Have no idea about results.

Hi Deb

Normally when you get your results they have another number in brackets which is the 'normal' range.  As your medication starts to work, your T4 and T3 levels will start to drop and your TSH should rise but it does take a long time.  I'm surprised your doctor asked for tests this soon after starting the medication as it normally takes up to four weeks for your levels to be affected at all.  Maybe these were your starting levels before medication?  Anyway, don't worry - you will soon become an expert on reading blood test results!!  It's a long road ahead but there's some great advice and support on this forum so keep checking in.

Your T3 and T4 levels are high and out of the normal range and your TSH is low, out of the normal range.  The low TSH and high T3 and T4 levels indicate hyperthyroidism.  As Karen stated, your levels will come down as your meds kick in.  However, my TSH remained at less than 0.01 for 2 years and did not improve until I added L-carnitine and then Acetyl-L-carnitine to my treatment.  Carnitine is an amino acid that is normally present in the body and gets depleted in hyperthyroidism.  It is lost through urine and muscle.  Your doctor will not know about this and will not endorse it but I and several other people on this Board accelerated our recovery by using it.  It is available in health food stores.  You can Google the research study by Dr. Salvatore Benvenga from Italy that was done on this.  Just Google his name.

(F)T4 means free thyroxine and is a thyroid function test from your blood, the normal range in UK is between 12 and 22. If higher, it indicates hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid, if lower it indicates hypothyroidism or underactive thyroid. (F)T3 means free triiodothyronine and is also taken from the blood test to confirm Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, normal UK levels should be between 3.95 and 6.8. If higher, it again indicates hyper or overactive thyroid. TSH means thyroid-stimulating hormone - yours is low (indicating hyperthyroid) but probably won't go up for a while until the meds kick in - mine is still at your level 5 months on from diagnosis & start of Carbimazole. TRABS is another term you should see on your results (Thyroid receptor antibodies), normal range in UK is 0-1, mine is 18.9 and it's that high level of TRABS that are causing me problems. You'll get used to it & it will become a second language & will get very excited about knowing what your T numbers are - unless it's just me who does ;-) I was as bewildered by it all as you until I joined this forum. Good luck & hope you'll check back :-)

Hi Deb

I am also very confused,My 14 year old daughter was diagnosed with joint hypermobility syndrome in february ,after years of joint pain  discolating of knee shoulder and thumbs and bladder problems.She underwent some laboratory tests which i havent got a clue about these was tsh 7.5,t4 13- says keep under review also vit d 24 commence cholecalciferol 20,000iu weekly for 8 weeks can any one help me understand this many thanks lisa

As Karen stated on this posting thread, normally when you get blood results, beside your results are the ranges for normal results for that particular blood test. The results you posted indicate that your daughter is hypothyroid, that is she is not producing enough thyroid hormones and not sure but may have low levels of vitamin D and probably calcium as well. The cholecalciferol is for calcium replacement. She may have an autoimmune disease like Hashimoto's that produces hypothyroidism. You would need more blood tests to determine this, specifically blood tests to determine if she has any antibodies. Is she on medication for thyroid hormone replacement? If she is hypothyroid, she should NOT take L-carnitine unless blood tests indicate she has low carnitine levels and this is not usual for people with hypothyroidism.