High TSH and Weight Loss???

[dhzjhb]

Hello, I am a 36 year old, relatively healthy, active male. I began with some various symptoms of dizziness, mild weight loss (I went from about 177 to 171, I am 6'), fatigue, general brain fog and detachment, slight shakiness, and ringing in ears. I don't know if these are related, just saying this is why I went to get checked. I got blood work done before going to doctor. I got the results this morning and all was normal except tsh. It is 14.54. Albumin was 5.5 but she said that was just .4 above normal range. From everything I have read, high tsh results in weight gain, not weight loss. Any possible reasons why my high tsh would result in weight loss?

Thanks,

Danny  

[goolarra]

Can you post the ranges from your lab report?  Reference ranges vary from lab to lab, so you have to post along with results.

TSH (we use the AACE reference range of 0.3-3.0 on TSH) is still high.  TSH does vary considerably, even intraday.  That's one of the reasons it's such a poor diagnostic.   It's important to have labs drawn at about the same time of day each time...doesn't matter when, just be consistent.  

Will comment further once you post ranges.  Thanks.

[dhzjhb]

Well, got my results from my more detailed panel. Here they are:

TSH 9.16 (lower than original, is this normal to have that kind of fluctuation in a two week span w/out medication?)

Thyroxine T4 6.0
T3 Uptake 33
Free Thyroxine 2.0
Thyroid Peroxidase TPO 52
Antithyroglobulin <20
Magnesum Serum 2.2

It seems everything is in range but TSH and TPO both high. Doctor said that thyroid wasn't functioning. The day my blood was drawn he went ahead and put me on levothyroxin (50) because my original TSH test. After these results (and understand, these are before medication numbers) he said he would probably need to up it, but wants to see what happens with the 50 after a month on it.

What do these numbers suggest to you?

Thanks,

Danny

[goolarra]

Weight gain and weight loss can occur with either hypo or hyper.  Your TSH is quite high, indicating hypo, but TSH is a pituitary hormone and doesn't give a complete picture of thyroid function at all.  You should have free T3 and free T4 tested as soon as possible.  These are the actual thyroid hormones, and their levels will indicate how your thyroid is functioning.

In addition, you probably want to test the two thyroid antibodies, TPOab and TGab.  If they are elevated, an autoimmune thyroid disease is indicated.  Autoimmune disease is the most prevalent cause of thyroid problems in the developed world.

Many thyroid diseases and conditions also include initial stages of hyper, followed by "permanent" hypo.  Perhaps you are in transition in one of these and that explains your weight loss.  Some conditions also include "swings" from hypo to hyper in the early phases.

Don't rely on TSH alone to diagnose a thyroid condition, and don't let your doctor do that, either.  Diagnosis of thyroid using TSH alone is like flying blind.