Aa
Looks like not Hashimoto's
Here are my test results --- am I reading these correctly? It looks like I do not have Hashimoto's:
Thyroglobulin AB results - <0.4 u/ml reference <0.4
Thyroglobulin TG results - 33.5 ng/ml reference 3.0 - 40.0 with tsh 0.3 - 3.0 --- my tsh is 2.070
Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab results - 5 iu/ml range 0 - 34
Antithyroglobulin AB results - <1.0 IU/ML range - 0.0 - 0.9
Free T4 results - 0.86 ng/dl range 0.82 - 1.77
Free T3 results - 2.6 pg/ml range 2.0 - 4.4
T4 and T3 look low, so maybe I am just hypo and no Hashimoto's. You analysis would be appreciated.
Thyroglobulin AB results - <0.4 u/ml reference <0.4
Thyroglobulin TG results - 33.5 ng/ml reference 3.0 - 40.0 with tsh 0.3 - 3.0 --- my tsh is 2.070
Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab results - 5 iu/ml range 0 - 34
Antithyroglobulin AB results - <1.0 IU/ML range - 0.0 - 0.9
Free T4 results - 0.86 ng/dl range 0.82 - 1.77
Free T3 results - 2.6 pg/ml range 2.0 - 4.4
T4 and T3 look low, so maybe I am just hypo and no Hashimoto's. You analysis would be appreciated.
I actually got an email and was able to access them that way. Thank you very much. I will let you know the outcome.
I just sent you a PM with names of some doctors that have been recommended by other thyroid patients. To access, just click on your name and then from your personal page click on messages.
Yes please give me recommendations. I live in the East Valley so Mesa, Chandler or Tempe would be best for me. If they give me the name I can check my insurance website and see if they are in my network. That would be wonderful.
If you have the option and are interested, there are several doctors in the Phoenix area that are recommended by thyroid patients.
Thank you for that explanation. I had a doctor in Michigan that had given me a low dose of thyroid meds before I moved to AZ in 1998 and I didn't have any of these symptoms. I could not get a doctor in AZ to give me any because "my levels are in the normal range" so I have not felt right for the last 15 yrs or more and I am 50 lbs heavier. My weight has been up and down, more up than down, for years.
Then in 2008 the nodules started and now I have a multi-nodular goiter. If I would have found a doctor to prescribe meds years ago maybe the nodules would not have grown. Very frustrating!!! I hear stories like mine from so many women it is ridiculous.
I am not sure what it will take to get doctors to treat thyroid patients based on symptoms and not rely so much on the pituitary gland releasing TSH. Can a pituitary gland NEVER function improperly? It's crazy but it seems to be pretty well ingrained in the medical profession.
Then in 2008 the nodules started and now I have a multi-nodular goiter. If I would have found a doctor to prescribe meds years ago maybe the nodules would not have grown. Very frustrating!!! I hear stories like mine from so many women it is ridiculous.
I am not sure what it will take to get doctors to treat thyroid patients based on symptoms and not rely so much on the pituitary gland releasing TSH. Can a pituitary gland NEVER function improperly? It's crazy but it seems to be pretty well ingrained in the medical profession.
Just to support what goolarra told you, these are the words of a good thyroid doctor.
"The free T3 is not as helpful in untreated persons as the free T4 because in the light of a rather low FT4 the body will convert more T4 to T3 to maintain thyroid effect as well as is possible. So the person with a rather low FT4 and high-in-range FT3 may still be hypothyroid. However, if the FT4 is below 1.3 and the FT3 is also rather low, say below 3.4 (range 2 to 4.4 at LabCorp) then its likely that hypothyroidism is the cause of a person's symptoms."
The whole problem is with the misguided reliance on TSH. TSH is somehow supposed to accurately reflect levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones and the overall thyroid status. In reality TSH does not correlate well with either Free T4 or Free T3, much less correlate with symptoms. Even the ranges for Free T4 and Free T3 are corrupted by TSH. That is because labs calculate reference ranges based on all the test data they see for Free T4 and Free T3, excluding only those patients whose TSH exceeds about 5.0. This means that the data base includes results from sick people who are being treated for hypothyroidism and patients with central hypothyroidism (characterized by low TSH levels). So the reference ranges are faulty and we find that test results in the lower half of the range are frequently associated with being hypothyroid.
