hello everyone
I have had under active thyroid for many years maybe nearly 30 years or longer. I took Levothyroxin and didn’t think anymore about it. That was until my surgery was cancelled, Need another blood test. Can anyone tell me what TSH level should be for a female age 59 years before surgery.
many thanks
Your TSH would likely need to be at least within the normal range which is probably under 4.
Your GP should be testing your thyroid at least annually.
When hypo we get low stomach acid that means we cannot absorb vitamins well from our food. For thyroid hormone to work well we need OPTIMAL levels of vitamins. Have you recently or could you ask your GP to test levels of ferritin, folate, B12 & D3?
How do you feel?
I don't know but wonder if it is hospital specific. My TSH has been suppressed for donkey's years, usually 0.005 or <0.01 and I had surgery last week and nothing was mentioned (blood test taken about 3 hours before surgery). My FT4 and FT3 are always in range so I have no idea if that was taken into account.
A typical range might be TSH (0.35 - 4.94).
When on replacement most feel well when it’s around 1, & FT4 & FT3 are in upper part of range.Do you know what your FT4 & FT3 levels are.
Do you have 2 posts (under 2 usernames)?
hello
I actually feel fine I think. Have other issues with PA and use a wheelchair. Having my other knee replaced may help but may not.
Are you saying your operation was cancelled because they didn’t like the look of your thyroid blood tests? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
They can do that. Few years back on my pre op assessment bloods my TSH was high (my TSH did this on Levo only) and it got flagged up with GP. Luckily there was plenty of time to get it sorted before the op.
Yes, I know they can. That’s why I was asking because it wasn’t clear to me from the original post.
Must be incredibly frustrating when you’ve got yourself all psyched up for surgery. 
hi Jazzw, it is possible I have got it wrong but don’t think so. My result TSH level is 7.7 which is the only result I have. My GP said to leave thyroid medication at 100mg but pre op said to reduce thyroid medication, so I am confused.
Hi Sunny999. That’s a bit high for a TSH result. Who was it who said to reduce your dosage? If anything, you probably need an increase in dosage.
I think you need to make some more enquiries to find out for definite your numbers and what the advice of your doctors really is. Ask for a print out of the results, I assume this was at a hospital which can be harder to find results but phone the consultants secretary who should be able to help you.
When you have the results come back, make a new post and post the results along with the ranges - numbers in brackets after test result number.
My result TSH level is 7.7 which is the only result I have. My GP said to leave thyroid medication at 100mg but pre op said to reduce thyroid medication, so I am confused.
That level of TSH is too high for someone on Levothyroxine, reducing your dose will send your TSH higher and make you more hypothyroid. You need an increase in your dose to bring your TSH down. Most hypo patients on Levo only feel best when TSH is 1 or below with FT4 and FT3 in the upper part of their ranges.
many thanks, it sounds like I need to increase Levothyroxin but GP will not, have a little extra I can take.
See different GP and request full thyroid and vitamin testing
Book test for early morning around 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
if TSH is over 2 you need 25mcg dose increase in levothyroxine
Bloods should be retested again in another 6-8 weeks after any dose change or brand change in levothyroxine
The aim of levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly up until and Ft4 and Ft3 at least over 50-60% through range
Approximately how much do you weigh in kilo
pathlabs.rlbuht.nhs.uk/tft_...
Guiding Treatment with Thyroxine:
In the majority of patients 50-100 μg thyroxine can be used as the starting dose. Alterations in dose are achieved by using 25-50 μg increments and adequacy of the new dose can be confirmed by repeat measurement of TSH after 2-3 months.
The majority of patients will be clinically euthyroid with a ‘normal’ TSH and having thyroxine replacement in the range 75-150 μg/day (1.6ug/Kg on average).
The recommended approach is to titrate thyroxine therapy against the TSH concentration whilst assessing clinical well-being. The target is a serum TSH within the reference range.
……The primary target of thyroxine replacement therapy is to make the patient feel well and to achieve a serum TSH that is within the reference range. The corresponding FT4 will be within or slightly above its reference range.
The minimum period to achieve stable concentrations after a change in dose of thyroxine is two months and thyroid function tests should not normally be requested before this period has elapsed.
Suggest you get hold of printed copy of results and ranges
See EXACTLY what has been tested
On levothyroxine TSH should always be below 2
Most people when adequately treated will have TSH around or under 1
Request GP / hospital also test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
With such high TSH you are likely to have low vitamin levels
When hypothyroid low stomach acid results in poor nutrient absorption and low vitamin levels as direct result
Are you taking any other supplements apart from B12 injections or any other medications
For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested
Also both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once
Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum
About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease, usually diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies
Autoimmune thyroid disease with goitre is Hashimoto’s
Autoimmune thyroid disease without goitre is Ord’s thyroiditis.
Both are autoimmune and generally called Hashimoto’s.
Low vitamin levels are extremely common when hypothyroid, especially with autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s or Ord’s thyroiditis)
20% of autoimmune thyroid patients never have high thyroid antibodies and ultrasound scan of thyroid can get diagnosis
In U.K. medics hardly ever refer to autoimmune thyroid disease as Hashimoto’s (or Ord’s thyroiditis)
If you have PA which is autoimmune, then your hypothyroidism is virtually guaranteed to be autoimmune too
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
many thank for information. I take vitamin d and b12 orally as my GP surgery has stopped the injections to save money but apparently levels are still high.
if you have Pernicious Anaemia, rather than low B12 as result of being hypothyroid/on levothyroxine you should still have B12 injections
Always get copies of all test results and ranges
My result TSH level is 7.7 which is the only result I have. My GP said to leave thyroid medication at 100mg but pre op said to reduce thyroid medication,
Are you absolutely sure it was TSH that was 7.7 …..not Ft3 that was 7.7
If it’s was Ft3 that was 7.7 you might need dose reduction
Before increasing dose levothyroxine get hold of actual blood test results and vitamin results too
many sources I’ve come to trust suggest a tsh of 0.5 - 1.5 shows someone thriving, if medicated then it may be suppressed. But tsh is a poor metric of thyroid function in any case x
hi, Sunny. I don’t know the answer to this, but like you, I’ve been on synthroid for over 30 years. It is interesting to me that when I had knee surgery and when my gastric guy did a colonoscopy and punctured me, that afterwards they both asked if I was on blood thinners, which I’m not. No one has ever said this was possible but perhaps this is the reason. It would be helpful to know as I may be having the other knee done. I have an appointment coming up and I’ll be sure to ask him! Best regards to you.
thank you for your reply. You poor thing, hope you recovered well. Did you have a knee replacement? I had my other knee done twice and had not had an issue with having an under active thyroid. Hopefully will soon be able to have my 3rd knee replacement when my blood is ok. I have not required blood thinners. Hope your appointment goes well and you get some answers. Be interesting to know what they say.
Not a poor thing for this alone. If I told you all I’ve been through over the last 10 years, then you could say that again! I keep on plodding along. Life is strange, but I’ll take it for as long as possible! 😊
Under active thyroid
Under active thyroid
Under active thyroid
