Thyroid tests are normal?? Are you sure?

[atkinsboy]

Is there a diff between the home thyroid tests and the ones that doctors give?

I'm considering ordering one of the home kits.. wondering if anyone has experience using them?

Thanks!

[nonstickpam107]

atkinsboy,

The home test is mainly just for thyroid stimulating hormone......TSH. I haven't used one myself, but if you will go to www.about.com and look under forums for health and thyroid disease, you can join and ask there....there have been discussions there that lean towards the home test not being as accurate.

Besides, what with the TSH range having been changed, even the testing done at labs are not catching subclinical hypothyroidism because it's only testing the response from the pituitary and thyroid. I'd rather know what the thyroid hormones themselves are doing (that would be T4 and T3).

Pam

[NoMoreOreos]

Well, I guess this just supports my theory that things happen for a reason! I recently did a design project for a Compounding Pharmacy on Bio Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy. I worked with the pharmacist, and the Dr. who works in conjunction with the pharmacy. The Dr. also specializes in Bio HRT and preventative medicine. As I worked more with them, and started to learn more about this whole host of inter-related topics, I asked them both to help me. I have now become a patient and hopefully can better help them, too, since I now understand this a little better than the average person. They did my blood work last week, and prescribed meds. Pam, I have PM'd you, but I will also post here. I've just re-read all of these posts (it took me all afternoon!), and they both seem to practice all of the theories that you have discussed here - treat the symptoms, prescribe T3, bring levels up to the optimum range, etc. So here are the test results:

FSH 55.26 (9.5 - 113)
LH 34.7 (10.87-58.64)
Progesterone .52 ( Well, this is where he disagrees with published ranges, and said that it should be 20-25, and that in a ratio with estrogen should be 1:3)
Estradiol 19.1 (13-93)
Cortisol 20 ( 8.7-22.4)
DHEA 4.5 (.5-5.4)
Testosterone, Total 39 (2-94)
Testosterone (Free) he said this is the active .67 (.07-1.2)
TSH (Ultra Sensitive) 1.82 (.35-5.5)
Free T3 3.4 (2.04 - 4.2)
Free T4 1.31 (.87-1.56)
Somatomedin-C (IGF-1) 73 (71-290)
Prolactin 4.93 ( 1.8-20.3)
Insulin 7.1 (6.0-27)

Here's what they presrcibed:

Bio-Thyroid 50:10MCG SR C - I capsule 2x day
Progesterone 400MG Vaginal Suppositories 2x day
Testosterone 2% cream - 1/4 GM daily
DHEA 10 MG once a day
E2:E3 1/0 .5MG SR Caps once a day
Melatonin 1 MG SR caps 1 @ night(what does SR mean? )

History: 55yo female. hysterectomy age 32 (uterus and ovaries), I've been on Premarin for 23 years, for the last couple of years I've really cut back. Last week when they told me that Premarin stays in your system for 47 days, I STOPPED! Major complaints, COLD ALL THE TIME! Daily temps average 96.4 to 97.6. My new doc says that my temp and how I feel will be the best indication that I'm getting better. Also low libido (uhhh, make that NONE, forget the low!) My husband of 32 years might think he died and went to heaven if this therapy is a success! Just an aside, my primary care physician said my thyroid was absolultely normal! His 'cure' for my feeling cold all the time was to put on 20 lbs. - maybe I was too 'skinny' - yeah, right! That's why I'm on this BB!!! He also said there were absolutely no problems associated with Premarin and that I should take it forever, and that 'natural' hormones were a bunch of garbage! Whew, this was long! Pam, I hope you will comment on this - you've helped me before, and I so value your opinion! So far, I've discovered that I can't take the Progesterone - those things burn like heck, and I had symptoms of a bad bladder infection. I took the thyroid last night and again this morning. I feel weird, not sure how to describe, mostly my head. Didn't sleep last night - between the burning from the progesterone and feeling like I did the one time I took Phen Fen - rapid heartbeat, wide awake! Hmmm. Will I get used to that? Maybe I shouldn't take it at night?
Edited to add: I haven't taken the DHEA or Melatonin yet. Guess I figured all this stuff at once might be more than my system could take!

[nonstickpam107]

You have another PM.

Pam

[CrissCeCe]

THANK YOU!!!!!!

My Endocrinologist and I have been going through this for a little over a year.

