I made a fuss and had a blood test last week. I phoned the surgery and told them I would pick up the results as I had been given the "all fine" response. They were not fine.
TSH 0.04 (0.27-4.20)
T4 12.9 (11-25)
No T3 done. I hit the roof. The GP phoned me and said she had asked why no T3 and was told that the T3 test was not helpful as it was so volatile, it has such a short half life that the results did not mean anything. I pointed out that insulin has a half life of minutes but they still test diabetics! She was sympthetic, and wrote me a prescription for T4.
So "I am making a fuss" mode initiated. I wrote to various bods asking for the legislation that allows the blood labs to ignore some tests that the GP had ordered when the lab bods do not know your medical history or what drugs you are taking. I take T3 and this was put on the blood request.
I did get one reply from the head of the local health area saying they can refuse to do bloods if they have been tested before recently, or"may be rejected if deemed unsuitable."
Roofs were hit, toys out of pram, spat out dummy...
I have responded. It took a while as I had to edit out every other word, which was anglo saxon. I pointed out recent research has shown T3 to have a half life of around two and a half days, and for someone taking T3, the results are pretty stable.
I also added that the NICE Thyroid disease: assessment and management recommend “Measuring FT4 in the same sample if TSH is above the reference range and measuring FT4 and FT3 in the same sample if TSH is below the reference range.”
So the lab ignored the NICE recommendations.
It turned out I also spotted other things were way off (hopefully due to having had the vax recently) and a note had been put on to repeat the blood tests in two weeks. I phoned the surgery and booked another test. If the T3 is not done this time, heads will roll, brown stuff and rotary objects...
Meanwhile I have a prescription for 50 thingies T4 a day. I was on 125 before...sigh!
I am really a gentle sole, with lots of patience, and in the middle of lambing...just dont push me! Just thought the NICE stuff may be of interest.
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serenfach
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Well done you. I have a rush of Anglo Saxon when I am dealing with some medics too. It’s hard not to let it out at times. I am battling with similar issues ‘all fine is a common comment I get, when clearly I am not fine. Keep keeping on and one day they may listen.
I always write about 3 drafts, gradually reducing the expletives and calming down the language. The last one was written whilst in pain for a month so was way more forthright and the result was an instant referral. So I say go for it as we often censor ourselves too much. Well done serenfach , let them feel your wrath and frustration.
Oh Wow! Well done for standing up for yourself. It is terrible that they do not test T3 when requested. The results may need interpretation in view of medication dosage and time taken etc, but it is the GP and patient that can do that, not the lab. Incidentally, they do not measure insulin levels for diabetics, they measure HBA1C, which is a measure of long term sugar levels and also finger prick sugar levels if necessary, sometimes many times a day. Blood sugar levels generally change far more quickly than factors affected by thyroid hormones and the effects are generally much more dangerous more quickly so I would be careful about equating the two as the doctors will dismiss your very valid points.
I had a similar experience recently where the nurse decided to speak to a doctor and decided I didn't need a T3 test as not normal practice. They also didn't do a Covid anti-body test that I asked for and I checked the regulation and you could have it if you were having other blood tests. I wrote a letter of complaint to the surgery, GP asked Endo for advice. 3 letters of apology followed but the Endo (diabetic specialist) still saying that because I didn't have a Thyroid, it shouldn't be necessary. My reply was, so how do you know I am converting T4 successfully, well you were last time it was checked. I explained to her about reasons why this might not always be the case and that I was having palpitations and she changed the subject to the importance of Vit D. Is there a conspiracy, is this test expensive?
I cannot say for any individual lab, but a single vitamin D test was often more costly than a set of TSH, FT4 and FT3. You can see that reflected in advertised prices for private tests.
If you mean the FT3 test, it costs about 95p when carried out alongside TSH and FT4 so if your GP tells you that the test is expensive and that’s why they don’t do it you’ll know what to say to him/her
I just asked my GP (I saw him by chance) if we should retest my T4 and TSH after upping my Thyroxine dose by 12.5mg per day, which I consider to be a minute increase. Baring in mind I have no thyroid he said 6 weeks of the new dose it was too soon to retest. We in Northamptonshire now have to wait a week for a blood test appointment, so that will be 7-8 weeks since the change. They really are not interested...
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Elevated Thyroglobulin Antibody but dr says everything is fine
How do you get your GP to do basic tests?UPDATE***** it worked! 
Update on my earlier thread 'I felt fine til doctor reduced my thyroxine dosage'
