high tsh

[safiya01]

I had a total thyroidectomy 18 yrs ago due to a large goiter, cystic and fibrotic. I recieve my labs last week and my tsh was elevated, with normal t3 and t4.  What could be the cause of the elevated tsh.

[TamraW]

I don't rely on TSH to tell me if I'm hypo or hyper. I have a 0.04 TSH. I am NOT hyper. This is not low TSH for me. Get to a good doc who can test and treat your frees. Hair loss can be caused by hypothyroidism, so can constipation and arthritis. Also, people with one auto-immunity  can have another. You may have arthritis. I take magnesium three times a day for constipation and joint pain. It does work.

:) Tamra

[safiya01]

Sorry my TSH is low .223 normal range used(.358-3.740. My Dr took T4 which was 11.7 and T3 uptake 31. I do have hair loss, constipation, arthritic like symptoms. I thought the hair loss might be indicative of semi-permanent dye. I have not seen an endo in quite a while, i have just made an appt for next week.  My primary has been doing my blood work, not too smart of me not to see a endo. I was also diagnosed with diabetic 5 yrs ago and take metformin.  

[TamraW]

You could possibly need more thyroid hormone, but it's hard to tell without real numbers. Does the doctor test FT3 and FT4? Hopefully. Any hypo symptoms? Hair loss, fatigue, depression, constipation, dry skin, leg and foot cramps, brain fog?

'Normal' FT4 and FT3 levels are not always normal to the person suffering. Post your numbers and their reference ranges. For me, I'm 37 with Hashimoto's. I need my frees to be in the top 1/3 of the range. My mom is 75. She goes to my endo. He keeps her frees lower than mine. She also has an enlarged heart. My doc does not treat my TSH levels. TSH is a pituitary hormone and not always indicative of what is going on with thyroid - especially in your case where you don't even have one! :)

FYI - My mom and I found our wonderful endo off this site:

http://www.thyroid-info.com/topdrs/

Tamra