help understanding test results

[chriscycle]

I am competitive cyclist, 40, and am in good physical shape. I am primarily a vegetarian, eat tons of green leafy veggies, and occasional fish and chicken. I do eat dairy. I have been struggling with reduced energy, dry skin/hair, chronic hives, difficulty focusing/concentrating and getting progressively worse over the past 3 years. I had previous (over the past 2 years) thyroid tests, but only the TSH and Free T4, both of which came back in the very low normal range (.48 and .8 respectively). My doctors did not feel these results were an issue. However, I just had another round of testing done and had four tests for thyroid function. Results are:

Free T4   1.1 (normal range .6-1.6)
T3 Total   Less than 20  (normal range 70-180)
TSH  .98  (normal range .40-4.0)
Thyroxine T4 Total  6.4  (normal range 6.1-11.8)

My Iron is 30  (normal range 20-160)

Thyroid problems (both hypo and hyper) run in my family. All the women on my mom's side, are either hypo or hyper.

Any thoughts on what these results show? Thank you.

Christine

[AR-10]

Here is a quote I found concerning Total T3;

"Since most of the T3 is bound to protein, the Total T3 can be affected by protein levels and protein binding ability, but the Free T3 is not."

And another;

"The Total T3 reports the total amount of T3 in the bloodstream, including T3 bound to carrier proteins plus freely circulating T3."

I don't understand the significance of that, or the difference between measuring T3 that way and a Free T3 test, but I have seen it said that a Free T3 test is more acurate.

The Thyroxine T4 Total test is less acurate than the Free T4 test, and is not often used. As you can see, the Total T4 looks low, but the Free T4 looks midrange. I'm not sure why a T4 Total was run, although there may be a good reason.

It would have been better had you been given a Free T3 test.

The tests (other than T3) look pretty good. I don't know what to say about the T3. What does "less than 20" mean? Your T3 can't be that awful, or your TSH would be much higher.

You may have Adrenal Fatigue.
A cortisol test may show it.
  
You may have Hyperparathyroidism.
A high calcium level can indicate that.

Your iron is a little low. Is it possible to be anemic and still be in range?

Your TSH looks really good, and so does your Free T4. Unless your levels are fluxuating wildly, I don't think it's a thyroid problem. Some fluxuation, as in the difference between your two tests, is normal.