Hello all, am new here. Have had 2 Thyroid tests in last 4 months (privately through Monitor my Health; finger prick test) and both came back raised (4.48 & 5.63 3 months apart). Contacted my GP who agreed NHS blood test which has come back 3.89. He said this was within range (although acknowledged anything about 2.5 can be of note). I have an appt with GP on Monday and wonder if it worth asking for blood test to be redone as my TSH seems consistently raised (although varying a lot!) Just wondered if there is a best time to have blood taken as have heard levels vary throughout day. Also, fasting or non fasting; any different? All my other levels are normal and worried he’s going to just say it’s my age (as a lot of my symptoms are similar to menopause).
Thank you in advance!
😁
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Macp17
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* 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.
In fact, 9am is the perfect time, see first graph here, it shows TSH is highest around midnight - 4am (when we can't get a blood draw), then lowers, next high is at 9am then lowers before it starts it's climb again about 9pm:
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.
* Nothing to eat or drink except water before the test - 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. Certain foods 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 can give false results (most labs use biotin).
These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with doctors or phlebotomists.
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Does TSH blood test have to be a 'fasting' blood test please? 
TSH and test time
Best time for blood tests?
Time of TSH blood tests
