Please help me interpret my results...

[booboo1]

I was told I have high tsh but normal t4 and so have to go back two months after test (this will be in march) but I feel really off colour and following advice in kind answers to my other question on here, I requested my results, they are:

Auto antibodies: 324

tsh: 6.74

T4: 13

does this make sense to anyone? Is this t4 normal? Do I tough it out and wait until mid march for another test or do I go back and explain I'm feeling worse?

Any advice appreciated, thank you.

[helvella Administrator]

Well done getting the results.

I am going to sound an awful nag, but did you by any chance get the reference range for that FT4? Trouble is one lab's range for FT4 might be 7 to 14, another 12 to 24. So 13 could be near the top from one lab,or near the bottom from another. Or, indeed, somewhere near the middle from yet another!

So trying to interpret is impossible when the result could be high, low or middling.

That TSH alone strongly suggests that the FT4 is going to be low - but half the point of having two tests is that one helps to confirm the other. That is, avoids mistakes and misunderstandings.

And that level of antibodies is sure to be positive.

I would be doing what I could to try to persuade them to bring forward the second test - but if that is what is in their brains, you might not be able to.

Rod

[booboo1 in reply to helvella]

It was just a receptionist I spoke to, so I didn't really get any more info unfortunately and its double Dutch to me! I have made an appointment for this morning though, it is a different doctor, so I will try to find out more then.

Thank you again!

[RedApple Administrator in reply to booboo1]

All the best for your appointment this morning. Given your symptoms and test results quoted above, I do think you should push to start treatment now. There's nothing to suggest that you're going to spontaneously recover between now and your next scheduled blood test, and delaying treatment will more than likely only make things worse.

[booboo1 in reply to RedApple]

Thank you, I feel more confident going thanks to your advice. I worry about wasting their time or seeming like a pain, but you have just echoed what I have been worrying about myself. Thank you.

[booboo1 in reply to helvella]

Hello

The serum free t4 was 13 and the range for this is 11-21.

I now have a full print out of everything so please just let me know if there is anything else that would be useful.

Thank you.

[Clarebear in reply to booboo1]

Well that makes your fT4 in range but low ish. When my fT4 is that low I definitely have symptoms of hypothyroidism. Did you ask to start medication? Xx

[booboo1]

I go back on Monday to be tested again and if it hasn't I.proved they will start thyroxine 'as a supplement'...

[RedApple Administrator in reply to booboo1]

Is your test on Monday first thing in the morning? I hope so, because early morning is when TSH is at it's highest. It then drops throughout the day. This can make a big difference. It's not unusual for it to fluctuate a full 2 points e.g. TSH could be 6 in the early morning and 4 in the late afternoon. This then can lead a GP to jump to the conclusion that 'your TSH is back to normal now', when it was 'borderline high' before.

Motto... always get your thyroid blood test done at approximately the same time of day, so that comparison between tests is consistent. And preferably, get the earliest blood draw appointment possible. Mine gets done at the local hospital, and I try to get there for phlebotomy opening time at 8 a.m.

[booboo1]

No, its at 5pm! And im shocked because the doc said time didn't do make s difference! I am going to rearrange to be on the safe side! Thank you, I would never have known...

[RedApple Administrator in reply to booboo1]

Oh I'm not surprised your doc said it didn't matter. Really, they know very little at all about this whole thyroid business. That's why so many of us have such a fight to get the treatment we need when we need it. It's a shocking state of affairs.

Here's a couple of links to blogs here about the TSH fluctuation. Well worth reading.

Clinical Significance of TSH Circadian Variability in Patients with Hypothyroidism

thyroiduk.healthunlocked.co...

Daily Rhythms of Thyroid Hormones + TSH

thyroiduk.healthunlocked.co...

Motto of this post... don't believe anything your doc tells you until you've asked the expert patients on this forum

[booboo1 in reply to RedApple]

Thank you! =D

[Hidden]

I'd suggest you print off the symptoms list from thyroiduk and highlight your symptoms. Telling a doctor 'I feel this or that' isn't very effective and they often don't listen... SHOWING them the list of symptoms has more impact and they can't ignore the fact that you are now tracking and recording your symptoms. Evidence! Good luck.

[booboo1]

Thank you, I have done that and will certainly take it with me! :0)