Rating of an 8

[Jessielouise22]

so I went to doctors to get a blood test to see what cause my intense shakes and light headedness.. Went and saw the result and the doctor said it could be cause of my thyroid the rating was high up to an 8 saying that is not normal because 1-4 is normal... Could my thyroid be the reason for all the problems.

[HLAB35]

Hello, I'm really sorry to hear about your problems. I've looked at your previous posts too. The thyroid rating that they were referring to is your TSH - Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. This is just a message to your thyroid to release more thyroid hormone as your pituitary gland believes you are deficient. It's normally symptomatic of having low (not high) thyroid hormone levels, but that's not an absolute given, especially if you've been on certain medications like anti-depressants that confuse these messages. Thyroid issues are complex but there's going to be a lot of support here.

It's really important now that you get a referral to see an endocrinologist who will find out what kind of problem you have and you can post your blood test results on here. When you go for blood tests do try and do them very early in the day having not had any breakfast beforehand. I would recommend asking to have a full thyroid panel including t3 and antibodies along with folate, ferritin, b12 and vitamin d levels.

[twinks in reply to HLAB35]

Still don't understand tsh, you said it's a message so if tsh number is high "9" is it asking to release more or less from pituitary

[HLAB35 in reply to twinks]

Hi, it's a bit ambiguous what those doctors said and I attempted to correct myself below as I was unsure if they were referring to tsh or t3!

If it is tsh that is high (which I'm unsure of now) the pituitary gland is asking your thyroid gland to release more thyroid hormone. The pituitary is doing that either because a) thyroid hormone levels are indeed low and you're hypothyroid or b) it's trying to correct a perceived hormone imbalance, but may be doing so mistakenly.

I'd follow the advice from fibrolinda to look at the symptoms of hyperthyroid and hypothyroid so you have a better idea.

[HLAB35]

Sorry, I realise, it's early, they could have been referring to your t3 levels (unfortunately there is no laboratory standard for ranges on t3). It must be investigated properly by an endocrinologist. Anti-depressants make it difficult to interpret thyroid blood tests, so it's essential that you have antibody tests done too which will determine if you have an autoimmune thyroid illness which is relatively common.

The two that are most well known are Hashimotos thyroiditis which will result in low thyroid hormone, but confusingly can cause sporadic flare ups with palpitations, and raised t3 as the gland is attacked by your immune system which will release an excess of hormone; Graves' disease (which I know less about) is associated with tremors, increased appetite and weight loss and has associated eye problems.

Treatment must match the cause, so the testing done must be pretty thorough.

[fibrolinda]

A quick look at your other posts and yes thyroid could be cause of all your problems. I'll give you a link to our parent website thyroid UK, have a read if symptoms of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism and see how many boxes you tick. Without knowing whether the reading of 8 is TSH or t4 or t3 its impossible to give advise. What is your doctor planning on doing?

Gad it would help if I gave the link eh

thyroiduk.org/tuk/about_the...

[SlowDragon Administrator]

If this result was TSH of 8 that shows you are hypothyroid

Median TSH graph

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

See flow chart top of page 2

If TSH is over 5 and you have symptoms a trial of levothyroxine can be prescribed

gp-update.co.uk/Latest-Upda...