15 year old daughter and TSH level

[Jmorgan48]

Hi, just trying to find out if I should take any further action after my daughters blood test results? She has a TSH of 3.3. ferritin 40. She did have other tests done but all were'normal'. Dr said anything under 5 is ok for TSH. She is complaining of being tired all the time, can't concentrate at school. I have hypothyroidism and suffer with low ferritin,B12 and Vit D levels.

IS 3.3 too high? Should she have further blood tests done? Don't really want to start her on thyroid medications as she is so young.

Thank you

[sunsetalley]

Check levels of free t3 and free t4 plus thyroid autoantibodies...

If her thyroid is underactive it's better for her to start treatment as soon as possible because thyroid hormones are necessary for growth and many other functions of body...

[Jmorgan48 in reply to sunsetalley]

does GP do this, or private?

[sunsetalley in reply to Jmorgan48]

As I'm not living in europe don't have any information about it unfortunately :\

[Greybeard in reply to Jmorgan48]

It depends on the lab. Some won't check ft4 if tsh is in range and most won't do ft3 unless you are prescribed t3. You can get them done privately, see thyroid uk main website for private lab details.

[shaws]

If your daughter lived abroad and TSH is above 3, she would be prescribed. In the UK doctors are told not to prescribe until the TSH is 10 (they don't take into account our clinical symptoms). Especially this from her GP "Dr said anything under 5 is ok for TSH". Link below. We have to educate ourselves if we want to relieve our symptoms.

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

When doctors talk about 'normal' they only mean in the normal range when we need 'optimal' i.e. towards the upper part of the range except TSH should be 1 or lower when on replacement hormones.

GP should also test B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate.

If doctor hasn't tested for thyroid antibodies, he should do. If she has antibodies, regardless of TSH he should prescribe but we have an article which states if antibodies present to prescribe.

When you state blood results it is always helpful to also state the ranges (figures in brackets) as labs differ and members can then respond.

[shaws]

All blood tests for thyroid hormones have to be at the earliest possible, and a gap of 24 hours between last dose of thyroid hormones and the test. Also don't eat before it but you can drink water. This helps the TSH to be at its highest as doctors adjust dose according to the TSH and we don't want a reduction if possible.