TSH LEVEL IN FIRST DIAGNOSIS.

[Jollypolly]

Can anyone tell me whether the TSH level in an undiagnosed person would in itself be indicative of thyroid disease ?

An eight year old friend has a a number of symptoms of hypothyroidism ...a recent blood test gave the following......

T4 - 18.1

TSH - 3.02

I know for me...many years hashimotos...a tsh level like that and I’d be feeling really quite ill...but then I’m on NDT...

But ...Does this result say much about HER thyroid status ..?

Grateful for any replies..THANKYOU.

[greygoose]

We'd need the ranges to be able to say anything definitive, but those results both look in-range, so a doctor would not diagnose primary hypo with those results. Even though the TSH is higher than 'normal'.

A TSH alone would diagnose primary hypo, but not Central hypo, where the TSH is low, but so are the FT4 and FT3. However, that FT4 looks highish, so I doubt it's central hypo.

If possible, it would be a good idea to get antibodies tested.

[Jollypolly in reply to greygoose]

Thanks for that...

[greygoose in reply to Jollypolly]

You're welcome.

[humanbean]

It's impossible to be sure without the reference ranges, and therefore I am only guessing...

With a TSH of 3.02 and a Free T4 which looks as if it is likely to be in the upper half of the range, it suggests to me that the child might have low Free T3.

If both Free T4 and Free T3 were in the upper half of the range then I would have expected the TSH to be a bit lower.

Low Free T3 will cause hypothyroidism symptoms in many people.

Adults can buy prescription-only medicines and hormones from abroad (online or in person) without a prescription, import them, and treat themselves without breaking the law in the UK.

However, any adult doing the same thing and then treating a child would find themselves on the wrong side of the law. It is illegal to treat children in the same way, and would be treated the same as an adult poisoning a child. Children can only be treated with hormones under the auspices of a doctor.

However, I think treating children with vitamin and mineral supplements is legal. But please note I am not medically trained or legally trained.

People with hypothyroidism tend to end up with low nutrient levels because of low stomach acid levels. Keeping tabs on the child's vitamin and mineral levels and keeping levels optimised might help to keep damage to a minimum if hypothyroidism goes untreated.

Another option is to do 6-monthly or annual blood tests to keep tabs on thyroid and nutrient levels by using private finger-prick testing and then wave the results under the nose of a doctor when levels start getting bad.

Some useful links :

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk/t...

medichecks.com/thyroid-func...

[Jollypolly in reply to humanbean]

Thanks for replying...unfortunately I think you’ve linked my two entirely separate posts and taken them to be about the same person...one is about my eighty year old friend ..the other about my 18 year old granddaughter ..!

But THANKYOU anyway....I appreciate.

[humanbean in reply to Jollypolly]

Ah! Your first post in this thread refers to your "eight year old friend", which is why I started talking about children.

[Jollypolly in reply to humanbean]

Ha! So it was my fault after all !!!

Sorry about that ... wretched typos !