tsh results

[jenzpets]

Hi,
I went through some extreme trauma and stress this year. My adrenals were completely "fried" and I had hyperthyroid symptoms. My tsh at the time was .62.
5 months later, my adrenals are better but I still have hyperthyroid symptoms. I had my tsh levels checked and now they are 1.3 .
So basically the numbers look better.
Is there any reason to pay for t3 and t4 tests? I don't have health insurance and need to watch what I spend money one as far as testing. So if pushing for these tests is unnecessary, I don't want to have them.
Thanks so much....J

[jenzpets]

So what should the FT4 and FT3 levels be?

[Barb135]

TSH is a pituitary hormone and can vary greatly over a short period of time; and is not the best indicator for thyroid issues.  Free T4 and Free T3 are the hormones that the body actually uses, with FT3 being the active hormone -- FT4 must be converted to FT3 in order for the body to use it.  Without knowing what these levels are, you could be dealing anything, including a pituitary issue causing your TSH to be on the low side, even though it's in the "normal" range.  You can still be hyper with a normal TSH.  

[jenzpets]

I dont understand why to test for Ft3 and Ft4 as I have read that they diagnose with the test for hyperthyroid to have to be in the low range for tsh and then normal or high for the ft3 and ft4. So basically if the first one is not low and the other two are high, they wont see it has hyperthyroid anyway.
thanks for the help...J

[Super_sally888]

Hi,

if you are really concerned that you may have thyroid problem, the only way to confirm is proper testing.

TSH appears to be normal.  If you were to do additional testing, make sure you request FT3 and FT4 (not T3 and T4), which are the available hormone.  To complete the picture, should also test thyroid antibodies.  I think there are 2 test for that - TPOab and TgAb.

You could also consider some other causes, if relevant, and eliminate them.  For some people coffee may cause symptoms that may mimic hyper....