"The free T3 is not as helpful in untreated persons as the free T4 because in the light of a rather low FT4 the body will convert more T4 to T3 to maintain thyroid effect as well as is possible. So the person with a rather low FT4 and high-in-range FT3 may still be hypothyroid. However, if the FT4 is below 1.3 and the FT3 is also rather low, say below 3.4 (range 2 to 4.4 at LabCorp) then its likely that hypothyroidism is the cause of a person's symptoms."
The whole problem is with the misguided reliance on TSH. TSH is somehow supposed to accurately reflect levels of the biologically active thyroid hormones and the overall thyroid status. In reality TSH does not correlate well with either Free T4 or Free T3, much less correlate with symptoms. Even the ranges for Free T4 and Free T3 are corrupted by TSH. That is because labs calculate reference ranges based on all the test data they see for Free T4 and Free T3, excluding only those patients whose TSH exceeds about 5.0. This means that the data base includes results from sick people who are being treated for hypothyroidism and patients with central hypothyroidism (characterized by low TSH levels). So the reference ranges are faulty and we find that test results in the lower half of the range are frequently associated with being hypothyroid.
Thank you for your response. I was confused too but it might have been the codes they used when they ordered it? I am guessing.
No they don't know what the cause is but I was told by the endocrinologist they won't give me meds because my TSH is mid range. She said the Pituitary gland would release TSH if my body needed more T3 and T4 than what I have. She knows that I am symptomatic of hypo and have been for years but I have not been able to get any doctor to give me meds to raise my T3 and T4.
They did refer me to an EN&T Cancer Surgeon who recommended that I have a total thyroidectomy based on my sister having thyroid cancer and they found suspicious cells when doing my FNA last month. I have to have a Barium Swallow test Oct 26th because I have a feeling of something stuck in my throat and my thyroid and nodules are not large enough to cause that. He said when he gets the results of that test he will call me and I can tell him what I decided to do. I want to get a 2nd opinion first.
He gave me the choice of total thyroidectomy or 6 mos surveillance of ultrasound then FNA every time there is a change. One nodule went from 1.8 cm to 2.0 cm in 2 mos, so I am concerned that I will be having FNA every 6 mos. Also, the 4 nodules that I have are vascular and there is a chance that the three that were deemed benign could also have cancer cells. My family and close friends want me to get it out. I am so sick of dealing with this that I am leaning toward just getting it out. Then maybe I can get my T3 and T4 regulated to at least mid range. I have been monitoring these nodules since 2008.
No they don't know what the cause is but I was told by the endocrinologist they won't give me meds because my TSH is mid range. She said the Pituitary gland would release TSH if my body needed more T3 and T4 than what I have. She knows that I am symptomatic of hypo and have been for years but I have not been able to get any doctor to give me meds to raise my T3 and T4.
They did refer me to an EN&T Cancer Surgeon who recommended that I have a total thyroidectomy based on my sister having thyroid cancer and they found suspicious cells when doing my FNA last month. I have to have a Barium Swallow test Oct 26th because I have a feeling of something stuck in my throat and my thyroid and nodules are not large enough to cause that. He said when he gets the results of that test he will call me and I can tell him what I decided to do. I want to get a 2nd opinion first.
He gave me the choice of total thyroidectomy or 6 mos surveillance of ultrasound then FNA every time there is a change. One nodule went from 1.8 cm to 2.0 cm in 2 mos, so I am concerned that I will be having FNA every 6 mos. Also, the 4 nodules that I have are vascular and there is a chance that the three that were deemed benign could also have cancer cells. My family and close friends want me to get it out. I am so sick of dealing with this that I am leaning toward just getting it out. Then maybe I can get my T3 and T4 regulated to at least mid range. I have been monitoring these nodules since 2008.
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