Bloods Nurse coming 9.30-10.30am tomorrow- should I be fighting for an earlier appointment if only interested in T4 and T3 rather than TSH?

[Kipsy]

I always get my NHS bloods done before 9am, after fasting and no levo that morning.

Have shelled out for a nurse to come tomorrow as doing the Medichecks Ultra Vit test and find it hard to fill two vials of blood. I’m slightly furious that I was persuaded to accept a 9.30am appointment (the company that supply the nurse said they’d checked with Medichecks and that I didn’t need a particularly early appointment as long as it was sometime in the morning.) Their email, which somehow I missed, states she will arrive between 9.30 and 10.30.

I’m not bothered about the TSH result being low as it will be suppressed anyway. I’m very bothered about getting a true picture of whether I convert T4 to T3 well enough though. I’ve been working towards this test for months, tweaking vitamins and diet etc, as I need to decide whether it’s crunch time re trying the addition of T3. I can’t afford to do the whole test again with the nurse part too.

Will a 9.30-10.30am appointment give me an accurate picture re T4 and T3? I’m delaying taking this morning’s levo of 125mcg until 9.30am.

Many thanks

Kipsy

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Well I often get my blood around 9.30am at local private hospital. I get there when they open at 9am, but it's often 20min wait.

[Kipsy in reply to SlowDragon]

Oh thank you- that's just the sort of reassurance I was hoping for. Medichecks charge another £39 to change the appointment and I'm feeling particularly broke at the moment. Thank you x

[Kipsy in reply to Kipsy]

SlowDragon The nurse turned up today...24 hours early! I’ve asked her to return tomorrow or there would have been 28 hours since I’d last taken levo and I’m determined to get it absolutely right! I think your private hospital would have been the better (and cheaper!) option!

[RedApple in reply to Kipsy]

Kipsy, That's just plain wrong! I hope you're not being charged for the second visit?

[Kipsy in reply to RedApple]

RedApple - no, absolutely not! I was very firm. She was literally about to open the Medichecks packaging when I realised it wouldn’t be a good plan though! I think she thought I was slightly crazy banging on about circadian rhythms etc. Looking forward to a rematch tomorrow and, even more so, to the results.

[Marz in reply to Kipsy]

Hope all goes well 😊

[Kipsy in reply to Marz]

Thanks very much Marz . No doubt I will be in here again later in the week asking for all you lovely people’s advice. Hope you’re doing ok. X

[greygoose]

They don't seem to understand that to be able to compare results, they have to be done at more or less the same time of day. It's not just about getting the highest TSH. T3 also changes throughout the day. Not as much as the TSH, but enough to warrant sticking to the same time. But, probably wouldn't change enough to make much difference when checking for conversion. But, it is annoying that they don't understand this.

[rosserk in reply to greygoose]

Can I ask when is TSH highest in the morning or afternoon?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to rosserk]

Can I ask when is TSH highest in the mood ruing or afternoon?

About midnight - 4am actually, but we can't get blood drawn then

Next best time is approx 9am

See Helvella's very useful post containing graphs of daily rhythms of thyroid hormones, top one is TSH

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[rosserk in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh dear don’t you just hate auto correct! Thank you 😜

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to rosserk]

Yeah, made me laugh though

[Kipsy in reply to SeasideSusie]

SeasideSusie - fantastic info. Thank you very much.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Kipsy]

Kipsy

It's one of Helvella's little gems, just passing it on

[Kipsy in reply to SeasideSusie]

Just reading it in detail now...kids fed, husband still at work, dog quiet and glass of wine in hand. I might now be able to take it in! Thanks again. X

[Marz in reply to Kipsy]

Red or white ? 😊

[TaraJR]

This may be a silly question but... if TSH, and testing is based on circadian rhythm so best done in the early morning ... does it matter if eg my cortisol is very high at night and low in the morning (instead of the other way round) ?

[greygoose in reply to TaraJR]

I don't think cortisol has any effect on the TSH, it has its own circadian rythme, independently.