Hi I can anyone read these TSH results for me?

Posted , 3 users are following.

I have been on Levothyroxin for 14 yrs, originally 150 mg for most of that time, but have been fluctuating prob due to perimenopause

I have still all the symptons of heavy tired  legs, general tiredness, , insomnia, can't lose weight even etc (and loss of pigment in hair). I have been reading up on dessicated thyroxine recently and it suggests looking at T3, my drs are not very helpful but I managed to get a test for T3 and T4. This is the results

T4  17.0

Serum free 4.8

TSH  0.26

Does tht make sense to anyone?

Thanks in advance

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • Posted

    Even those these results are looking ok if you are still suffering symptoms the medication won't address other interlinking factors like adrenal fatigue and the HPA and OTA axis. Meds will be like a band aid but if you're still feeling tired its probably other areas, adrenals, gut and vitamin levels that will need looking at.  Try and integrative practitioner who sees things more holistically.  It's absolutely key with this illness... a good homeopath will address all these areas and probably be able to kick start your thyroid to produce again without meds.  I'm about to take that route, and I'm not going on meds.  My current results are relatively poor and borderline as the GP puts it but TSH is 5.5 Free T4 is 11.2 and TPO antibodies 966... cortisol low etc etc so a lot to repair but it can be done.  And should be addressed in your body as a whole as they all speak to and rely on eachothers health and performance to be well.  Taking thyroid meds will heal just one leg of a wobbly 3 leg stool....!  useful, but only so far....
    • Posted

      Thanks Sara,

      I definately will take your advice going down Holistic route. I suppose my main prob is I actually don't know what the numbers mean and what is consider low or high. THis last while I seem to be slipping from very underactive to over active back to underactive again. I asked the practice nurses for T3 and T4 as usually I just get told to up or down dosage of levothyroxin with no real explaination. 

      Do you know anything about L'Armour, the natural dessicated thyroid, from what I'm reading, the T4 is only treated here but it ahould be T3?

  • Posted

    I can't really advise anyone to take a holistic route, but I think its worth investigating your options and go with what feels right for you.  I'm at the begining of this road so only writing from that perspective.  If you have as much informaiton about your body you can gather - and what's going on inside you at least have a road map for recovery.  How to heal adrenals, digestion, reduce inflammation and the auto immune attack are ALL key areas whether meds are taken or not.  As I'm subclinical technically although Hashimotos has progressed somewhat, I'm giving myself a few months to make changes to diet and suppliments and see how I can improve certain function of my poor adrenal and stomach performance/ friendly bacteria etc et.c and see if any of this has any positive effect on the blood results.  If it does and the needle is moved in the right direction enough for me to feel I can keep going and keep calm lifestyle then great.... but I may in the end decide to continue a holistic path AND take a small amount of thyroxin.  Only time can tell. But what is hard is the not knowing or understanding along with some of the symptoms is unsettling, so for me, I find knowledge less stressful as it gives me a feeling of having some form of direction and understanding of my body that I think - it needs to know I have (finally!). smile
  • Posted

    Hi, it's hard to say what your normal levels would be without meds and therefore identify your root causes.  The key thing also is to investigate your immune problem. The doctors don't really focus on the TPO TbAb results but these are key and then determining if you are Th1 or Th2 cell dominant.  From there, you can boost which ever side is weakest and must be informed about what will increase whichever side - as you could inadvertently be increasing a side by taking the wrong team boosting product.  ie: coffee and green tea will not be good if Th2 dominant and echinacea will be bad for Th1 dominant people etc.  It sounds complex but quite easy once you get your head around it - makes perfect sense.  The real key is find out the nutrition for you.  For eg a nutritionist was telling me to take anti oxidant, flax oil, and coffee and actually they would all increase my inflammation and slow my thyroid.... its quite a mine field but first you must understand whats going on in you.  Get your original blood panel print out, get your new one, understand the role of the meds you are taking.  T3 or T4 or both boosting... and understand if your disorder is immune related (anti bodies present)  and then work out what is happening in your immunity.  Then find a specialist nutritional practitioner who totally understands hormones and immunity and work out a food plan to bring everything into balance.  Its not easy to find that person - but keep digging till you truly find someone.  Once you are armed with knowledge you will be able to test their knowledge and if they can't keep up on the key things... then look again! 

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