Not sure whether there is a Thyroid problem

[Pavan478]

My son 5 years old was detected with TSH 15. Two days later tested again in detail at a different lab (weel known lab) and the results for TSH showed normarl for TSH and T4. But T3 = 1.17 (RANGE: 1.27 - 2.27 for 5 years old).

Please advice if the boy has to be medicated for hypothyroid.

[Pavan478]

Thanks for your replies. Here the lab reports

Age 5 years, male

T3, Total - 1.17 (range 1.27 - 2.21)
T4, Total - 8.50 (5.60 - 14.90)
TSH - 4.92 (.70 - 6.40)

Symptoms: 3 weeks ago for one week he suffered from stomach ache and was very lethargic and used to go to bed by 6:30 PM and wake up at 6 AM. Now comparitively he is better, but not as it was before..he used to sleep only after 10 PM. His mother has Hypothyroid, so we suspected the same for him and went to the doctor. After seeing the report doctor wanted us to take a test again after 15 days, which is due now.

It was really painful to me to know that he might have hypothyroid and he has to go for blood test every month..Daily giving pills for survival, i feel depressed when I think of it..
I appreciate your support in this regard.

      

[Barb135]

Forgot to mention -- if you would post the actual lab results along with the reference ranges used by the lab(s), it would help members more fully understand his circumstances.

[Barb135]

Was that T3 a "FREE" T3 or "TOTAL" T3 -- same with the T4?  TSH is not a good indicator of thyroid function. You would need the other tests that dpleiman mentioned above.  Also, you don't mention if he has any symptoms.  

[dpleiman]

TSH is primarily a pituitary hormone and does not give the entire picture of a thyroid problem. This number can fluctuate within the same day just as your blood pressure rises and falls throughout the day, depending on stress and diet etc...

the Free T3 and Free T4 give a much bigger picture and then you can take into consideration the TSH.. Given the T3 Range AND the TSH at 15 then I think it's safe to say he is hypothyroid and would benefit from medication.

If it were me, i would take him and get a complete Thyroid panel including TSH, Free T4, Free T3, TPOab to see if he has thyroid antibodies to rule out hashimotos and then based on all of those results combined from the same lab i would make a determination and consider taking him to a pediatric endocrinologist as soon as possible, children with low thyroid levels who are not treated are at greater risk for developmental disabilities.