thyroid hormone disorder

[aloke]

my mother aged 56 years has very low level of TSH (0.042 uiu/dl), very high level of T4 (16.80 ug/ml). but, the T3 level in her blood is within normal range (1.37 ng/ml) as per report of her blood test.

1. her lipid profile, serum c.p.k. (nac) and tc, dc of blood cells are o.k.
2.E.S.R is 46 mm.

what possible ailment is she suffering from ? PLEASE HELP!!

[gimel]

Your mom's test results are very much like mine a while back when I was on a T4 med.  In trying to relieve symptoms, my meds were increased to where T4 was very high, TSH was <.05 but T3 was in lower third of its range.  This was apparently because my body was not converting T4 to T3 very well.  I still had hypo symptoms.

You did not indicate whether your mom is already on meds.  Either way, could it be that she does not convert T4 very well either?

More importantly, does she have symptoms with these test results?  Symptoms should be the primary concern.  In the absence of symptoms, maybe she needs to do nothing except continue to monitor her levels.

[aloke]

hi! rumpled, thanks for your kind response.
but one thing i wish to know, why should her t4 level be high when the *stimulus* to the thyroid gland (tsh) is very low ? i have searched the net but didn't found any suitable answer. as the t3 level in this case is within normal range, the test report (lipid profile) corroborated that the metabolism is fine. so, the case may not be termed as 'hyper or hypo-thyroidism'.i am perplexed!! please respond.

[rumpled]

Her doc *should* look at her pituitary in addition to her thyroid, as TSH is a pituitary test, and that one is very suppressed,

Has she had the antibody tests, ultrasound etc?