What TSH level are we aiming for?

[BridgetD]

When I was first diagnosed with Hypo, my TSH level was 120. After slowly increasing my Synthroid dosage over 45 days, I went for blood tests and it is now at 8. My Doctor acted like the problem was solved and I should feel fine. Is this normal, I have been losing my hair so badly it looks really balding- even in the front and I have developed horrible cyctic acne on my forehead and behind my ears. The doctor is acting like I should just be happy I am no longer losing my mind, just my hair and I should leave satisfied. I'm very frustrated and would love to hear your thoughts!!

[Jeanne Sch]

Hi Bridget:
I think I just answered your question in another post :)

The new guidelines as of March 2003 are:
.3 to 3.0

For those with hypo...you need to be at 3.0 or under.

I read that women feel best at 1.0 to 2.0 so that should be your aim and if you doctor stinks, go find another one.

I have a General Practitioner who is a DO and he is WONDERFUL! :)

[Atriana]

I feel best when mine is at 1.0. You really need to shop for an endocrinologist - my last one thought 5.0 was perfectly acceptable.

[rishamoon]

I just found out about the new levels... I've been having a really bad time with mine thyroid lately. Loosing hair and what not... *sigh* I need to call and schedule a Dr. appt. for me ASAP I've got a long list of complaints and I think I want to try something besides Synthroid, which I've been on for 3 years.

Wow Bridget, your levels were EXTREMELY high. And 8 is still too high, even on the OLD normal range which I believe was maxed at 5, and now they are saying 3... yeah, I would definately have a talk with my Dr. if I were you and if you don't get satisfactory results, find a new one....

You can print out this article and take it with you to show him that you are not in the normal range if you want.

http://www.aace.com/pub/tam2003/press.php

[JV1311]

I feel best at 1.5 and the other day I was looking for some old blood tests, of 12 years ago, before I was diagnosed with hypo, and found one where my TSH was exactly 1.5. No wonder that is where I feel best at.

Also, when the TSH is 1.5, my free T3 and T4 are always in a good range to go with it. If it is 2.0, the other two are always low.

[fendel]

I still felt hypo with my TSH around 2.0... added Cytomel to my levothyroxine; now free T3 is high end of normal, free T4 is low end of normal, and TSH is undetectable. My doctor feels this is OK as long as I'm feeling good--which I am!

I've heard that TSH tests can be unreliable when you're taking supplemental thyroid hormone, and that free t3/t4 are more helpful.

[aztovaalex]

Hi,

I only have a couple of minutes to do some research here about thyroid levels and I found this post so I decided to add to it. :cool:

My T4 came in at 5.9, TE Uptake at 28.9, T4-Free-Calculated at 1.7 and TSH at 0.10 L. The doctor said my TSH is too high and maybe we should cut back on on the Synthroid which is currently at .75 mg. Isn't that backwards?!!

Thanks for any help you can give.

Susan

[fendel]

My T4 came in at 5.9, TE Uptake at 28.9, T4-Free-Calculated at 1.7 and TSH at 0.10 L. The doctor said my TSH is too high and maybe we should cut back on on the Synthroid which is currently at .75 mg. Isn't that backwards?!!

Hi Susan - I wonder if your doctor meant that your thyroid hormone levels are too high and therefore your TSH is too low; cutting back on Synthroid would reverse that.

I'm surprised they didn't test free T3. Also, it would help to know what your lab's normal ranges are (they may vary somewhat).

This is one set of reference ranges I found online - your lab's may vary -
T4 = 5.6-13.7 ug/dl (mcg/dl)
FT4 = 0.8-1.5 ng/dl
T3= 87-180 ng/dl
FT3 = 230-420 pg/d;
TSH = 0.4-4.5 mIU/L (mU/L)

Free t4 looks a little low if your lab's reference ranges are similar to these. But the biggest question is, how do you feel?

When I was getting too much thyroid hormone for a while, I could feel it -- I was getting heart palpitations and felt speedy. Now my levels feel right to me, even if they look a little off to some doctors.

I have to go, but a couple quick links -
http://www.mercola.com/article/hypothyroid/diagnosis_comp.htm (I just ran across this - talks about free t3/free t4)
http://thyroid.about.com -- tons of useful info here - I got most of my own thyroid research done at this site or links from it

good luck!
fendel

[Marge]

Don't you just love these lovely hormones and what they do to our bodies. I am a medically induced Hypo (surgery for goiter 3 years ago) and have no idea what my levels are at. Good question for me to ask when I go get the results of my last bloodwork.

[aztovaalex]

I messed that one up. I typed TE where it should have been T3. According to the ranges that you have, I'm low for that, too. Thanks for responding.

I feel fine so I guess I won't fight the dosage. Thanks for responding!

Susan