It all started out with waking up one morning completely bloated I was FULL of water. The Dr's prescribed diuretics and potassium and within a few days all the bloating was gone.

Over the next 2 months I gained around 40lbs WHILE dieting , nothing I did helped, so back to the Dr's to find out what was going on.

Well, it was HYPOthyroid, a severely damaged one at that too.

I was started on Levoxyl 25mg and am now at 137.5mg....just had my bloodwork yesterday to see where I am ( I was at around 3 before the 137.5mg)

Crossing my fingers


I am going to print out this thread and bring it to my appt next week.


Thank you all!

[valg]

Bumping for people on the playground.

[prosc]

Has anyone taken or does anyone know about the Standard Process Thytotropin Supplement - my naturalist put me on them and I'm wondering what effect they are having if any - my FT4 is low .9, but my TSH is high 5.16

[julieboolie]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to post my own experience. I had every symptom of hypothyroid - no weight loss, hair loss, cold, low pulse and BP, very low body temp, sluggish, tired, foggy head etc. I too was tested and told "normal". I didn't believe them.

I went ahead and did the "basal temperature" test myself. You take your body temp using a glass thermometer first thing in the morning for a week. Mine was about 96 all week. It's supposed to be 98.0 at least if your thyroid is normal. Obviously mine isn't.

Since the Dr. did nothing to help me, I went online. I found and have been taking a thyroid supplement. There are several options, but I decided to take dessicated bovine thyroid. I have been taking it for over a month and feel fantastic. My hair stopped falling out, I'm not freezing all the time, my mind is clear and I finally started losing weight again (been following Atkins for 9 months). I have been working on my dosage based on my body temperature. I am up around 97.5 in the am which is great! I feel so much better.

The more research I did online themore I realized it would be up to me to help myself. I'm so glad I did. Many people who take synthroid or other prescribed throid medicines don't have an improvement in thier health. The natural supplement works well for me. I will post alink for those who are interested. Not making any medical claims, by the way.

HTH- http://www.nutri-meds.com/thyroid.htm

[prosc]

Thanks Julie...Anyone else try these non-prescription thyroids? I'd love as many opinions as possible because I am almost out of my current supplement and need to order soon.

[nonstickpam107]

Some of these supplements will help some people. I just wanted to add that any of the thyroid supplements are not allowed to have a measurable amount of actual hormone in them whatsoever. The FDA will not allow that.

I do know some who are just starting into hypothyroidism, or who are subclinical who have said these supplements helped them until they could get to a doctor to get real thyroid hormones.

Pam

[wantingtoloose]

I have a question,
My mom and my aunt both have hypothyroide and well I have been exeperiencing symtoms ever since I was 15 I weigh like 98lbs than went up to 135 than in a year without dieting was down to 120 and I always felt tired I remember always wanting to sleep or just falling asleep in class.
Know that I am older I have symptoms such as low blood pressure I am always cold, very dry skin, my hair falls off by the handfulls, I am always tired and I very easiley get depressed, etc

So I had my doctor check for my thyroide and he said I was fine I never did see the results.

And another thing I don't have problems concieving Infact my second baby I concived while having my IUD on.

What should I do? Or what can it be?
any infor would be grateful.

[nonstickpam107]

First of all, I suffered for over 14 years with autoimmune hypothyroid (Hashimoto's) and kept being told all my tests were "normal". I then found out all they ever did was a TSH, and it was NOT 'normal". One of the best things you can do is get the results (copies) of those thyroid tests. Some don't check anything BUT TSH.....you need the actual thyroid hormones to be checked...that would be T4 and T3.

Also, the first I (just my opinion) would have checked is my ferritin and iron levels, too. Those are less costly, and low ferritin and iron will mimic hypothyroidism. So will low estradiol (estrogen). So....first things first, check the ferritin and iron, and even if the ranges for those are 2-110, 'most' women need their levels to be 50 to 70 in order to feel well.

I take a natural thyroid med (Armour Thyroid) that contains all the same thyroid hormones as what my thyroid would produce (if it could!!). There is a wonderful article in Good Housekeeping this months about thyroid disease......makes me feel good to know that people are FINALLY starting to "get it" about thyroid disease and what's actually a 'normal' level.

Oh, and you CAN get your own test removed. they send you to a lab near you, and then give you the results...and what would cost over 300 dollars at the endo's will cost you under a 100 dollars. Not a bad deal.

