80-10 calling seaside susie

[80-10]

I would like to ask Seaside Susie what she thinks of the following thyroid results...

TSH 15.90 (normal range in this lab (Italian) 0.27-4.20

FT3 1.63 (normal range 2.00-4.40)

FT4 7.45 (normal range 9.00-17.00)

What would be your opinion on these results? Having read many of your answers to many questions, I do thoroughly rate your comments.

The person to whom these results belong is a 59 year old very good friend of mine, whose thyroid from a very young age never functioned, and she has been taking thyroxine all her life. She is very blasé about her thyroxine, takes it, forgets to take it etc etc. She showed me these results, (I have had a thyroidectomy, so am very conscientious about my thyroxine supplement), and was somewhat taken aback by these results and her nonchalance about them.

What would be your take on all this.

Thanks in advance.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

80-10

Those are clearly hypothyroid results with TSH over range and both FT4 and FT3 below range.

Has she said how she feels? I expect she's feeling rather unwell to say the least!

Considering she's been taking Levo all her life, I'm somewhat puzzled as to why she's not in a proper routine with her thyroid replacement hormone, after all it's been her lifeline since she was very young.

[80-10 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks Seaside for your swift reply. Don't know what we'd do without you!! You are very sage. Thank you.

[SilverAvocado]

80-10,

Hopefully it's pretty obvious, but these are atrocious results! Every value is out of range. High TSH, low freeT4 and freeT3. This indicates that the T4 and T3 thyroid hormone in her blood is very low, and the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone is her body crying out for more hormone to be made.

Probably only a person with no thyroid (or completely non-functioning thyroid) could have results this bad, and the tablets she's taking are not helping her out. (btw, a person with no thyroid and taking no tablets at all would be even worse than this, so they are doing a tiny bit, just not getting her to levels we'd expect to feel well).

I'd expect your friend to be very unwell with these results. I have no thyroid and have had similar results, at the time I could hardly walk and was in bed all day. But everyone is different and some people do cope better than others.

I would think she'd feel a lot better if she did take her tablets corrrectly and then looked at a dose increase, there's a lot of room for improvement if she wants it. I'd also be concerned this is probably causing vitamin deficiencies and putting her at risk for other illnesses. On the other hand, symptoms are more important than blood tests or anything else, so if she feels great then she might be doing fine!

[klr31]

She needs to take her thyroxine regularly and may need an increase by the look of her results

Karen

[BB001]

If your friend is not taking her thyroid meds as prescribed, the blood test results are meaningless. It's not possible to tell whether the results are low because she's forgotten doses, or because she's taking too little thyroxine, or because she is a poor converter etc.