How high does TSH go?

[ptabby]

I just received results of my blood test which I had done as part of a general wellness screening.  Everything was in the normal range with two exceptions...my LDL-Calc was 120H and my TSH was 35.530 H.  According to my online research, this is off the charts high....if normal is 0.3 - 5.5.  I  have diagnosed myself with primary hypothyroidism and will need to see an endocrinologist, but I was wondering if anyone knows more that they can share with me based on my numbers.  Thanks.

[dawnangela]

I agree with gimel go more by the t4 and t3, my tsh was 146 but my t4 was too low..once these were treated my tsh dropped to 2.12..Dawn

[acker]

what gimel says.
also, my TSH has read as high as 60 (still alive, felt really crummy though). the TSH is on a logarithmic scale, so it looks really bad. i've read about TSH being in the hundreds. thus, incidentally, 60 isn't much higher than 35... still out of range. just wanted to reassure you a bit about the high reading. i freaked out when i first saw my high tsh result. then took a closer look at the little graph printout on the lab report. phew. good luck.

[gimel]

Even though TSH is a pituitary hormone and is affected by many variables, including the time of day when blood is drawn, a level as high as yours most likely indicates hypothyroidism.  TSH doesn't really correlate very well at all with hypo symptoms, so it is not a diagnostic, by which to determine meds.  At best it is only an indicator to be considered along with more important indicators, which are symptoms and also levels of the actual, biologically active thyroid hormones free T3 and free T4 (FT3 and FT4).

In my opinion the very best way to treat a thyoid patient is to test and adjust the levels of FT3 and FT4 with whatever meds are necessary to alleviate symptoms, without being constrained by resultant TSH levels.  Frequently this requires that FT3 is adjusted into the upper part of its range and FT4 adjusted to around the midpoint of its range.  FT3 is most important because if is four times as active as FT4 and FT3  had been shown to correlate best with hypo symptoms.

When you start looking for an Endo, don't just assume that he will be a good thyroid doctor.  Many specialize in diabetes.  In spite of the fact that over 6 years ago the AACE recommended that the range for TSH be changed from .5 - 5.0 down to .3 - 3.0, many doctors and labs still use the old range.  Also, many consider that any FT3 and FT4 result, within even the lower end of the range is "normal", and don't want to do anything further, in spite of your symptoms.  So your biggest difficulty is going to be finding a good thyroid doctor that will treat your symptoms by adjusting your FT43 and FT4 levels.  In fact I think that the best way to look for a good thyroid doc is to call the office and ask to speak to nurse and ask if the doctor is willing to treat a patient's symptoms by testing and adjusting FT3 and FT4 levels.  If yes, then ask if the doctor is willing to use meds other than T4 only type?  If answer to both is yes, then chances are fairly good that you will get what you need.  If no to either, then just keep looking.