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Elevated thyroglobulin

I am a 33 y/o female (5'10", 175lbs) who has been experiencing all symptoms of hypothyroidism (severe fatigue, weight gain, coarse hair/dry skin, development of ovarian cysts, depression and irratability, elevated blood cholesterol level, sore throat/hoarse voice, etc). However, all thyroid levels tested normal, except for my thyroglobulin which was 42.5. Prior to these symptoms, there have been no concerns with my thyroid.
I am not scheduled to see an endrocrinologist for 2 1/2 more weeks and am trying to self-educate myself a bit. Can you please shed a bit of light on what this means/what it could mean?
Thanks!
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1714830 tn?1308996857
oh ty very much i just joined and wasnt sure how or where to post... this post was the one i found first when looking thyroid probs up......my dr ran these tests because my thyroid is enlarged im hoping its nothing serious but wanted to know any and all possibilities.......again ty so much :)
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Avatar universal
I meant to mention that you might want to start your own new question.  You'd probably get more individual response that way than tagging onto an old thread like this one.  Just go to the top of the screen and click on the green "Post a Question" button.  
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Avatar universal
I believe both your thyroid antibody tests (first two in the list) are negative.  Is the range of 0.0-3.9 correct?  This means that you likely do not have autoimmune thyroid disease.

Your FT4 is very low in the range.  Many of us still feel hypo until FT4 is about mid-range.  FT3 is low as well.  Upper third of range is the target for FT3.

I don't know enough about your other tests to comment.

I think you'd feel better if you had a trial of thyroid meds and nudged your FT3 and FT4 up a bit.  Would your doctor be agreeable, do you think?
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1714830 tn?1308996857
Hello i am 35, f, 5'9'' 240lbs(40 lbs more than what i was during my pregnancy!) i have been having alot of symptoms after the birth of my youngest child (sever fatigue, thinning brittle nails & hair, weight gain and the inability to lose, scratchy rough voice, almost no apitite, trouble sleeping,  etc.) was told all my symptoms were due to pms......i am trying to make my labs make sense to me please help my dr apt isn't for 3 more weeks and i would like to know what im in for.
my results are:
thyroglobulin ab <20 (reference: 0-20)
thyroid peroxidase AB <10 (0.0-3.9)
free T4 1.0 (0.8-1.8)
free T3 2.6 (2.3-4.2)
TSH 1.13 (0.40-4.50)
rheumatoid factor 14 (0-13)
also had other tests done
lymphocytes 19.9 (24.0- 44.0)
iron 42 (40-175)
transferrin sat. 12 (15-50)
red cell distribution 16.8 (7.0-16.0)
segmented neutrophils 72.7 (42.0-71.0)
mchc 31.5 (32.0-36.0)

any info would be greatly apreciated thank you
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Avatar universal
The elevated thyroglobulin indicates some inflammation of the thyroid (thyroiditis).  However, as a single reading, it is not terribly useful for a person who has not had a thyroidectomy.  As part of a series of readings, e.g. before and after a thyroidectomy, it can detect the presence of remaining thyroid cells and indicate the need for more treatment

Your normal TGab and TPOab rule out any autoimmune thyroid disease.

However, your FT4, at .94, is very low in the range, and your TT3, at 94 is too.  I am not at all surprised that you have symptoms.  As far as I'm concerned (not a doctor, just a fellow patient), you are hypothyroid.  Your TSH is in the normal range, but TSH correlates very poorly with symptoms.  T3 and T4 are much more important.  Many people report not feeling their best until FT3 and FT4 are in the top third of the range.  Also, many people don't feel well if theit TSH gets above 0.5-1.0.

If I were you, I might try looking up some of the temporary forms of thyroiditis...DeQuervain's (not sure of that spelling) thyroiditis, "silent" thyroiditis, and there's another whose name escapes me at the moment.  Some of these can be related to a recent bacterial or viral infection (especially an upper respiratory infection) or a recent pregnancy.

Anyway, your T3 and T4 are so close to the bottom of the range that I think you'd benefit from thyroid hormone replacement meds.  If your endo is good, he'll treat you according to your symptoms and pay lots more attention to T3 and T4 than to TSH.

I'd be interested to hear what he thinks is the cause of your low levels.  Keep us informed.
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the responses!
Here are the tests numbers and ranges

thyroglobulin 42.5 (reference: 1.3-31.8)
thyroglobulin Ab 0.7 (0.0-14.4)
thyroid peroxidase AB <0.3 (0.0-3.9)
free T4 .94 (.89-1.76)
T3 uptake 34.8 (23.0-37.0)
FTI (T7) 2.3 (1.4-5.2)
T4 6.6 (4.7-11.4)
TSH 1.454 (.350-5.350)
T3 94 (80-200)
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Avatar universal
Thanks for the responses!
Here are the tests numbers and ranges

thyroglobulin 42.5 (reference: 1.3-31.8)
thyroglobulin Ab 0.7 (0.0-14.4)
thyroid peroxidase AB <0.3 (0.0-3.9)
free T4 .94 (.89-1.76)
T3 uptake 34.8 (23.0-37.0)
FTI (T7) 2.3 (1.4-5.2)
T4 6.6 (4.7-11.4)
TSH 1.454 (.350-5.350)
T3 94 (80-200)

Any insight on what this all means?
thanks!
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Avatar universal
Do you have the actual numbers from your thyroid tests and their reference ranges?  Too often we hear that everything is "normal" only to discover that testing was inadequate or reference ranges used were obsolete.

Also, do you have the thyroglogulin reference range?

We can comment a lot more intelligently once we know those.

Thanks.
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Avatar universal
Please post all the test results that were called "normal", along with reference ranges, so that members can provide the best response.
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