What should my tsh be?

[jenniferk86]

What should my tsh be around if my free t4 is .8 (.8-1.8)? Anyone have a free t 4 like mine? Could you post your tsh? Also anyone think that a free t4 like mine is normal or ok?

[Barb135]

There is no rule of thumb; my latest FT4 was 1.8 (same range as yours), with a TSH of < 0.01.  An earlier FT4 was 0.6, with TSH of < 0.01.  Am not hyper with FT4 of 1.8, but was hypo with FT4 of 0.6, even with low TSH.

[jenniferk86]

Oh, and I cannot switch Doctors, or I might. I have Medicaid, which is insurance for low income people.  It is very limited in who I can see.  Even if the providers accept medicaid, I cannot find anyone who is accepting new patients with medicaid.  I had one appointment with the only other doctor accepting new patients, and he was absolutely terrible. For the most part my doctor is a great doctor, usually listens to me and tries new things. I think he just doesnt know much about thyroid and has no clue about pituitary issues or what they look like on a test, and I have been doing some research, and the criteria for having pituitary issues is very vague.  I only found one site for the diagnosing criteria and it said that dr. believes that a TSH below 1.0 (.3-3.0)and a free t4 below .9 (.8-1.8) would definitely indicate hypo pituitary. but, I am at 1.0,  not below it and at .8 in those same references, so I am unsure if that includes me or not, and how to convince my dr. to do further pituitary testing. He gave me some synthroid 25 mg, as a medical trial to see if it would help, but I am very tolerant of anything I am given as far as medicine, and am afraid I don't think that low of a dose will make that much difference, but it does give me hope that he is willing to listen to what I have to say.  So I am just looking for some kind of clues as to whether a free t4 of .8(.8-1.8) would usually show a higher tsh than 1.0(.3-3.0) because right now, he looks at the tsh and says, oh your tsh is good, that means you are not hypothyroid even if you have every symptom imaginable, it must not be the thyroid because your tsh is so good. Most people with a tsh of 1.0 feel fine.  I don't. I wish I had had thyroid tests done in the past when I felt normal, so I could compare them to now. Then I might have a better clue.            



SOOOOO.

If you all could post  your low free t4 results with the corresponding tsh values, that would be very helpful for me.  Please .  I understand that everyone is different, but I am trying to just get a general idea.  Thank you guys very much.

[yvih]

Hi Jennifer
My last tests about a month ago showed my free t3 at 2.70 (free t4 1.24 and TSH 2.38) and my new doc thought it was too high. I'd been on Synthroid for 2 years and after no changes have found a doc who's more willing to look at symptoms than test results.  He follows the "functional medicine" philosophy.  I've started on Armour Thyroid.  We'll see if it works.  After reading Stop the Thryoid Madness, I'm really hoping to see much better results.  I'd say you should find a doc who is willing to listen to YOU and not be so concerned about the test results.  Each of us is different and the so called "normal" is different for each of us.  Noone with Hypothyroid will fall into the same "normal".  I'd strongly urge anyone whose doc is looking for them to fit into the "normal" range to find a new doc.   Good Luck!!!

[jenniferk86]

Ive was simply wondering if an average mildly hypothyroid person with lots of hypo symptoms would have a tsh of like 3, 6 , 9, 30? When their free t4 is at .8 .lowest part of"normal" range. I know it shouldn't be at 1 with low free t4, just not sure how high it would most commonly be in relating to a free t4 like mine.

[jenniferk86]

I will also add that my free t4 keeps dropping and so does my tsh . If my free t4 is dropping my tsh should rise.  I am not sure about my free t3 because I've only had that tested once.

[jenniferk86]

Free t4 is .8 (.8-1.8)
Tsh is 1.0 (.4-4.0)
Free t3 is 3.25 ( 2.3-4.5)