Confused

[Junior1966]

I am a 41 year old male and recently had my thyroid checked out by my family doctor. He tested my Free T4 and the TSH. The T4 was 1.40 NG/DL and theTSH was 4.9 UIU/ML. The range stated from the lab for the TSH was .03-5.1. I was reading an artical stating that range is out dated and basically anything above 3.0 would indicate Hypothyroidism. My doctor says I am in acceptable range and do not need any medication, Is he correct or do I need to seek other advice. I do not have insurance and can't afford to run from doctor to docter to find one that will use the newer standard. My symptoms are swelling around my wrists, stiff joints, teeth marks on my tounge, fading eyebrows and fateage. Hypothyroidism runs in my family.

[stella5349]

AR is the best male we got on board with the best info available. I hope everything turns out OK and post your tests.

Good Luck

[AR-10]

You should ask for another TSH test and also tests for antibodies.

Labs are using many different ranges right now. Anywhere from 0.3 to 0.4 on the low end and anywhere from 3.0 to 5.5 on the high end. It's rather confusing.

Your symptoms sound like sub-clinical Hypothyroidism, which, if that is in fact correct, means you are hypo, but not hypo enough to get treatment.

There are other things that could be causing your symptoms, but when you put it all together, it sounds like you are on the right track.

Nobody, as far as I know, has a normal TSH of 4.9. That is high, and high enough to cause symptoms. A different doctor may treat you at that level, especially if antibody tests come back positive.

You MAY be able to save a little money if you were to call a few different labs in the area, see what they are using for test ranges, and what doctors use their lab. Just a thought.