Aa
Looking for verifiable documentation on the necessity of Free T3 testing ....
As others here have proclaimed, my doctor also says Free T3 testing is not needed. She stated that the Free T3 relied upon other factors within the blood. Isn't this contrary? I mean, isn't "Free" suppose to represent that it DOESN'T rely on anything else within the blood? Clear my thinking please and correct me if I am wrong. I'd like to find reliable documentation to take to her should my results get back out of whack. Thanks!
Hee hee.. You gave goolarra credit when in fact it was gimel who posted all the info above!
Hey Skeeter! You know, they never did. I did ask somewhat about that and was simply told it was an enflamed area. Hmmm ...
Well, maybe the Dr. already knows your FT3 is high because you have symptoms. When I was hyper, I had a HUGE amount of anxiety. All I kept hearing from one Dr. after another is - "We need to kill it, you know they are going to kill it, kill it, kill it". It just kept echoing in my brain! I truly NEEDED to see the actual numbers on the sheet from the lab and from more than one lab in order to accept this. It just scared the bejeebers out of me!
The good news for you is the meds are working! It could take a couple of months for your TSH to kick in again.
Did your Dr. ever come up with an explanation why your Graves is unilateral? I thought it was always diffuse bilateral (both sides)?
The good news for you is the meds are working! It could take a couple of months for your TSH to kick in again.
Did your Dr. ever come up with an explanation why your Graves is unilateral? I thought it was always diffuse bilateral (both sides)?
Thank you all for the information! Now the question is simply this ...
If the levels on the tests that have actually been done are within the normal range, should I even push for the Free T3? The only test result that is still out of range is the TSH.
TSH 0.005 (0.450-4.500) Low (I imagine this is due to the Graves?? and still having a thyroid)
Thyroxine (T4) 8.3 (4.5-12)
T3 Uptake 31 (24-39)
Free Thyroxine Index 2.6 (1.2-4.9)
Thyroxine (T4) Free, Index 1.08 (0.81-1.76)
Thyiiodothyronine (T3) 130 (85-205)
If the levels on the tests that have actually been done are within the normal range, should I even push for the Free T3? The only test result that is still out of range is the TSH.
TSH 0.005 (0.450-4.500) Low (I imagine this is due to the Graves?? and still having a thyroid)
Thyroxine (T4) 8.3 (4.5-12)
T3 Uptake 31 (24-39)
Free Thyroxine Index 2.6 (1.2-4.9)
Thyroxine (T4) Free, Index 1.08 (0.81-1.76)
Thyiiodothyronine (T3) 130 (85-205)
I think I found out about the free testing about 2 years ago. I started googling it up and read a ton of information on it. I don't remember one site that was against it.
even endocrine web - from what I remember supported it.
Look, tell the doctor you want it. he/she can't judge. They know - if they know thyroid- its a good test.
even endocrine web - from what I remember supported it.
Look, tell the doctor you want it. he/she can't judge. They know - if they know thyroid- its a good test.
I totally 100% agree with goolarra !
Tell your Endo to get her head out of the clouds and 'get with the program'.
She is an Endo...not a judge and jury and as far as I'm concerned , if you want the Free T3 tested then she should respect your wishes.
Any Endo /Doc who refuses to do FT3 and FT4 should be tossed aside and start shopping for another one.
Remember one thing ALWAYS...they are NOT God.
They dont know everything.
Tell your Endo to get her head out of the clouds and 'get with the program'.
She is an Endo...not a judge and jury and as far as I'm concerned , if you want the Free T3 tested then she should respect your wishes.
Any Endo /Doc who refuses to do FT3 and FT4 should be tossed aside and start shopping for another one.
Remember one thing ALWAYS...they are NOT God.
They dont know everything.
Here's more good input.
"Some doctors may go a step further and look at your free T4 -- but not the free T3. To further complicate matters, the actual test procedures most labs use to test total T4 and T3 are essentially antiquated; there is new technology that can test the free hormone levels much more accurately.
In addition, without also testing the free T3, the doctor has no way of knowing if your body is properly converting the T4 it makes into T3. Just because the TSH level is normal doesn't mean it (T4) is present in your system in sufficient amounts, and just because your free T4 level is good doesn't mean your body is converting it like it should. "If you are exhibiting signs of low thyroid, your free T3 will be low despite your TSH being 'normal'," says Dr. Gordon. "The TSH only shows what is going on in your hypothalamus, not in your liver or elsewhere in your body."
This is a quote from a Dr. Erin Gordon, taken from this site.
http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/thyroid/index.html
"Some doctors may go a step further and look at your free T4 -- but not the free T3. To further complicate matters, the actual test procedures most labs use to test total T4 and T3 are essentially antiquated; there is new technology that can test the free hormone levels much more accurately.
In addition, without also testing the free T3, the doctor has no way of knowing if your body is properly converting the T4 it makes into T3. Just because the TSH level is normal doesn't mean it (T4) is present in your system in sufficient amounts, and just because your free T4 level is good doesn't mean your body is converting it like it should. "If you are exhibiting signs of low thyroid, your free T3 will be low despite your TSH being 'normal'," says Dr. Gordon. "The TSH only shows what is going on in your hypothalamus, not in your liver or elsewhere in your body."
