What is your TSH?

I just went through all my lab work and realized my TSH was just above the normal range. I am wondering why my Dr. didnt adjust my meds since I have overwhelming HypoT symptoms. What is your TSH and do you feel "normal" at that level?

Replies

BehindBlueEyes988

Mine is 3.18 as of August 29th (may be higher now), but me Endo won't treat

steviecooke1985

I started at 6 when I first went to the doc, then it shot up to 8 in a month - so started getting treated. I'm on 100mg now and my TSH is between 0.5-1.0 and that is where I feel good. I was lucky to have a doctor who agreed to up my med from 75mg, when my TSH was 2.3 as I still didn't feel good. it isn't an exact science and not everyone is the same. I think if your doc won't listen, you should try someone else?

katapple

Mine was 3.4 when I started getting treated. Last couple of tests I'm right around a 1, and I feel ok....but I have other issues right now. I did start taking cytomel in June or July and helped me feel better for a while. Now after reading about adrenal fatigue I am going to ask my doc about it in November.

Sorry your doc is unwilling to adjust. Mine likes to see my levels at 1.

x4mygirlsx

Mine started out at 177 a year ago when i was diagnosed with hashimotos. got it to 5.8 within 3 months and i got pregnant. then they increased my dose and kept it below 2 through my pregnancy . now 7 weeks after giving birth its 0.01 so my dose has been reduced cause apparently that means im hyper not hypo. although i dont feel any different.

Dlacenere

I am on armour after many years on levothyroxine. Mine is usually around 1 and that is where I always feel the best. I look at my T3free and t4free closer than my tsh.

firstsip

I've been as low as... over 100 I think? Back when my adrenals crashed and I almost died, lolol (trust me, I laugh now). I've been as high as 0.00 (where I also ended up in the hospital). Throughout all of that, I had no thyroid :P It was all due to misdosages from two different endos (ten years apart, as well).

Right now I'm hovering between .5-1 on 100mcg Levothyroxine (the lowest dosage I've been on since the "2mcg of Synthroid" that made my TSH so crazy back in the day).

The "TSH" normal levels changed within the last 2 years; I notice that some endos people mention still follow the old one (Normal range = 1-5) while the new one is much smaller (Normal range =.5 to 3).

BehindBlueEyes988

Pardon, I am now at 3.25. Still no treatment though. Guess my Endo wants complete system failure before doing anything. Shall I say, my old Endo

fiberartist219

I don't know the actual number... but my labs usually show that my TSH is a little hyper and my T3 and T4 are normal. I feel fantastic, so my doctor keeps prescribing the dosage that works for me.

Ask your doctor about your Free T3 and Free T4. If those numbers are still hypo, you need to adjust your dose. If they are normal, then maybe look into T3 meds or some lifestyle changes like weight lifting or reducing carbs.

Feeling good is important! If you feel like crap, make sure your doctor knows it.

survivor1952

My TSH on 9-25-12 is 1.18 (Reference range is 0.40-4.50)
My T4, FREE is 1.3 (Reference range is 0.8-1.8)
I am on 50 mcg. of Synthroid
My endo is great, she believes what is "normal" for one person is different for another so she focus's on entire health issues.
She was the only one to determine I was also having pre-diabetic issues. I guess my thyroid & pancreas were kind of fighting each other...I am showing good numbers for both glands now. Might be a question to pursue also. By the way, I have Hashimoto's also, had 1/3 of thyroid removed last year. You have to have an endo who listens to your needs & you need to have trust in him/her.

firstsip

Pardon, I am now at 3.25. Still no treatment though. Guess my Endo wants complete system failure before doing anything. Shall I say, my old Endo

That's a oretty normal TSH by both ranges (most doctors would agree that a .25 could be a minor spike in levels. even people without thyroids get these, and you could go test your bloodwork again in two weeks and be 2.75... that's how small of a change that is within an overall range)--I doubt you'll go into system failure. What's your T3 or T4 though? I'm assuming you feel crappy if you're insistent on your endo treating you, but your levels appear normal.

Obviously we all know that everyone reacts differently to different levels, so if you feel crappy at a TSH of 3.25, that needs to be resolved. But make no mistake: just because you have symptoms of hypo or hyper still, doesn't mean your body will "fail"... I was 100+ and 0+ for a long, long time before anything happened (and I have no thyroid)... and those are very extreme levels.

