Tf3 is not important according to my dr

[Assiya]

I asked the doctor this morning to test antibodies, she agreed, vit d after begging, because 4 mo ths ago was 60 between ranges 50 too 100 but she said tf3 is not needed at all , never cos its same as ft 4 (they split or something she said) and ft 4 not needed cos was normal. Vit d 60 4 months ago.

[Treepie]

Unfortunately most doctors are ignorant about thyroid measures ,yours seems exceptionally ignorant. FT 4 converts to FT 3 which is the active hormone every cell needs .But some folk are poor converters.

Normal means within the range but where you are within range matters.

Get a print out of your results for which you are legally entitled and post them with the ranges for advice.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

So she's rather ignorant about thyroid matters then, most doctors are because they're taught very little about it in med school. T4 is a storage hormone and it converts to T3 which is the active hormone that every cell in our body needs. Low T3 = symptoms. But how you get this through to doctors with such a blinkered view I have no idea other than point them in the direction of research articles which I doubt they'd thank you for!

[Angel_of_the_North]

Sounds as though doctor doesn't know what she is talking about. T4 is the storage hormone which has to be converted into T3 in order to be used by the body - T3 is needed by every cell (esp brain and heart). It is not possible to tell the level of FT4 from TSH or the level of FT3 from FT4 or TSH - they are not the same and they do not split. Modern research has shown that each person has their own correct level of thyroid hormones which covers a much smaller range than the so-called "normal" range and outside that, the person will not be healthy

[Assiya in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Ill educate her next time and show her this)!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Assiya]

Never mention an online support group to a medic ....their eyes glaze over

This film might be worth showing her just how complex thyroid is and how intertwined with vitamin levels

drbradshook.com/understandi...

Links to official research

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/286...

Vitamin D deficiency is frequent in Hashimoto's thyroiditis and treatment of patients with this condition with Vitamin D may slow down the course of development of hypothyroidism and also decrease cardiovascular risks in these patients. Vitamin D measurement and replacement may be critical in these patients.

endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/...

Evidence of a link between increased level of antithyroid antibodies in hypothyroid patients with HT and 25OHD3 deficiency may suggest that this group is particularly prone to the vitamin D deficiency and can benefit from its alignment.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/186...

There is a high (approx 40%) prevalence of B12 deficiency in hypothyroid patients. Traditional symptoms are not a good guide to determining presence of B12 deficiency. Screening for vitamin B12 levels should be undertaken in all hypothyroid patients, irrespective of their thyroid antibody status. Replacement of B12 leads to improvement in symptoms, although a placebo effect cannot be excluded, as a number of patients without B12 deficiency also appeared to respond to B12, administration.

Low ferritin frequent in hypothyroidism

endocrineweb.com/profession...

[Assiya in reply to SlowDragon]

What about oestrogen as cause of thyroidproblem? Dr Berg talk s about it. And many more woman than man have thyroid issues so it s plausible oestrogen is involved?

According to the doctor I have sublingual (sorry I write it wrong) but no result yet from antibodies.

Thanks you for al the info and links.

[Cooper27]

Sometimes I wonder exactly what I'd say/do if a doctor came out with a line like this. Ask them to elaborate, or tell them they need to learn more...

[AmandaK]

The problem is that GPs and endos religiously adhere to the NICE guidelines. I've been told that FT3 is unreliable so isn't useful in thyroid testing and that if it is used it's only relevant in relation to hyperthyroidism.

I have consistently low FT3 levels (within range) but this is ignored. At a recent endo visit I presented all the private testing results showing this but the endo wasn't interested and neither did she order FT3 tests as part of the TFT testing package.

Yet she acknowledged the following paper: Higher Prevalence of "Low T3 Syndrome" in Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case-Control Study (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/296... in her letter referring me to a rheumatologist, having decided I don't have an endocrine basis to my health problems of the past 40 years.

It's all very unsatisfactory and I don't know how the situation will change (though there are seeds of a change in thinking, for example at a recent conference endos who at one time wouldn't even consider they might just have got it wrong were discussing the potential for T3 administration).

The medics want peer-reviewed articles so mustering those as evidence just might help but it's going to be a very very slow process turning around such a massive juggernaut of traditional thinking.