French lab results

[Artemis04]

hi people, could anyone please confirm my thoughts on my TSH results - 32,833 mUI/L with a range quoted as 6.35-4.94. It seems obvious I'm in trouble but not sure exactly what this result is telling me as the French labs may have different measurements/values to the UK. Thanks in advance.

[greygoose]

A TSH is a TSH, anywhere in the world. Ranges may vary from lab to lab, but the fact remains that a euthyroid (normal) TSH is around 1. So, yours is very, very high.

Now, that could be because you're very hypo, or it could be a false result, some sort of interférence with the assay. It happens.

So, first of all, you need to know what your FT4 (T4 libre) and FT3 (T3 libre) were. That will tell you if your TSH is a reasonable reflection of your thyroid status, or if there is an error.

Either way, it would be advisable to redo the test in a different lab.

So, in your last post, you said you were being treated for hyperthyroidism. Is that the case? If so, that treatment could have gone too far and sent you the other way. What exactly are you taking at the moment?

And, what was your last TSH reading, and how long ago?

[tattybogle]

32,833 mUI/L with a range quoted as 6.35-4.94.

please double check that you have read/copied the decimal point's correctly .

as written there, the range cannot possibly be correct ... the bottom of the range is higher then the top.

If it said :

32.833 [0.635 - 4.94] would make sense .

The lab ranges for TSH are fairly standardised nowadays , and most are in the region of 0.4-4.5 ish

[tattybogle in reply to tattybogle]

also TSH tests can't measure as high as 32,833 (32 thousand, 8 hundred & 33) ... even if you could have a true result that high , (which is extremely unlikely) ,, it would be reported as eg > 150 .. or >300 (or whatever the maximum capability of the test platform used was ) which is why i think it actually says 32 . 833 (thirty two point 833)

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to tattybogle]

Tatty, in France they use a comma instead of a decimal point (do they do that in most of Europe?) so I believe the result is 32.833 rather than thirty two thousand eight hundred and thirty three.

[tattybogle in reply to SeasideSusie]

lol ..well they should stop it at once .. it's called a decimal point not a decimal comma

I did wonder about the comma being a 'point' , but an actual point was used in the ranges.. which are definitely incorrect .

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to tattybogle]

It is confusing (especially as you say there is a decimal point in the ranges), I've never understood the use of a comma instead of a full stop, looks wierd!

[tattybogle in reply to SeasideSusie]

So .. erm if 32,000 is 32.nothing ....how DO they write 32 thousand ??

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to tattybogle]

Oooh, I'm a need to know person so had to look it up 😂

In French, commas are used where decimal points are in English

Spaces are used to separate thousands instead of commas (sometimes but rarely you may see periods/full stops used)

F: 19,99

E: 19.99

F: 18 000,99

E: 18,000.99

You learn something new every day!

[Artemis04 in reply to SeasideSusie]

thanks for that! I thought that was the case

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to tattybogle]

I suspect the range was typed whereas the result might have been copied and pasted. Or something like that.

It should be called decimal separator, decimal mark, decimal marker, or decimal sign.

And if a comma is used, it is indeed called "decimal comma"!

And the character between thousands (or whatever) is called a "digit group separator".

It is widespread (though far from universal) practice to use a space as digit group separator - partly in order to avoid confusion due to varied use of full stop and comma.

(Adding this in an attempt to clarify things. What people have already said makes sense. But a bit of added context/information might just help someone else.)

[tattybogle in reply to helvella]

ah ... ok ... 32 000

Thanks

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to tattybogle]

Non!

C'est 32 and a bit. Or 32,833 in most of Europe and 32.833 in UK and USA.

But, had it been just over 32 thousand, yes, yes, yes, 32 833.

(Or am I misinterpreting your reply? )

[tattybogle in reply to helvella]

you misinterpreted moi reponse , i meant " i see, 32 000 is how they write 32 thousand "

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to tattybogle]

Thought that possible!

[Brightness14 in reply to tattybogle]

The French always use a coma, not a full stop for writing cheques or for any figures. The results has three decimal points that's all. The results is 32. which is high. The ranges are wrong though.

