A friend of mine has Lupus.
Her doctor told her one time to stay off the d*mn internet!
:-)
I told my doc once something I read online. He told me he was the doctor, not google. He pretended to be joking but not really. I bet more doctors are annoyed that we have web resources to compare notes.
I agree with AR.
I am a medical technologist in the lab.
The TSH method from lab to lab doesn't vary. It is only the ranges that vary. Each lab sets it's own range.
However, the method and ranges for free t4, etc do vary from lab to lab.
My lab changed it's upper limit from 5.5 down to 4.5 a few months ago. The method didn't change at all.
I'm on a roll.
My lab changed their limits this year. Last year the range was 0.5-5.0. This year the range is 0.34-5.0. They're using the same machine! They just changed the lower limit on the paper.
Why are they not changing the upper limit? Do you know how many people in this town would suddenly become hypothyroid if they changed the high limit to 3.0?
Half the people tested, that's how many.
Different labs have different ranges for T3 and T4, because there are different ways of measuring them.
Different labs have different ranges for TSH because they are too ignorant, indifferent, or afraid to change their lab range.
TSH is measured the same everywhere. 1.0 is 1.0, and 4.36 is 4.36, regardless of where you go. All your doctor was saying was that since your lab sheet says the range is 0.5-5.0, that you are within lab limits. There was no "H" next to the test result, so it is not high, even though the doctor knows that the new range is 0.3-3.0.
If your doctor REALLY thinks what she told you is true, she needs to go back to school, or maybe talk to the lab.
TSH is measured using the same method in every lab in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, India, you name it. The only variation is the high and low limits, not the methodology or scale. 4.36 is 4.36 regardless of whether the range is 0.5-5.0, or 0.3-3.0.
Hi, I just wanted to say my TSH has been 4.6 and is classed as borderline high, meaning hypothyroidism, even though my T4 was in the lower end of the normal range. I have finally just seen an endo and she said that results can fluctuate like this when you are starting with thyroid disease. But that a TSH that high is still an indication that something is going on with your thyroid. Hope this helps.
There is a certain measurement of the T4 Bu I don't understand you doctors thoughts on the blood work.
It sounds as though the claim is you are normal out of range. How do you feel - that is the key. I don't follow the labs well - I believe symptoms are what needs to be treated not lab work.