TSH

[Dan1981]

Hi,

I am a 25 year old male.  Thanks for taking my question.  For many years I have experienced bouts of tachycardia, flushing (esp. after meals), sweaty palms and heat intolerance.  I have just returned from my Cardiologist who says that my heart is perfectly fine.  He does recognise the fast heart rate though but said something else must be causing it.  He ordered detailed blood tests and gave me the results today.  He said they were absolutely perfect and I have nothing to worry about.  I should just exercise more.

I have just taken a look at the results and have seen that my TSH levels are borderline normal according to the reference range for the lab.

The range is 0.35 - 5.0.  My TSH levels are at 4.98.  Do I need to be concerned by this?  My Cardio says it is normal.  But my symptoms are more in line with hyper as ooposed to hypothyroidism.  

Do you think my levels are high?  Should I consult a specialist or just forget about it?

Many thanks

[Mark Lupo, M.D.]

Would not be too concerned about this currently, but would recheck TSH in 2 months if still >3 then you may have borderline hypothyroidism -- I agree, not consistent with your symptoms so may be unrelated -- then would test thyroid antibodies to see if this is early hashimoto's thyroiditis.

[Dan1981]

Thanks Doc.  My ESR was 7.  Would that not be elevated if I had Hashimotos or do I still need to check for antibodies?  Can some people have a naturally high TSH without any symptoms?  I have heard that TSH can mean heart disease in the future but surely this is for people who develop high TSH as opposed to having it naturally all their lives?
Thanks

[borninquisitive]

I would think checking for antibodies is in order. I have heard from many people who've said to check free t3 and free t4 as well.

Either you can ask your Dr. about this or you can check out healthcheck.usa (online) to see if a lab is nearby you. You pay for your own labs but a Dr. order isn't required.

~Kate