Best time of day to have blood drawn for test?

[mbs]

Does it matter what time of day the blood is drawn when you have having TSH, FT3 and FT4 done? what about your ferrin?

[Paleoanth]

As far as I know, any time is OK for the thyroid tests.

[tigger64]

You want the blood draw to be as early in the am as possible. I had it taken at noon and my TSH was 1.7 which the dr said was fine. I had retaken at 8 am and was 2.48, enough to get some attn from my Holistic Doc. Makes a difference. Apparently TSH is highest in early am and then tapers off thruout day.

Tig

[JudyAnn]

That's really interesting, Tigger64, I usually get my blood test done in the morning, but the last two times I did them in the afternoon and my TSH came back really low. It was always around .12 - .15 when I did it in the afternoon it was .04 the 1st time and .004 the 2nd time. I just got tested again last Wed. and I went in the AM so now I'm wondering what it's going to be.

[Natrushka]

If you want your TSH to be it's highest you go as early as possible. If you want FTs at their lowest you go around 4 pm (between 3 - 5 pm). If you're taking hormones (synthetic or natural) do not take them for 8 hours before your test (they will artificially elevate your FT results)

[TVMichelle]

Well, well, well. This is most interesting. I'm scheduled for my monthly blood test next Monday - I will definitely try going early, as my doc thinks I'm hyperT and I'm not so sure. So theoretically, if I'm correct, my TSH will be at its highest, showing tht my thyroid is sluggish and the TSH is trying to get it jump started.

Have I got that right?

P.S. I'm on PTU to slow my thyroid, 75mgs once a day.

[sunnywey]

I asked the lab technition last week when I had my tests done, if the time of day made a difference to the results. She said "NO".
I think I will go early in the morning anyways - HA!

[tigger64]

Yeah, even my holistic doc said time of day doesn't matter, but I don't believe it.

Tig

[Nancy LC]

My doc likes you to take your meds 4-5 hours before your blood test.

[Natrushka]

Nancy, your doc is a knowledgeable one. If any of us took our meds 4/5 hours before a draw we'd be cut back so much it's not funny.

[Nancy LC]

That's true! I wonder why my doctor even bothers with looking at TSH any longer, since he must surely know its going to be crazy low while I'm taking T3.

[staceymck]

My doctor recommended that it's best to have thyroid blood tests taken first thing in the AM, without taking your thyroid medication!
Having your blood taken after taking the pill could falsly show your #'s as being optimal.

[sunnywey]

I had more lab tests done this week, and I asked the lab lady about doing thyroid tests + the time of day etc. She said that a huge research project on the timing of the testing had just been completed + they could not prove for certain that the timimg made a difference. She said tests go up + down at different times on different people + it is not always higher on the majority of people in the AM. Just no proof at all - she said.

[Cissie]

Okay now I'm really confused on this! My doctor put me on synthroid a few months ago. He said I was borderline. I don't know what is going on except I am continually gaining weight and other than that I don't notice any other change. Except I started itching like crazy about a month after I started taking the stuff! A few weeks ago I had blood drawn again and he said I showed a spike so he decreased my dose to .25 to see what happens. I just want to quit taking it completely!!! He started me out on .50 which is the next to lowest dosage. The idea was to help me get energy and my metabolism kicking. I have fibromyalgia and the doctor is thinking that my thyroid could be what is draining me rather than the fibro. This is a new doctor and at first I thought maybe he was on to something. He told me that me being hungry all the time was a good sign and meant my metabolism was working. Oh wonderful, so what gain another 50 lbs.!!! I don't understand this. Have any of you ever stopped taking this medication? At least when I wasn't on it I could take my green tea pills and get energy plus supress my appetite!

Help!

Cissie

PS In one of the first posts someone said that hormone pills will effect the result of the thryoid test. I have been on premarin for years! Nobody even mentioned me skipping my dose before having my blood drawn!!!

[Natrushka]

Premarin will not effect the tests immediately - thyroid hormones before the test will effect the tests. However, female hormones, like premarin, will make you need more thyroid hormones because estrogen binds to thyroid, making less of it free hormone (the body can only use free hormones).

If you are hypo, Cissie, you can't stop taking this, you need it. It sounds like you have a doctor who worships TSH - what tests did he even do on you and what were the results (along with the ranges).

Also, to come back to the premarin - why do you take it? Have you ever thought about taking natural female hormones? The premarin might be responsible for the weight gain, and for the thyroid issues, if you are really 'borderline'.

Get yourself a copy of Dr. John Lee's book "What your doctor may not tell you about PRE menopause" - it's the newer book with more current information. He also has one for MENOPAUSE that might be of use to you.

Nat

[wcollier]

Okay now I'm really confused on this! My doctor put me on synthroid a few months ago. He said I was borderline. I don't know what is going on except I am continually gaining weight and other than that I don't notice any other change. Except I started itching like crazy about a month after I started taking the stuff! A few weeks ago I had blood drawn again and he said I showed a spike so he decreased my dose to .25 to see what happens. I just want to quit taking it completely!!! He started me out on .50 which is the next to lowest dosage. The idea was to help me get energy and my metabolism kicking. I have fibromyalgia and the doctor is thinking that my thyroid could be what is draining me rather than the fibro. This is a new doctor and at first I thought maybe he was on to something. He told me that me being hungry all the time was a good sign and meant my metabolism was working. Oh wonderful, so what gain another 50 lbs.!!! I don't understand this. Have any of you ever stopped taking this medication? At least when I wasn't on it I could take my green tea pills and get energy plus supress my appetite!

Hi Cissie:

If you have Fibro, have you read Dr. Teitelbaum's book called End Fatigue (https://www.endfatigue.com/home.nsf)? If not, I think you'll find it fascinating. Not only does he believe that thyroid is an issue with Fibros, but often the adrenals are as well. Actually, the hypothalamus is the issue, to be more precise. It was definately the case with me.

As for the Synthroid, it could mean that you need to switch to something like Armour if you are gaining weight on Synthroid. However, at 50mcg, I can't imagine the Synthroid would be causing such huge weight gain/hunger. I dunno, seems odd. The itching could be adrenal related or you could be reacting to the fillers. It could be one and the same as people with adrenal problems are very sensitive to medications and allergens etc.

You may be interested in visiting Dr. John Lowe's website (http://www.drlowe.com/). He also specializes in Fibromyalgia and wouldn't dream of putting anyone with Fibro on Synthroid. He's very keen on T3.

My other question is "what's this spike he's talking about"? Can you post your latest lab results?

This process can be very frustrating. I was in a living hell for months before things started to improve. Don't give up just yet, you still have lots of choices left.