Help with Thyroid

[mygeegee]

What does it mean when my T4 is 1.1 and my TSH is 3.9??

[greygoose]

It depends on several things. I think people will need more information before they can suggest anything. For example, do you have a diagnosis of hypo or hyper? What are you taking, and how much? Can you give us the ranges? The results on their own, mean nothing, I'm afraid.

[mygeegee in reply to greygoose]

I have been diagnosed with hypo..My family doctor had me on 0.25 mcg of Levothyroxine. When I recently had blood work done, T4 was 1.1, (range 0.9 - 1.7) and TSH was 3.9, (range 0.45 - 3.7) so he just increased it to .075. After on it for only 2 weeks, I called him to let him know I wanted to be referred to a fibromyalgia doctor or arthritis doctor but he said all my labs were good. I had arthritis and he wanted to now increase the Levothyroxine it to 100mg...

Unfortunately, I do not understand anything about the Thyroid......???

[greygoose in reply to mygeegee]

OK, well, first of all, you're not on .075 mcg, that would be an incredibly small dose. You're on 75 mcg and your doctor wants to put you up to 100 mcg. It's important to get the decimal places right.

So, thyroid hormone is needed by every single cell in the body. And if there's not enough to go around, it can cause all sorts of nasty symptoms, all over the body. And, what doctors diagnose as Fibro, etc. is usually just under-treated - or undiagnosed - hypo. So, your doctor was right not to refer you to a fibro clinic, that's not a good place to be! And a diagnosis of fibro will haunt you all your life. So, putting your dose up to 100 mcg is the best thing to do.

A TSH of 3.9 means you're under-medicated. People on thyroid hormone replacement (levo, etc.) usually need a TSH of 1 or under. And an FT4 of 1.1, in that range, is too low. Most people need it up the top of the range.

So, take the 100 mcg, and retest in six weeks, to see where you are - and also, how you feel!

[mygeegee in reply to greygoose]

Thanks so much!!

[greygoose in reply to mygeegee]

You're welcome.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask them. That's what we're here for.