tsh 0?

[Victoria27]

Hi wondering if anyone can decifer my results until my gp gets back to me in a few days. I’ve been off levothyroxine for 10 years now (I was on it previously for 5 years as my tsh was 6.8 but stopped as my levels returned to normal). I only had it tested as I’m trying to get pregnant and wondered if they were normal as hadn’t been tested in years.

I’ve attached my results. I’m not on any medication and can’t seem to find an explanation online as to why my tsh would be 0 but t3 and t4 normal.

If anyone has any experience or if this is just a common thing that can happen.

Thanks

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

The whole idea of taking Levo is that your levels return to normal, thats what its suppsoed to do and not a reason for stopping it.

Have you ever had thyroid antibodies tested - TPO & Tg? NHS only tests TPO but privately you can also test Tg. This would show if yur thyroid issues are autoimmune.

Are you doing a fasting type diet or low carb diet? That can affect TSH levels.

Low vitamin levels are very common with thyroid issues as we get low stomach acid and cannot absorb vitamins well from our food. Low vitamin levels can sometimes affect TSH.

Have you recently or could you ask your GP to test levels of ferritin, folate, B12 & D3? Private tests are available, see link for companies offering private blood tests & discount codes, some offer a blood draw service at an extra cost.thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...

There is also a new company offering walk in& mail order blood tests in London, Kent, Sussex & Surrey areas. Check to see if there is a blood test company near you. onedaytests.com/products/ul...

Only do private tests on a Monday or Tuesday to avoid postal delays.

Did you do the test as per the protocol recommended here? Recommended blood test protocol: Test at 9am (or as close as possible), fasting, no biotin containing supplements for 3-7 days (Biotin can interfere with thyroid blood results as it is used in the testing process)?

Testing like this gives consistency in your results and will show stable blood levels of hormone and highest TSH which varies throughout the day.

[Victoria27 in reply to Jaydee1507]

Hi the dr I’d seen thought it wasn’t wise I was on the levothyroxine at a young age and I had no antibodies just a slightly out of range so she stopped it and retested my levels 3 months and 6 months later and they were around the 2.0 mark so I never resumed taking them and never really questioned it at the time.

Yes I did the test on Tuesday and had my blood drawn before 8am (rather than the option for a finger prick). I’m not on any particular diet either. The recommendations from the private company said to have them retested in 3 months so I’m guessing it’s just best to do that. I just thought it was odd that it would come back at pretty much 0 when I was half expecting it to be at least over 4.

Thanks for your response I appreciate it

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to Victoria27]

I'd recommend getting your antibodies tested privately. Don't use Monitor My Health as that is an NHS lab and only tests one type. Suggest Blue Horizon, Medichecks or any of the others on the list above. Also get vitamins tested at the same time.

It may be that you have Hashimoto's the autoimmune form of Hypo. A small percentage of people never show antibodies in a test. Also it could be that you only have Tg (thyroglobulin) antibodies positive which wont show on an NHS test.

If you have Hashi's then you may have been swinging to hyper for a while and it can take some time for your TSH to recover and for some people it never does. This is a problem where GPs only go by TSH believing it to be the ultimate guide to thyroid health and it just doesnt work like that!

People are treated for hypo at all ages, just its not so common at younger years. Your doctor had no idea what they were doing. This is not uncommon and why groups like this are so busy with people just wanting to feel well.

Your FT4 is on the low side so your TSH is really not reflecting that which is odd. It suggests Hashimoto's to me which can swing your levels either way at random points for quite some years.

[Victoria27 in reply to Jaydee1507]

Thank you so much I didn’t really know how to read the t3 and t4 other than they were normal. I will do that and see what comes back for the antibodies. Thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Victoria27]

Make sure you test vitamin D, folate, B12 and ferritin levels too

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Free T4 (fT4) 14.5 pmol/L (12 - 22) 25.0%

Free T3 (fT3) 4.7 pmol/L (3.1 - 6.8) 43.2%

Your Ft4 is actually on low side …..suggesting thyroid is struggling

[Victoria27]

oh I see. The gp wasn’t interested when I’d asked if I could have my thyroid checked after I have symptoms of hypothyroidism but they weren’t interested. I could pay to get these done privately again or see if I send them the results what I’ve had here if they’ll then do anything or quite possibly fob me off again.

[Incoguto]

Are you taking any antidepressants or steroids? They tend to lower tsh. Otherwise your pituitary gland could be struggling. And yes, you can be completely hypo, tsh is not the only and the best marker.

[Victoria27 in reply to Incoguto]

I was on prednisolone 20mg for a month that finished 3 weeks ago. I’ve read about steroids increasing tsh so didn’t think it would be related. No other medication. I’ll see what/if my gp says in a few days. Thanks

[Incoguto in reply to Victoria27]

Prednisolone decreases TSH according to studies, here is one of them: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/114... No worries 😀

[Victoria27 in reply to Incoguto]

thanks for finding this. I’ll wait and see when I get them retested by gp in several weeks

[Incoguto in reply to Victoria27]

It's no problem at all! It is a good idea to wait a few more weeks.

[Victoria27 in reply to Incoguto]

The dr had said I should get my bloods done a week before my period is due. I didn’t know there was a connection, unless they’re testing something else too

[Incoguto in reply to Victoria27]

If they are testing female hormones or aldosterone, then it would be luteal phase testing. Luteal phase testing is useful for progesterone specifically, while estrogen should be tested 3-5th day of the cycle. For thyroid- it shouldn't matter

[Victoria27 in reply to Incoguto]

Thanks, yes there’s progesterone testing on there too so that makes sense

[marinria]

Hi, I've had that happen to me, so in my experience one can have a low-ish FT4 like yours and a low TSH, I think it may be because TSH is produced by the pituitary gland which does not only respond to thyroid hormone levels, but also needs thyroid hormones to function. When thyroid hormones are low the pituitary may not have enough energy to work properly and produce TSH. Only a hypothesis.

[Victoria27 in reply to marinria]

Did yours correct itself? My gp have just said it’s Subclinical as t3 and t4 were normal and they’d want them to be repeated in 6 weeks.

[marinria in reply to Victoria27]

Yes. My blood test resulrs used to change a lot begore I started taking medicaments.

[Suzi_]

your tsh is the only one out of range. I understood that u had to be on thyroid meds rest of your life. I live in USA, they may think differently in UK. Your gp will most likely put u back on levothyroxine. If i had a choice, I prefer synthroid not generic! Good luck!

[Star13]

if you want to test both thyroid antibodies as well as TSH, FT4 and FT3 Randox Health do it for £29

randoxhealth.com/en-GB/at-h...