The thyroid panel at healthcheckusa.com costs $75, the female hormone panel is more like $200.

What time of day was your TSH? It matters. As Nancy said, however, TSH is a LOUSY indicator of thyroid function. You can have a 'normal' TSH and be abnormal in one or both forms of the necessary hormone, namely Free T3 and Free T4.

So, get the tests from healthcheck. Messed up hormones would tend to make your periods really ugly (I think) before they would make you not have them. Nursing, however, can make you not have them. This is normal for nursing mothers for many months after the birth of a child, btw.

Hi, what do I have to do to do the test, I figure if I have it done here, that if I take it to a doctor,they would not use it,sinc ethey did do the test. I'm thinking about just have them do the estrogen and progesterone test,I am having heavier periods but they are not lasting longer,getting those test from that place would be cheaper than the hospital doing them right? Have you ever ordered from this place. I'm wondering if I have est. dom. I have alot of the syptoms, which include hair loss and sluggish metazbolism, heart palptations. What do you think, should I have them run the est.and prog.?
Oh also more signs of est. chronic candida and yeast inf. every month. The time of the day was around 1pm. when I had the TSH test THE TEST I NEED IS IT THE COMPREHENSIVE THYROID PANEL, IT SAYS $45 ,THE TSH IS $37 OK I LIVE IN MS AND THERE IS NO LAB CLOSE TO WHERE I LIVE,THERE IS ONE AN HOUR AWAY,I HAVE TWO KIDS SO I CAN'T JUST FIND SOMEONE TO WATCH THEM,I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE THE HOSPITAL DO IT.

You want the Thyroid Panel II from healthcheckusa.com, Lacey. The old tests in the Panel I are not worth much and wont really help you. You definitely want FT4 and FT3 along with TPO antibody testing.

If you think excessive estrogen might be an issue you need to talk to a doctor who understands hormones; you want to get on natural progesterone cream - not the stuff you can buy in a health food store, you need the good stuff (look for USP after the name). Check out the book "what your doctor may not tell you about premenopause" by Dr. John Lee and his website - you'll find more information there.

If you get the tests done and they are the right tests doctors will use them - these are done at labs that doctors use, there's no trouble with that.

I Hope I'm Not Premeno,i'm 26 But You Never Know. I Had My Bloodwork Done Today, I Had Freet3 Freet4, Estrogen,progesterone, Well I Already Have The Results Of The Ft4 It Was Normal, The Other They Were Still Working On, The Est.,and Proges. Had To Be Sent Off. So I Will Know The Ft3 Tomorrow. And The Other Has To Be Next Week.
ALSO THEY MENTIONED THAT MY TSH WHICHWAS .847 IN NOV. THAT IT WAS LOW, SO ON THE LOW SIDE MEANS MOR OF A HYPER BUT I'M 215 POUNDS. ANYWAY THEY JUST SAID IT WAS IN THE NORMAL RANGE.THE FT4 WAS 1.1

OK, what was the range for FT4, Lacey? "Normal" isn't good enough.

Most ranges for FT4 are .9 - 1.8 or something like that. At 1.1 you are NOT normal; that's low. And it explains why you feel like crap.

You need a qualified doctor - plain and simple. www.armourthyroid.com will give you a list of doctors in your area that prescribe armour thyroid - they'd be a good place to start.

It sounds to me like you might be dealing with Hashi's - the low TSH and the Low FT4 aren't right; it's a sign something is going on and this is common with Hashi's.

You need a good doctor, Lacey - it's really important you find one.

When you get your tests back post the numbers and the ranges - we need the lab ranges to know where you fall in the range.

hi, my mother is y dr. I told her today that they were both low and sge said no they are normal,I said what about hashis,and she said that is an inflamtion of the thyroid gland when it swells up.
I can't afford to go to anybody,so I guess I will just have to deal with. What I have read that anthing above 2 for FT4 isis abnormal. So, anyway thanks I'm still going to hang in there and eat right and walk.

This is wrong, Lacey. Your mother might be a good doctor, but even good doctors aren't usually thyroid specialists. Hashi's is not an inflammation of the thyroid gland when it swells up. Hashi's is an autoimmune thyroid disease where antibodies in your body attack the thyroid gland because they think it's foreign. They attack it until it shrivels up and dies and you have no more fuctioning thyroid.

You should know that leaving a malfunctioning thyroid untreated can lead to osteoporsis, increased risk for CVD, elevated cholesterol levels, severe constipation and if left untreated eventual coma and death - but I suspect you'd find a doctor who'd treat you long before you got that sick. The sad part is you could find a doctor NOW who'd help you and you wouldnt have to get that sick.

Can you please post your actual lab results along with the ranges? FWIW, there are places where you can get help that are inexpensive - doctors and clinics where the hormones are very cheap for people who cannot afford them at the full price.

Nat

Lacey, please post the rest of your results with the ranges.