This is a quote from a Dr. Erin Gordon, taken from this site.
http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/thyroid/index.html
Your doctor's statement that Free T3 relied upon other factors within the blood, will have to be added to our long list of excuses that we hear for not testing FT3. That is a new one I think.
None of these excuses really make any sense. Free T3 is the most active thyroid hormone. It is four times as potent as free T4. What is it that is supposed to be a better test for potential thyroid problems than FT3? It certainly isn't TSH because it is a pituitary hormone that is affected by many other variables, including a huge variation dependent on the time of day when it is taken. TSH does not affect symptoms, it only signals to the thyroid glands to increase/decrease thyroid hormone production. TSH is affected by so many variables, and is several levels of variables away from what we are trying to affect (symptoms) that it should not be a big surprise that it does not correlate very well to symptoms. FT3, on the other hand, has the most direct and greatest effect on symptoms, and thus it should be no surprise that it correlates best.
One of the other frequent arguments is that if T4 or FT4 is tested, then that is adequate because T4 converts to T3 as needed, so you don't need to also test for FT3. Of course we all know that some thyroid patients do not convert T4 to T3 very well, so FT3 levels do not correlate with FT4 very well. So if FT3 has the greatest biological effect, and correlates best with symptoms, how can anyone argue against the importance of knowing actual FT3 levels instead of just assuming or estimating them? Is it just to save money for the insurance companies? If so, why do doctors refuse to run FT3, even when patients are willing to pay for the test themselves? It seems to be another one of those long held practices that the medical community in general refuses to change. Kind of like the old TSH range.
Here is a good quote for you to use and the link to it is listed below.
"Conventional endocrinologists deny that there is such a thing as hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction without gross disease on an MRI scan, and they deny that free T4 and free T3 levels in the low end of the range can also cause hypothyroid symptoms and poor health. They are mistaken. While many do know enough to check a free T4 level with the TSH, they refuse to check the free T3 level, even though T3 is the active thyroid hormone! T4 is just a prohormone and must be converted into T3 to become active. Indeed, hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction with reduced TSH secretion is universal among aging adults (Carlé 2007). The fact is that"central" thyroid insufficiency with low thyroid hormone levels within the reference ranges
is common and is a frequent contributor to depression, obesity, high cholesterol, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia. These problems should all be considered as due to thyroid insufficiency until proven otherwise. A doctor must always look at the free T4 and free T3 thyroid hormone levels. He should consider them significant when both are below the mid-point of their reference ranges in a symptomatic patient, and they certainly represent hypothyroidism when both in the lower third of their population ranges, regardless of the TSH".
http://www.hormonerestoration.com/Thyroid.html
None of these excuses really make any sense. Free T3 is the most active thyroid hormone. It is four times as potent as free T4. What is it that is supposed to be a better test for potential thyroid problems than FT3? It certainly isn't TSH because it is a pituitary hormone that is affected by many other variables, including a huge variation dependent on the time of day when it is taken. TSH does not affect symptoms, it only signals to the thyroid glands to increase/decrease thyroid hormone production. TSH is affected by so many variables, and is several levels of variables away from what we are trying to affect (symptoms) that it should not be a big surprise that it does not correlate very well to symptoms. FT3, on the other hand, has the most direct and greatest effect on symptoms, and thus it should be no surprise that it correlates best.
One of the other frequent arguments is that if T4 or FT4 is tested, then that is adequate because T4 converts to T3 as needed, so you don't need to also test for FT3. Of course we all know that some thyroid patients do not convert T4 to T3 very well, so FT3 levels do not correlate with FT4 very well. So if FT3 has the greatest biological effect, and correlates best with symptoms, how can anyone argue against the importance of knowing actual FT3 levels instead of just assuming or estimating them? Is it just to save money for the insurance companies? If so, why do doctors refuse to run FT3, even when patients are willing to pay for the test themselves? It seems to be another one of those long held practices that the medical community in general refuses to change. Kind of like the old TSH range.
Here is a good quote for you to use and the link to it is listed below.
"Conventional endocrinologists deny that there is such a thing as hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction without gross disease on an MRI scan, and they deny that free T4 and free T3 levels in the low end of the range can also cause hypothyroid symptoms and poor health. They are mistaken. While many do know enough to check a free T4 level with the TSH, they refuse to check the free T3 level, even though T3 is the active thyroid hormone! T4 is just a prohormone and must be converted into T3 to become active. Indeed, hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction with reduced TSH secretion is universal among aging adults (Carlé 2007). The fact is that"central" thyroid insufficiency with low thyroid hormone levels within the reference ranges
is common and is a frequent contributor to depression, obesity, high cholesterol, chronic fatigue, and fibromyalgia. These problems should all be considered as due to thyroid insufficiency until proven otherwise. A doctor must always look at the free T4 and free T3 thyroid hormone levels. He should consider them significant when both are below the mid-point of their reference ranges in a symptomatic patient, and they certainly represent hypothyroidism when both in the lower third of their population ranges, regardless of the TSH".
http://www.hormonerestoration.com/Thyroid.html
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