Pam

[Karsen]

NonStickPam - You seem to have alot of knowledge on this subject.
I just started taking Synthroid about 3 wks ago (first time ever)

I have MS. My MS Dr. does lots of blood wk every quarter to keep a check on my liver because of the injections I am on for the MS.
This last visit his nurse called and said all blood wk was fine except thyroid and they would fax to my primary care Dr. & to see him which I did.

My primary care Dr. said the TSH was normal, but the T-4 was just barely below normal. (I'm not sure which T-4 he meant as I see you have mentioned a Ft4 etc.) Anyway, He said he had no problem with giving me a small dose of Synthroid, because I'm always complaining of fatigue & he said he'd been known to give it to some with normal ranges & since I was below the normal barely he would start me off on some.

The T-4 was 5.4. I don't know the ranges My hands & feet have been extremely cold for the longest. I thought it was a MS symptom, but now wondering if it could be thyroid. Hands are still giving me a fit. (I think diet plays a part in the cold thing)

Oh yes - the Synthroid he put me on was only 0.88

I've always had a terrible time in trying to lose weight. Was hoping this would help!!

[Karsen]

One more question PAM -
I had complete hyst. few yrs ago. (no ovaries-no nothing) left.
Been on Cenestin hormone. Since I've been so cold lately - I decided to try & get off it again (could't last time for the hot flashes) It's been a good 2 wks now off it & no problems!!
But, do you think it is safe to not take any hormones, since I have NO ovaries or any estrogen at all??

Sorry, off subject - you can email me or reply here either way
Thanks

[nonstickpam107]

One of the reasons that so many post-meno (and peri-meno) women have hypothyroid, is that when their estrogen and progesterone drop (the thyroid MUST have some progesterone to work), the poor little thyroid has to try and "supply" those hormones instead. Get the picture??

Now, I can't remark on the T4....no lab range. Get copies of all your thyroid tests,,,,because some will say anything in range is "normal". You essentially want your TSH around a 1, and both your T4 and T3 at the midway of higher of their respective lab ranges.

For years I had a PCP tell me I was "just fine" and that I had fibromyalgia (!!!)....it turned out to be my thyroid....and although I was "in range" I certainly wasn't optimized. My "fibromyalgia" symptoms have disappeared with the advent of being optimally treated for my thyroid disease.

Oh, the difference between Free T's and Total T's?? Since I take hormone replacement (bio-equivelent, NOT synthetic), I need Free T's.....because things like: HRT, BC pills, iron, fiber, soy, etc. biind part of the thyroid med hormone...and make it unusable. Therefore a FREE T test shows what's "really" available for me, instead of just the amount of thyroid hormone that's floating around in me.

Also, some doc's dont' realize that you need T3 if your body will not convert part of your T4 into T3 (T3 is the "energy" part of the thyroid hormone, the part that helps your metabolism and keeps you from being depressed). So, if you don't convert your T4 to T3, than giving you a T4 ONLY med (like Synthroid) isn't going to help that part of it.

Pam

[Karsen]

Pam - Thanks for reply. I'm a little confused. I will get my print out of blood work & find out what they did.
I'm confused about how to find out if my body does not convert T-4 to T-3. I've always had depression problems & am on anti-depressants. I sure need that metabolism riv'd up!!
Thanks again
Karsen

[jenniferjane]

Shouldn't this be on a medical board?

[nonstickpam107]

Yes, this should probably go to the health boards...I'm sure the admins. will do it soon. This thread has been here long before the health/med board was available.

Karson,
The way you tell if you aren't converting is to test FT4, and FT3...if you are converting than both of those (sometimes the T4 higher) will be about even in ranges, if the T3 is much lower, than you probably aren't converting enough.

Pam

[minimonkey]

Pam --

Just wanted to thank you for sharing your expertise on this with everyone! I've suspected for years that I may have hypothyroid (my body temp is never above 97 unless I have a fever, my hands and feet are always cold, years struggling with depression and fighting my weight especially as a teen-- no other symptoms I'm aware of) but, like so many others, the test I had was "normal." I had no idea what to ask when I had it done, so I just accepted the result. I'd like to have it done again, and maybe I will.

I just ordered a nutritional supplement that is supposed to provide support to the thyroid -- seems harmless enough, and I'll see what happens.

[Shae]

How long after you began taking the natural supplements did your hair STOP falling out? And did you have any regrowth?
Also do you know what any of your #s were when the docs said your thyroid was fine?
Sorry, for all the ?s but my hair has been falling out for almost 3 years and my doctor said thyroid and iron were fine. I have tried *everything* for the hairloss but it just keeps getting thinner and thinner.
Thanks for listening!