Nat and I know these things because we have been there, we felt like crap, we fought with doctors and then we RESEARCHED these issues until we understood them ourselves and could find a doctor who also understood them.

Your FT 4 was NOT normal, and there are definitely doctors who would agree that it isn't.

Your fatigue also is not normal, even for a new mother.

Keep at it, ok? If you need to see a different doctor, look on the armour website or ask here.

Cheers,

Friday

Monday I guess I will get the FT3, so the estrogen and progesterone wil be in either Wed. or thurs. so I will give them all to you wihen I get them. It is costing over two hundred dollars to get my bloodwork done, and I will more than like ly have to pay a little at a time, so I really can't afford to go to anothere doctor, who will just look at the results for $100. SO, I will let ya know when I get them, I tried agian to talk to my mother and she said Lacey I'm telling your results for FT4 is not low it is in the normal range, normal is between .6 and like 1.8, and yours fell right below the lnormal line, she also said that it wasn't from her mouth it was from the lab paper, that the people that did the test had stated it on the paper, and she said I can show you it,so she is just reading what the lab wrote down.

Lacey, my FT4 was 'normal' and I felt like crap. Friday's FT4 and FT3 were normal and she felt like crap. NORMAL is a word that means nothing when it comes to thyroid. Normal for me might make you feel hyper, normal for YOU might make me feel like the walking dead. What matters is what is normal for YOU. And your FT4 is NOT normal for you or you wouldn't feel like you do.

Here is a little information on the subject:

Reference ranges

PROBLEMS WITH DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF HYPOTHYROIDISM

Lacey, I know it can be hard to accept that your mom might be wrong about this and some strangers off the internet might be right, but unfortunately, she's wrong. A lot of doctors are poorly informed about this, in fact.

The reference ranges were created by researchers and statisticians who commented when they did the work that lots of undiagnosed hypothyroid people were probably mixed into the group, thus skewing the ranges. The researchers PUT THIS IN THEIR REPORT - but doctors tend to either not know that or they discount it. Either way, it means the ranges are wrong.

Look at it this way, if you had blue lips, were shivering uncontrollably, and your breathing and heartbeat had slowed but your temperature was one degree ABOVE what's considered hypothermia, would a doctor say "Sorry, you're normal," and send you away without a blanket?

Simply put, women feel the best with FT 3/4 numbers in the upper third of the range. Some feel best at the very top of the range. You did a good thing by getting more tests. Hopefully, your mother will be able to learn form this. The blood test is NOT the gold standard many doctors think it is - and there are doctors who will say this in medical articles.

Keep us posted, ok?

Cheers,

Friday

so this says its normal, I don't feel like crap by the way, I'm just complaining about hair loss and not able to lose weight. I can't make her or the lab change there minds about the results and ranges, they go by a certain scale.I can't afford to go to every doctor out there to tell me its normal. So, I'll just be unhealthy forever,it this is the case,the articles I looked over said normal range.If you want to point it out to me the article and paragraph I would like to read it, maybe I'm not understanding the whoel article.

"The problem is that standard reference ranges usually represent “average” populations, rather than what the optimal range should be to maintain good health."

This means that the "normal" range has sick people in it. The researchers who designed the ranges KNEW THIS. They warned the doctors whenthe ranges were designed, but now patients just get told "If your TSH is 5.o, you're normal, and your problems have nothing to do with thyroid." When TSH hits 5.1, all of a sudden the they get told, "Of course you're feeling poorly. You're hypothyroid." Not logical or helpful at all. In fact, it's a little ridiculous.

“The development and use of thyroid function blood tests left many patients with clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism undiagnosed and untreated.”

This means that people can have symptoms and be sick enough to need medication even with results in the 'normal' range. YOU have clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism, btw.

I understand the money issue, believe me. One appointment with the doctor who diagnosed me cost me $120. Six months of Armout cost me less than $40. Not to sound like a Discover card commercial, but stopping my hair from falling out, getting my energy, sense of humor, IQ, libido etc back - Priceless.

Now, the issue is your FT4. It's 1.1 - way in the bottom of the range. There are definitely doctors out there who would treat that. Finding them is easy and free. You go to Armour's website and put in your zip code. They give you a list of doctors near you, and you call the offices. 1) Ask if they still prescribe Armour. 2) Ask if they treat low-normal. 3) Tell them you are tired and losing hair and ask if they think a Free T4 of 1.1 is treatable.

Did you already order the other tests? You could probably get treated on just the FT 4 number if you called around a little.

Cheers,

Friday

Hi, went to the armour site found the doctor called the number and it was a mental health facilitiy, so there you go

T3 is necessary for the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Psychiatrists often catch hypothyroidism when patients are sent to them by a regular doctor who thinks the patient is depressed. In the course of testing, the psych usually uncovers the thyroid problem missed by the other doctor. Did you only get one result?

You seem not to want to pursue this any further, however, and that's fine. It's your body and your health, so you get to make the decisions.

If you change your mind, let us know.

Cheers,

Friday