Your organs aren't going to explode at 3 :P

BehindBlueEyes988

I know, I just meant she wants to wait until I'm worse than I am now. Just been a frustrating day being told to just wait and wait. Wanted to just scream all day

Not failure in the literal sense, lol

strawberrytoast

I was 150 when first tested upped doses every 6 months now at 2.7 on 150mg levothyroxine rubbish stuff. Dont feel any different. Cant remember my T3 grr

kcvance

Was at 60 when I got diagnosed, am currently at 0.45. I feel like hell when my TSH approaches 1. Free T3 and T4 are in the high end of "normal", whatever that is - and those are the only two numbers I care about. Also great to find a doctor who treats the SYMPTOMS rather than the lab number.

shvits

my TSH, T4 and T3 are all within normal range. It took endocrinologist about 8 months after surgery removing 1/2 to get the dose correct (she told me it could be up to one year). She added cytomel to the synthroid and that made all of the difference with energy. Synthroid in a.m. with cytomel and more cytomel at 1 P.M. No more hair loss and no more 2-3 hour naps in afternoon and more clear thinking. It is rather complicated and specialized....changes the dose after tests and calculates the dose very carefully using a formula that I do not understand...I had to take algebra over and that was 50 years ago. Good luck with your doc. hunting!

firstsip

my TSH, T4 and T3 are all within normal range. It took endocrinologist about 8 months after surgery removing 1/2 to get the dose correct (she told me it could be up to one year). She added cytomel to the synthroid and that made all of the difference with energy. Synthroid in a.m. with cytomel and more cytomel at 1 P.M. No more hair loss and no more 2-3 hour naps in afternoon and more clear thinking. It is rather complicated and specialized....changes the dose after tests and calculates the dose very carefully using a formula that I do not understand...I had to take algebra over and that was 50 years ago. Good luck with your doc. hunting!

So are you taking cytomel without a thyroid with good results?

And yeah, even with Armour, I don't think people realize--thyroid meds metabolize slowly, take 3-6 months to fully enter the blood stream (the entire dosage), and it can take 6-12 months for your brain to finally understand it's getting enough thyroid hormone to function properly. Thyroid is a terrible waiting game.

rebecca9341

TSH is 32.3, just started synthroid this past week. All my other values are WNL (which i find strange) Had my thyroid U/S last Wednesday and still waiting on results from that.

katoato

Hope you find someone to give you some choices in therapy. I was having horrible hypo symptoms at 2.55 (eyebrow hair and hair loss, low basal metabolic temperature, slow heartbeat, anemia, low energy, abnormal reflex response, palpitations, etc.) and found an angel of an endo that was willing to treat. Don't give up hope! You are actually above normal now according to AACE's 2003 TSH range of .3-3.0 so anyone with knowledge of those clinical guidelines should be willing to treat you.

Unfortunately, the 2012 guidelines have been revised to treat patients only at above a TSH of 4.5. http://aace.metapress.com/content/b67v7mk73g3233n2/fulltext.pdf

Best for you to shop around for a new endo before the new guidelines trickle down!

debbylee22

My TSH was 3.13 last time I had it checked. But my naturopath said it doesn't matter what that reading is. It doesn't really tell you anything. Its the other ones that tell the real story. However, my Dr does watch that one. I'm going by how I feel, and treating "symptoms"... still raising the Natural thyroid, hoping to find the amount needed soon. When one symptom leaves, another one shows up... so its still not quite there. My aim right now is to get my temperature reading up to 98.6, also.
I think it is suggested that most people feel better with a level of 1, or something like it... but each person's different.

reptilegrrl

These days my TSH is .5 or less. But TSH is really not the right way to measure thyroid function. TSH is a pituitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone. It is more important to measure thyroid hormones, like Free T3s and T4.

Unlike some people, I started seeing positive results with NDT right away. The T3 definitely kicks in pretty fast. I use my NDT sublingually, which may be why I got quick results. Synthetic T-4 only treatment did not work for me at all, it actually made me worse.

anewnam715

I was diagnosed in September, and at the time mine was 6.25. It had actually came down some since I was tested in 2011, it was 7.65 (which I was not on medication at the time)

SweatpantsRebellion

Mine is 0 and I still needed more meds. My free T3 and free T4 were not high enough. TSH is a useless lab when it comes to hypo treatment.

