Advice Please

[confusedkm]

Hi,

I am new to this group and this is my first post.

So.... I have had some bloods taken and have been told that I am slightly anaemic and that my thyroid is low.

I asked the doctor to explain this a little better and he said that the levels should be between 4-10 and mine is 6.5.

I don't know if this will make sense to anyone as I am still trying to make sense of it. I have a family history of it so I can't say that I am overly surprised.

Is 6.5 good? & is it a case of going down or increasing before they put me on medication. They have said that it is an underachieve thyriod but I am confused on the scale of 4-10 & where should I be in order for things to get better or worse?

Thank you for your help.

[greygoose]

Without knowing what they tested, it's rather difficult to say. That range doesn't seem to correspond to anything.

There are three possible tests they could do to evaluate your thyroid status: TSH, FT4, FT3.

A TSH range is usually something like 0.2-4.5.

For FT4 it can vary a lot - ranges vary from lab to lab - but very often it's something like 12-22.

Same for FT3, it can vary enormously, but very often something like 3.1-6.8.

However, for a first test they are highly unlikely to test FT3 - it's actually difficult to get that tested.

They might test FT4, but if the range were 4-10, 6.5 would be quite good. Not in the least under-active.

So, that leaves TSH, which is what is usually tested. But, a TSH range that started at 4 would be rediculous!

So, I would suggest that you need to ring your doctor's receptionist and ask for more detail: the name of the test, the exact result, and the exact range.

In normal times, we would always advise getting a print-out of your results - if you live in the UK, the law says you are entitled to one. And, it's a good thing to keep your own records.

So, what is your doctor going to do about this under-active thyroid? Is he going to put you on thyroid hormone replacement? Or retest in six weeks?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to greygoose]

Do you think it could be referring to the so-called subclinical TSH "we'll do nothing about it" band?

That is, from top of TSH reference interval to 10.0.

Hopefully the original posted will come back with an answer from their surgery.

[greygoose in reply to helvella]

I did wonder that. But, if so, it was rather strange that the doctor said "should be between 4-10 and yours is 6.5". Because 6.5 is between 4 and 10! lol Well, it was last time I looked. Why do these doctors have to be so enigmatic! (I think I know the answer to that…)

[Angel_of_the_North]

The only range that is anything like 4-10 is white blood cell count which is nothing to do with thyroid or anaemia. I think you need to find out exactly what was tested and get all the results in writing with ranges. You are entitled to your results by law in the UK.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.

The best way to get access to current and historic blood test results is to register for online access to your medical record and blood test results

UK GP practices are supposed to offer everyone online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, if it is you may need "enhanced access" to see blood results.

In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet

Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up.

Important to see exactly what has been tested and equally important what hasn’t been tested yet

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

If TPO or TG thyroid antibodies are high this is usually due to Hashimoto’s (commonly known in UK as autoimmune thyroid disease).

About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto’s. Low vitamin levels are particularly common with Hashimoto’s. Gluten intolerance is often a hidden issue to.

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Link about Hashimoto’s

thyroiduk.org/hypothyroid-b...

List of hypothyroid symptoms

thyroiduk.org/signs-symptom...

[confusedkm]

just noticed that I made a mistake in my original post *under active thyroid’ 🤦🏽‍♀️ apologies!

but thank you to everyone who has taken the time to reply and give great advice! I have requested a copy of my blood test results so hopefully things will be a little more clear and I’m sure I’ll keep you updated as I will need additional advice 😅 it just seemed like they didn’t really know what they were talking about which just confused me even more as I don’t know what levels are good and what are bad etc! but thank you again everyone for your help ❤️

[greygoose in reply to confusedkm]

I'm very much afraid you're right. They don't know what they're talking about. They just don't have the education in thyroid to know what they're talking about. And, you're not supposed to know what is good and what is bad, that is their job, and they should be explaining it to you in words that are easy to understand for a layman. But, of course, you can't explain what you don't know.

This is going to be a steep learning-curve for you, I'm afraid. But, you have to learn out of self-preservation. You'll soon find that you know much more about the thyroid than your doctors do.

Don't worry about the typo. I'm sure we all understood that bit.

[confusedkm]

I totally agree! I have received a copy of my blood results so I’m going to try and post them as they don’t make any sense to me at all so hopefully someone will be able to help! thank you again x