Re: Blood test results for hypothyroidism

[Guest guest]

Saw GP again today after sending the second letter. he was

very miffed at being asked politely to update his knowledge`not something I

should say to a GP`. I replied i was sorry he felt that way. He said he had no

knowledge of some of the tests and how to interpret them(honest!!) I , a little

cheekily, said I could get them interpeted for his guidance but he said he`d

sooner leave it to the specialists. he said he worked 12 hour days and much of

`this` was outside his remit and competence as a GP (honest again!).

I had to smile at this, because I think I too would have been a

miffed at being asked to update my knowledge - I would have probably clattered

your ears Chrissie *grin* - but these doctors deserve it - they SHOULD update

their knowledge as things are changing all the time in medicine - and

certainly, they do not learn enough about how the thyroid and its hormones

works. If blood test results are " outside his remit and competence as a GP,

then I would suggest you give him the attached document regarding the reason

WHY you need certain minerals and vitamin levels tested and their association

with hypothyroidism.

He agreed to some of the tests he was comfortable with -bone

profile,ferritin,Vitamin D and B12 so I did make some headway.

What was his reaction to requests for testing of folate,

magnesium, copper and zinc?

..Having metaphorically `beaten him over the head` with information, I will now

drag him along bit by bit. I sense I will achieve nothing more at this stage by

haranguing him,I ve more chance of keeping him on board by going along with him

on this.

That makes sense! But keep him on his toes and if necessary,

show him the research that shows the association between low levels of

minerals/vitamins and hypothyroidism.

We still disagree about TSH and blood test reference ranges

but he is listening. I see no purpose in changing GP within the practice as I

would have to start all over again to educate them I don`t have the time or the

energy for that. Obviously I`ll post the blood test results in due course.

Incidentally what do you think of my last ones,

TSH 3.3(0.3-5.5) - Too high - should be around 1.0

FT3 5.1(<7.1) - that looks fine.

FT4 15.2 (11.5-22.7) - this should be just above the middle of

the reference range for somebody not on any thyroid hormone replacement, so it

is low, and should be around 17/18 mark.

Luv - Sheila

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LOW MINERALS AND VITAMINS AND THE THYROID CONNECTION.doc

[Guest guest]

Having metaphorically `beaten him over the head` withinformation, I will now drag him along bit by bit. I sense I will achievenothing more at this stage by haranguing him,I ve more chance of keeping him onboard by going along with him on this. We still disagree about TSH and bloodtest reference ranges but he is listening. I see no purpose in changing GP within the practice as I would have to start all over again to educate them Idon`t have the time or the energy for that. Obviously I`ll post the blood testresults in due course.Hi Chrissie,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post....well done you J!! – and I do see where you are coming from and why you prefer to stay with the `devil you know' - as long as he keeps listening you should be ok ....

Now – as for the disagreement on TSH... perhaps the following will help ?

http://www.hormoneandlongevitycenter.com/thyroidtreatments1/ - scroll down to - Standard thyroid tests lack accuracy to determine proper dose of thyroid replacement …. (the other articles are worth reading too, btw.)

And finally this, perhaps?

http://www.endocrinology.org/press/pressreleases/2010-03-16_Thyroxine.pdf

Incidentally what do you think of my last ones,

TSH 3.3(0.3-5.5)FT3 5.1(<7.1)FT4 15.2 (11.5-22.7)Oddly, the FT3 looks much too "healthy" for the high TSH (which is much too high for a medicated patient) and the FT4 is too low. This could be caused by a number of things – like high rT3 or autoantibody interference. Do you have positive thyroid auto-antibodies? – and have all of them been tested? (namely TPO, TgAB and TSI ?)

Bottom line – I only know of two possibilities why a TSH figure might be rising when a patient is on thyroid medication....

a) For whatever reason - the cells are deprived of thyroid hormone.

The TSH figure is spurious – most likely falsified by autoantibodies

I don't know why in your particular case the TSH is still high, but I would guess it's either due to rT3 or deficiency in some minerals or vitamins... you need to find out.

With best wishes,