[julieboolie]

I think the hair loss stopped about 1-2 weeks after I started taking the supplement. I upped the dosage about 2 weeks into it. The hair has been growing back and looks ridiculous! I have short hairs all over my head and it's especially lovely on my part! Oh well, at least it's coming back.

I didn't ask for my levels since I figured the doctors weren't going to be much help. I had already researched the nutritionals before I got my results, almost knowing that the Dr. wouldn't help. From the research I did online, rarely is hypothyroidism caught and treated properly. There are a lot of good websites with good information for you. Do a search by "hypothyroidism" and see what you find.

Do you have other symptoms? THe hairloss is just one of the symptoms (the one my hairdresser recognized and mentioned to me-I didn't know). I have the low temp, BP and pulse, always cold and foggy headed too. All that has subsided since I started the supplements. I also started losing weight again, which could also be b/c I stopped the frankenfoods. I don't know that it directly impacts my weightloss, but it certainly hasn't stopped it. I feel so much better and will likely continue to take it.

This is not a medical recommendation .

HTH-

[Shae]

I also am cold alot and often foggy but I thought that was due to being a stressed-out mom!
The hairloss has just been devastating to me to say the least.

I wonder....are you gonna have to take this supplement for the rest of your life or will your thyroid "adjust" itself? I wonder if NonstickPam would know? Also, exactly how much are you taking? I will be looking into this.
Thanks!

[nonstickpam107]

If you have the autoimmune variety of thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) or the clinical, it is a thyroid disease. In either case, the thyroid usually stops functioning entirely. In Hashimoto's, the antibodies systematically destroy the thyroid, and in the other, the thyroid just stops producing enough thyroid hormone.

Sometimes supplements will work in the early stages...especially if you aren't getting any treatment at all. The only problem with the supplements that I can see is that they don't have enough of any real thyroid hormone to actually keep up with the disease.

There are a lot of doc's who now treat thyroid disease, even subclinical, and you can get a list of them all over the US and other countries, if you want. Just go to www.about.thyroid.com and look for the "Top Thyroid doc's directory".

Pam

[prosc]

I'm going to try and remember to bring in my blood test results so that I can post them. I am insulin resistant - 39, (range to 17), so I am on Metformin for this.

My Endo wanted to also put me on birth control - I am not ovulating, have sporadic periods, and my estrogen and progesterone are very, very low (but she said that the insulin is throwing off the other hormones and my est/prog are low because I'm not ovulating). I told her that I didn't want to go on the birth control but now I am having second thoughts.

Mostly, I wanted to do things naturally and figured that I would have to go off the birth control at some point in the future (I'm 35 and would like kids some day), so I didn't want to stress my body by going on then off birth control; plus my hair is very thin, so I thought that this would also aggravate the situation. But now I am reading that my thyroid needs these hormones to work properly and am confused....I would appreciate anyone's help.

[nonstickpam107]

Well, you can make a start at understanding the correlation of other hormones (estradiol, progesterone) to the thyroid by going to the site that I stated above in my post.

I was on Glucaphage for a couple of years.....and then as I stuck to lowcarbing and lost my weight, then it was totally apparent that it was my THYROID that threw both my insulin and my female hormones "off".

Remember that eating things with soy in them can throw off the testing, and slow the thyroid....I'm almost glad that I am allergic to it!

Pam

[prosc]

Your link doesn't work, but I've already been to that site. It took me 3 years to finally demand blood tests getting done - I basically self-diagnosed my PCOS, changed OBG and insisted on testing. My OBG referred me to an Endo, but I did my research and found a Reproductive Endo who specializes in PCOS. I have only had the one appointment and will be going back in a couple of months for progress and another round of blood tests.

Obviously, the first problem which had to be addressed was my insulin because it was way out of range. I am now doing my Thyroid research because I still feel that something is wrong on that end and I want to be able to justify myself.

[nonstickpam107]

How about: www.thyroidmanager.org ? My personal favorite.

Pam

[prosc]

Thanks for the link - wow, some detailed info there.

Here's my Thyroid results:

T3, Total 185 range 60-181
T3, uptake 25 range 22-35
T4, free .9 .8 - 1.8
T4, total 7.7 4.5-12.5
TSH