[Brightness14]

Your lab results don't make any sense. I have moved several times in France and the various lab results are usually all the same. TSH ( 0,27 - 4.20) T4 Libre ( 11.90 - 21.60) and FT3 ( 3.10 - 6.80 ) Please check again.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

TSH is one of the few tests which is pretty comparable around the world. Variations in ranges are nothing more than the usual variations across laboratories.

(As SeasideSusie says, it is the switch between comma and full stop that makes it look so odd. And the "6". I'd have expected to see 0,35-4,94 or similar.)

[tattybogle]

Hi Artemis04 , i just noticed your reply to another thread ... on it you say you "stopped thyroxine for a month" due to running out and as an experiment (and then restarted again) ...

a) do you mean you stopped Levothyroxine (T4)... or do you mean you stopped T3 (liothyronine) ..... It's not clear from your posts whether you take both T3 and Levothyroxine .. or just T3.. i note in previous posts you said you have to collect your T3 on prescription from UK.

b) was this recently ? .. if so it would probably account for your high TSH ...... had you been taking the same daily dose of thyroid hormone for at least 6 weeks before this blood test was done ? ... if not, then the high TSH result can be ignored as TSH tests are unreliable before 6 weeks .

However .. if you HAD been on stable dose for at least 6 weeks prior to this test, then the reason for a TSH that high does need investigating ..... it may be that you need a dose increase , or it may be a lab error/ interference ...... but it shouldn't be ignored .., even if you feel well .

How do you feel ?

Did you get results for fT4 / fT3 ... or just the TSH ?

A bit more information will help people give better answers to your post, eg.

How long ago were you taken off carbimazole / when did you have RAI/ what meds you take .. ie: T4/T3 /doses / any changes in dose.

[Artemis04 in reply to tattybogle]

Hi, thanks for your reply to my thread. Yes I have other comments running. I take T4 and T3 because T3 alone was not making me well but it took years to persuade my specialist to prescribe it,.

The addition of T4 made me feel more alert, my weight gain slowed down and I had more energy.

I recently ran out of T4 and just took T3 and felt absolutely fine, in fact better than when I took both. I had a blood test before I returned to taking T4.

It begs the question do I even need to take T3! After a month of taking just T3 - I travel a fair bit between France and the UK as I'm a House/Pet sitter, and sometimes my prescriptions are not done before I travel so I have to go without as they do not prescribe T3 in France. - I guess although I feel great, my Thyroid is not functioning well. I was wondering if there were any accurate studies of what the long term results of this would be - or is that as obvious as I think?

As an aside, I have found that having a gluten free diet (started 3 months ago after reading Dr O'Bryan's auto immune fix because the weight started to pile on again) has addressed my joint aches, weight gain and lethargy. so it's a chicken or egg scenario, did I get an auto immune disease because I was wheat intolerant, or the other way around! Thanks for reading.

[tattybogle in reply to Artemis04]

Hi ,Artemis04 .... So what were you taking for the 6 weeks before you got that TSH of 32 ?

dose of Levo ?

dose of T3 ?

it's not a good idea to chop and change as drastically as you have (stopping / starting T3 or T4).... you may feel good for several weeks but that doesn't mean it will last . your system/cells will be trying to compensate for weeks afterwards and have to totally change what it's doing every time you stop/start something .

"sometimes my prescriptions are not done before I travel so I have to go without as they do not prescribe T3 in France..... I recently ran out of T4 and just took T3 and felt absolutely fine, in fact better than when I took both.....It begs the question do I even need to take T3"..... did you mean to write T3 ,or T4 there ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I take T4 and T3 because T3 alone was not making me well but it took years to persuade my specialist to prescribe it,." ... is that a typo ? i'm assuming it should say 'T4 (Levo) alone was not making me well'

[Artemis04 in reply to tattybogle]

88mg of Levohyrox (seems a weird dosage but my former Dr here said according to previous blood test I didn't need 100)) with 20mcg Liothyronine. I am now taking 100 ug Levothyrox but no Liothyronine (T3) and will have a blood test again when I return to the UK. I pay for medical treatment in France but that does mean I can get same week appointments and immediate blood tests with results within days, in the UK there is at least a 2 week waiting list for appointments which doesn't always fit in with my assignments and travel.

[tattybogle in reply to Artemis04]

yes . tricky .. you will just need to bear in mind that thyroid blood tests . (particularly TSH) can give very misleading picture unless the same dose was taken for at least 6 weeks prior to the tests .