Range for tsh that you wonderful people think is optimum range

[poppppy]

Hi if a person is not hashimoto's or auto immune thyroiditis or ords . And so they have a tsh in optimal range when bloods taken to check they are not any of these things. Then what is the range the tsh should be in .

And I dont mean the NHS range . I mean the range experts in the field suggest should be the range supported by each countries health care establishment.

I ask because my sister bloods tsh came back as 3.0 . Could she have a low t4 or t3 with a tsh of 3.

Is it worth pursuing it .

Thankyou

Popppy

[helvella]

My first TSH test came back just over 2. It was done, at my request, because I was exhibiting symptoms which I thought could be due to inadequate thyroid hormone.

TSH rose at each subsequent test - but I didn't have an FT4 or FT3 test until it reached about 5. At that point, FT4 was just in range but almost on the line.

TSH without FT4 (and FT3, for that matter) leads us, and doctors, to speculate about thyroid hormone levels when they could so easily have been measured.

[poppppy in reply to helvella]

Thankyou for your reply . Food for thought and helpful thankyou . I wonder if t4 testing at the tsh below 5 stage say has been found to be useless as t4 is usually still in range at this stage so no need to know for medical profession as no tablets needed .

Where as those of us who would like to know so we could try other models of treatment like dietary models , functional medicine, leaky gut etc to bring our antibodies down and try to prevent the need for tablets in the long run .

[Mary-intussuception]

I don't understand why they are adamant to only test TSH. (Money??). Not much help without testing Free T3, FreeT4 & TotalT4 also.

What Antibodies were tested?

[poppppy in reply to Mary-intussuception]

Thank you . No antibodies . No t4 etc . I thought money or is it that t4 is usually in range if tsh say 3 or above even though antibodies could already have half destroyed thyroid .

As in no tablets would be given anyway . And medical model is just to give tablets when t4 or t3 insufficient . And not to try and treat the cause of why antibodies attacking thyroid .

As in say suggest going gluten or dairy free etc . Or treating a leaky gut etc

Thank you for your reply xx

[Mary-intussuception in reply to poppppy]

No Antibodies tested ??

Then how do you know the person does not have Hashimoto's Autoimmune Thyroiditis?

Has there been any Ultrasound scan of the Thyroid?

If someone has symptoms of an Underactive Thyroid - then it's worth pursuing.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

She needs vitamin D, folate, ferritin and vitamin B12 tested too, as well as FT4 and FT3

[poppppy in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you I will check if she had those . Thank you again

[diogenes Remembering]

One of the better ways to estimate this is not to consider the whole range as one, but divide it into little segments and calculate the likelihood of being euthyroid in each segment. For example, we can look at the shape of the TSH range first. It is very skewed with a long flat tail of few subjects leading from about 2.5 up to 4, and a very steep left hand side with subjects leading from 0.5-1. About 80% of people have TSH betwen 0.5 and 2. So someone with a TSH of 3 will be in a small set of probably about 3%. This means you have a 3% likelihood of being truly euthyroid. In other words its a suspicious value which doesn't necessarily mean you are ill, but gives a significant possibility that you are. Action should depend on the perceived health of the subject.

[AnneEvo in reply to diogenes]

If someone's TSH is within 'normal' range in most doctor's eyes, is a low basal temperature a very good indication of a thyroid problem? I'm not asking for myself.

[diogenes Remembering in reply to AnneEvo]

Useful but not infallible. Shouldn't be used as a diagnostic if that is the only symptom.

[poppppy in reply to diogenes]

I like it . Thank you very helpful . Is there a paper I can download on this or the graph . We could take it to doc and push for t4 t3 and antibodies .

Thankyou so so much for this . So kind of you

Poppppy

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to poppppy]

Median TSH graph showing distribution of TSH in healthy population

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Is there strong family link to autoimmune disease?

If so this is good reason to test thyroid antibodies

Low vitamins can cause symptoms in their own right, or be due to thyroid

Private tests are available.

Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

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

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

[poppppy in reply to SlowDragon]

Wow that is brilliant information . Thank you so much

Poppppy