Confused

[Looking35]

Hi, I just had some blood test results and was hoping someone could help me understand them.

It says free T4 15.6 pmol/l

TSH 0.22 uU/ml

Thank you for any help you can give

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Looking35

There is no information in your profile or in your post above.

Are you diagnosed with a thyroid condition and on any thyroid meds, if so what?

Can you please add the reference ranges that came with your results, ranges vary from lab to lab so we need ranges to interpret the results, eg

TSH: 2.5 (0.2-4.2)

Are TSH and FT4 the only tests carried out?

[Looking35 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi, sorry, I literally just joined this site.

I have not been diagnosed or on any medication. I am having trouble with fertility, there is talk that I am possibly menopausal and have a very low amh.

It says my results for TSH was 0.22 and the range was 0.35-4.50

Free T4 my results was 15.6 and the range was 11.0-26.0

I also had AMH, FSH, LH and Oestradiol tested.

Thank you for replying

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Looking35]

I wont be able to help you with the other tests, but with a normal healthy person with no thyroid problems one might expect to see TSH no higher than around 2, and FT4 around 50%+. Your FT4 is 31% through range and your TSH is below range which is unusual. With an underactive thyroid you'd expect to see TSH over range and FT4 low or below range. With an overactive thyroid you'd expect to see a below range TSH and high/over range FT4.

Personally, I would go for full thyroid testing to include

TSH

FT4

FT3

Thyroid antibodies

The antibodies will show whether or not there is any autoimmune thyroid disease present.

Your GP probably can't get FT3 done and may not get thyroid antibodies done, even if successful only Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) antibodies are done at primary level, and there is another important antibody which should be done if TPO antibodies are negative, and that test is Thyroglobulin (Tg) antibodies.

We do have recommended labs which do private home tests including full thyroid testing, some doctors accept the results, some don't. If you consider doing that, then I'd suggest you get the full thyroid panel plus important vitamins, all come in one test bundle. Please ask if you would like details.

[Looking35 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you for your reply, yes I would like more details thank you

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Looking35]

ThyroidUK have recommended labs detailed here:

thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/p...

Full thyroid/vitamin testing is the most useful and it's better value to do them all in one test bundle.

The two most popular tests are:

Medichecks Thyroid Check ULTRAVIT medichecks.com/thyroid-func... You can use code THYROIDUK for a 10% discount on any test not on special offer

or

Blue Horizon Thyroid Check PLUS ELEVEN bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk/t...

Both tests include the full thyroid and vitamin panel. They are basically the same test but with the following small differences:

For the fingerprick test, Blue Horizon requires 1 x microtainer of blood (0.8ml), Medichecks requires 2 x microtainers (total 1.6ml)

Blue Horizon includes Total T4 (can be useful but not essential). Medichecks doesn't include this test.

B12 - Blue Horizon does Serum B12. Medichecks does Active B12.

Serum B12 shows the total B12 in the blood. Active B12 shows what's available to be taken up by the cells. You can have a reasonable level of Serum B12 but a poor level of Active B12. (Personally, I would go for the Active B12 test.)

Check tomorrow as Medichecks have special offers on a Thursday which change weekly, occasionally the UltraVit test is on offer for £79. Blue Horizon offers are more random.

Some members manage the fingerprick tests quite easily, others struggle in which case they prefer paying extra for venous blood draw.

General advice when doing thyroid tests:

When doing thyroid tests, we advise:

* Book the first appointment of the morning, or with private tests at home no later than 9am. This is because TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day. If we are looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, or looking for an increase in dose or to avoid a reduction then we need TSH to be as high as possible.

* Fast overnight - have your evening meal/supper as normal the night before but delay breakfast on the day of the test and drink water only until after the blood draw. Eating may lower TSH, caffeine containing drinks affect TSH.

* If taking thyroid hormone replacement, last dose of Levo should be 24 hours before blood draw, if taking NDT or T3 then last dose should be 8-12 hours before blood draw. Adjust timing the day before if necessary. This avoids measuring hormone levels at their peak after ingestion of hormone replacement. Take your thyroid meds after the blood draw. Taking your dose too close to the blood draw will give false high results, leaving any longer gap will give false low results.

* If you take Biotin or a B Complex containing Biotin (B7), leave this off for 7 days before any blood test. This is because if Biotin is used in the testing procedure it will give false results (Medichecks definitely use Biotin, they have confirmed this and the amount of time to leave the supplement off).

These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with doctors or phlebotomists.

[Looking35 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Looking35]

You're welcome. Post results when you have them and we can comment further.