19 years of blood test results

[Numberone1]

i know some of you on here have problems getting blood test results, but quite opposite I asked for mine for when I was seeing Dr P and they happily printed off 19 years worth!

These results, apparently showed thatI had been suffering for a long time (this was always my suspicion). Basically, while my TSH appeared to be " normal", my T4 was always bottom of the range. In fact a couple of times below range and typed on the test results was LOW by the testing people.

Over this time I suffered with anxiety, tiredness, weight gain etc and whenever I queried it, was always told everything was ok.

Anyway, I am going to see my GP next week, who doesn't know what I've been up to, and I want to query this with him.

Should the LOW T4s have been picked up? Have I suffered unnecessarily over the years, a good portion of my life? Could this have ever been prevented if they'd done something with the low results?

.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

In my view, yes. Though we all see people posting results here which are out of range but might be explained by the circumstances. For example C-reactive protein high when ill.

Few people report that they are well yet have FT4 at bottom of range except for those on medicines containing T3 such as desiccated thyroid or Liothyronine (T3).

Having "normal" TSH but low FT4 is a classic reason for complaining that the TSH test has many problems as a diagnostic and monitoring tool. All too many people seem not to produce as much TSH as their low FT4 levels appear to suggest they should.

It could point at some degree of secondary hypothyroidism - where the pituitary does not produce enough TSH and that is a cause.

In my opinion, you should be referred to an endocrinologist.

[Numberone1 in reply to helvella]

Well, Im on T3 only now so any blood test done now will always show low TSH and low T4 but am I right in thinking that normal TSH and low T4 should have indicated a pituitary problem that wasn't picked up do you thin? Obviously various doctors have all seen these results, in fact one doctor showed me the results on her screen and pointed out that the TSH was fine but I could see how low the T4 was. I wasn't sure at that stage what it was all about but now I do know.

[Hashi_since_age9-1988]

yes they should have diagnosed secondary hypothyroidism.