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

lizzyriver

Mine was 6.0 in August now is 3.82 on 125 mg Synthroid and Dr says normal range. But I feel much better when it is around 1.5 or 2. I've just recently felt like I have a lump in my throat and wondering if I have developed a thyroid nodule? Fun never ends!

ginnylee74

my TSH, T4 and T3 are all within normal range. It took endocrinologist about 8 months after surgery removing 1/2 to get the dose correct (she told me it could be up to one year). She added cytomel to the synthroid and that made all of the difference with energy. Synthroid in a.m. with cytomel and more cytomel at 1 P.M. No more hair loss and no more 2-3 hour naps in afternoon and more clear thinking. It is rather complicated and specialized....changes the dose after tests and calculates the dose very carefully using a formula that I do not understand...I had to take algebra over and that was 50 years ago. Good luck with your doc. hunting!

Shivits,
My Endo put me on 1 Grain of Armour, then Cytomel once with the Armour in the AM. Last visit he added another Cytomel for the afternoon. I'm curious, do you eat at regular hours and have any trouble remembering to take the Cytomel in the afternoon. I don't always eat at the same time and have a hard time regulating the meds. How do you handle the time frames for your meds??.

Hope I made sense.

Ginny:flowerforyou:

TXBelle1174

Thanks everyone. I have all my labs and other than the TSH, which isnt really "bad", my levels look pretty good but I have almost every hypoT symptom you can imagine. I also have multi-nodule goiter with one of the nodules being fairly large. My old endo had said that when my levels were normal that the goiter and nodules should reduce in size. It has been almost a year, they have not reduced in size but they have not gotten bigger either. I also just found out that I have a cyst on my left ovary that is slightly larger than the ovary itself. I do have PCOS but my Dr. was concerned that this one particular cyst is so big, especially since I havent had cysts for a long time. I will be seeing a new endo next Thursday and I am really keeping my fingers crossed that he will look at the WHOLE picture and treat for the symptoms rather than a number on a piece of paper.

bradthemedic

I'm at 4.8

reptilegrrl

Shivits,
My Endo put me on 1 Grain of Armour, then Cytomel once with the Armour in the AM. Last visit he added another Cytomel for the afternoon. I'm curious, do you eat at regular hours and have any trouble remembering to take the Cytomel in the afternoon. I don't always eat at the same time and have a hard time regulating the meds. How do you handle the time frames for your meds??.

It is very strange for a doctor to add cytomel on top of Armour. This is because pig thyroid actually already has more T3 than humans naturally make. So on Armour, you really shouldn't need MORE T3. I worry that your balance may be way off.

Instead of just taking more T3 in the afternoon, why not split your dose of Armour between the two times of day?

sometimes_blondie

My first test showed 8,3. I've been on 50 mcg of Levothyroxin for about 6 weeks and just went in yesterday for a follow up

AmyFett

I'm not sure what I started at, but my labwork from about 2 months ago, I was 7. My endo wants me to be at highest 2. I got a ways to go.. I definitely do NOT feel normal. I'm always fatigued and tired, sore, fat, depressed. It's really getting old!

TXBelle1174

I'm not sure what I started at, but my labwork from about 2 months ago, I was 7. My endo wants me to be at highest 2. I got a ways to go.. I definitely do NOT feel normal. I'm always fatigued and tired, sore, fat, depressed. It's really getting old!

This last time I went in my TSH was at 9. No wonder I felt like hell!!! I am hoping the new dose of Armour will help. Yes, it gets old. Some days I just want to stay in bed and not move and just forget about everything for awhile. Then reality (usually in the form of my kids) knocks me upside the head and kicks my *kitten* out of bed.

wonessa86

I was diagnosed with graves disease almost 3yrs ago and my tsh was 0.03 then. Had my thyroid removed 7 months ago and as of yesterday my tsh is at 7.89...but my endo says my tsh is not high enough to warrant my symptoms!! Yeah cos I just like making them up for fun...??? But he's upped my thyroxine so I'm happy, and I'll have another blood test in 2 months