Are these results ok

[Cribbo]

Hi could anyone tell me if these readings are normal thank you.Tsh 0.02

T4 22.1

T3 5.5

[greygoose]

Can't tell you anything much without the ranges - which vary from lab to lab. But it looks like your FT4 might be too high, and you're a poor converter. Can you add the ranges, please?

[Cribbo in reply to greygoose]

TSH 0.38 to 5.33T4. 11.5 to 22.7

T3. 3.5 to 6.5

[greygoose in reply to Cribbo]

FT4: 22.1 pmol/l (Range 11.5 - 22.7) 94.64%

FT3: 5.5 pmol/l (Range 3.5 - 6.5) 66.67%

OK, so first of all, there's no such thing as 'normal' where thyroid blood test results are concerned. There's only what is right for you as an individual. When a doctor says 'normal', all he means is that the results fall somewhere within the range that he considers 'normal'. But that is not the same thing as optimal for you. You don't need to do seven years in med school to be able to see that!

But he doesn't understand what the ranges mean, and how they are derived. Your FT4 is too high. Several things happen when an FT4 gets that high. First of all, the T4 starts being converted to more rT3 than T3, so your FT3 level can drop. Not only that, but what is converted to T3 becomes less active. So you feel worse. Thirdly, such a high FT4 long-term puts you at greater risk of developing heart problems and cancer. So, I suppose we could say that no, that FT4, whilst still in the so-called 'normal' range, is not 'normal' at all.

Your FT3 looks good, but how much T3 people need is a very individual thing. Plus, as I said, your FT4 being so high, it is likely to be less active. So, one has to ask: how do you feel with these levels? Do you feel optimal? Do you still have hypo symptoms? If so, then reducing your levo a little might help.

Ignore the TSH. Only doctors worry about that.

[Cribbo in reply to greygoose]

Thank you so much for your reply, I understand more now from you, than years at the Doctors,. To be honest Ive never felt to good, they keep upping my dose, dropping it etc, I was diagnosed with a underactive thyroid the doctors now telling me it's overactive, and I have significantly low vitamin d. Honest it's a nightmare. Thank you so much

[greygoose in reply to Cribbo]

Doctors just don't know enough about thyroid to teach their patients anything. They need to learn themselves.

And the reason they keeping increasing and decreasing your dose is because they are dosing by the TSH, and that's what it does. And if they knew enough about thyroid, and thought about it logically, they would understand why that happens. But the don't/can't/won't. So patients continue to suffer.

If you were diagnosed hypo then you still have hypothyroidism and cannot suddenly become hyper - that is a physical impossibility. You could be over-medicated, but that is highly unlikely when being treated by the TSH. Or you could have Hashi's and be having a swing, but that is another thing entirely, and they know nothing about that.

How are your other nutrients: vit B12, folate, ferritin? Hypos tend to have low nutrient levels due to low stomach acid, caused by low T3. But that's another thing doctors know nothing about.

Yes, it is a nightmare. We place our lives in their hands and they are not fit for purpose.

[pennyannie]

Once on thyroid hormone replacement the TSH is a very unreliable measure of anything - especially when it falls low in range.

Which is why we must all be dosed and monitored on our Free T3 and Free T4 readings -

and we generally feel best when the T4 is up in the top quadrant of its range at around 80% with the T3 tracking just behind at around 60/70% through its range.

Unfortunately in primary care the TSH is considered the ' gold standard ' of all the thyroid hormone blood tests and it is very hard to get heard in a system where the guidelines are not fit for purpose.

No thyroid hormone replacement works well until your core strength vitamins and minerals of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D are up and maintained at optimal -

so try and get these blood tests run and we can advise where these need to be maintained for optimal conversion of T4 into T3 - as again some NHS ranges are too wide to even be sensible.