Quote:
Originally Posted by Fletchi
Anyhoo, my question is, altho marked as normal (and indeed my TSH seems to be) can I still be having thyroid problems with that Free T4 level? I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow and would like to know a little bit more before i go. Forearmed and all that....
Thanks
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Hi Fletchi! As Dolores has said that FT4 is low. I would go one further and say it's not just low, it's VERY low (regardless of what the damned range says!). It is most definitely the cause of your extreme fatigue. Women typically feel best when their FTs are in the upper 3rd of the range, for you that would be 19.3. You can see you're pretty far off that number!
As for your TSH, it is not 'normal', it's elevated. The lab range most commonly in use is much to wide. It's so wide it actually contains 'sick' people. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologist has recommended that the lab range be changed to .2-2.04 and ANYONE with a TSH over 2 should be given (and would probably profit from) a trial of replacement thyroid hormones.
Further if your problem is related to hypothalamus or pituitary your TSH would be meaningless. TSH is a measure of how well your pituitary
thinks your thyroid is doing. A TSH of 2 indicates that while you're not 'normal' your pituitary thinks that a FT4 of 10 is OKish and it is not telling your thyroid (via more TSH) to make more thyroid hormones.
What you want, ideally, is to have your FT3 levels tested and antibodies. If you have autoimmune hypothyroidism (the most common type) then antibodies will be present before TSH starts going haywire. Most Drs wont go this route, but it never hurts to ask. FT3 levels would tell you if you are converting what little FT4 you have to T3. Low FT3 is connected with depression, anxiety, moodiness and bloating.
There is another member here from the U.K. (JayKay) who went through the very same thing you might be headed for (unresponsive drs). She managed to find a great specialist with the help of the
TopDoc list of thyroid-info.com. I would suggest having a peak there. I'd also check out her posts. (initial post:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...ighlight=Jaykay and most recent results:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...ighlight=Jaykay)
Cheers,
Nat