. This would be ideal for someone on a healthy reducing diet. Have you been eating your normal full diet?

Hope you find this helpful. Have also sent you a pm.

X Mary

🐥

[Katepots]

Hi,

Unless you have Graves' disease so hyperthyroid I don't think the weight loss will be due to being hypothyroid as that usually causes weight gain.

Your TSH is high and T3 and T4 seem to be low but without ranges it is hard to judge properly. You must be feeling awful with a TSH of 10 though.

You need to talk to your dr about your results as you need treatment for thyroid but also investigation in to weight loss.

Also as suggested testing for thyroid antibodies. Hashimotos Thyroditis is Auto Immune and very common. Also vitamin d, Folate, Ferritin and B12 are important to test as all often low with thyroid problems.

If you post your blood results we can help you to read them as Drs tend to tell you things are normal when they are not!

[vdarora]

Thanks for your advice

[dang]

Hi Vas. Can you please tell us what diagnosis you have (this is a general forum and we don't all have the same cause of thyroid issue). Also are you on medication? If so how much and what type? This information is useful for us to be able to help you.

[jimh111]

Your TSH is a little high. You should see your GP regarding this and get them to do a general checkup regarding your weight loss which is unlikely to be related to your TSH.

[CSmithLadd]

Could be Hashi's.

"People with Hashimoto’s may experience BOTH hypothyroid and hyperthyroid symptoms because as the thyroid cells are destroyed, stored hormones are released into the circulation causing a toxic level of thyroid hormone in the body, also known as thyrotoxicosis or Hashitoxicosis."

(Source: thyroidpharmacist.com/articles/the-many-faces-of-hashimotos/)