Re: My husband's thyroid test results

[Guest guest]

This is quite appalling Helen. Obviously, his doctors over this

time believe that the recommended reference range for TSH is what the BTA

recommend, i.e. 0.5 to 10.0 - and if results appear below 10, a patient doesn't

have a problem. I would tell the GP that as far back as 2003, over 40,000

endocrinologists in the US decided that the ref. range of 0.5 to 5.0 was far

too wide as they were missing many who were suffering with hypothyroidism, so

they decided to recommend a new ref. range of 0.3 to 3.0. In Belgium, Sweden,

Germany and other European countries, they decided to drop their TSH ref. range

to 0.3 to 2.5 with a recommendation this be dropped even further to 0.3 to 1.5.

Do the doctors in the UK know something that these countries do not know - if so,

why don't they enlighten us.

Go to our FILES SECTION HERE thyroid treatment/files/

and scroll down to the TSH Folder. You will find references to research to show

your GP just how wrong s/he is and I would demand an explanation as to why he

was never referred during that time to an endocrinologist or started on

levothyroxine back in February 2009.

Luv - Sheila

He finally began thyroxine in October, I think it was, hence the drop in his

TSH for the last two dates.

I am FURIOUS! And determined they aren't going to do the same with me. I'm

seeing my doctor on Thursday; I really don't know where to start.

16th February 2009: TSH 6.5 F4 12.8

15th May 2009 TSH 5.3 F4 13.8

16th October 2009 TSH 7 F4 11

4th October 2010 TSH 5.3 F4 14

12th September 2011 TSH 6.4 F4 15.3

10th November 2011 TSH 2.5

19th January 2012 TSH 2.2

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[Guest guest]

Thanks, Sheila! I did tell the doctor I last saw about the A.A.C.E. decision to

drop the upper limit to 3, *ten* years ago. He just mumbled something about

'that's not what we do here' and 'that sounds rather low to me', obviously

without even considering that there might be anything in it.

Sorry about the formatting, by the way, it didn't come out quite as it went in -

I should have used dashes to separate the numbers. I also meant 'FT4', not 'F4'.

I was typing fast, in my fury!

His doctor has now referred him to an endo, because he wants to try additional

T3, which she says she 'can't prescribe'. (Mistakenly, as far as I know, though

fair enough if she accepts that she just doesn't know anything about it.) T4 has

made him SO much better than he was, but it can clearly be improved. He thinks

his T4 is high enough at 100mg as he is starting to feel 'edgy' but not as well

as he wants to be. I also got him to ask for iron tests as they haven't done

those.

>

> This is quite appalling Helen. Obviously, his doctors over this time believe

> that the recommended reference range for TSH is what the BTA recommend, i.e.

> 0.5 to 10.0 - and if results appear below 10, a patient doesn't have a

> problem.

[Guest guest]

Correction if I may: in Belgium the range is 0.3-4.5! In spite of all the symptoms under the sun and an operation for carpal tunnel (linked), I had to wait till I went over 4.5 to get a diagnosis. This is still valid today.

From: Sheila <sheila@...>thyroid treatment Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 6:30 PMSubject: RE: My husband's thyroid test results

This is quite appalling Helen. Obviously, his doctors over this time believe that the recommended reference range for TSH is what the BTA recommend, i.e. 0.5 to 10.0 - and if results appear below 10, a patient doesn't have a problem. I would tell the GP that as far back as 2003, over 40,000 endocrinologists in the US decided that the ref. range of 0.5 to 5.0 was far too wide as they were missing many who were suffering with hypothyroidism, so they decided to recommend a new ref. range of 0.3 to 3.0. In Belgium, Sweden, Germany and other European countries, they decided to drop their TSH ref. range to 0.3 to 2.5 with a recommendation this be dropped even further to 0.3 to 1.5. Do the doctors in the UK know something that these countries do not know - if so, why don't they enlighten us.

Go to our FILES SECTION HERE thyroid treatment/files/ and scroll down to the TSH Folder. You will find references to research to show your GP just how wrong s/he is and I would demand an explanation as to why he was never referred during that time to an endocrinologist or started on levothyroxine back in February 2009.

Luv - Sheila

He finally began thyroxine in October, I think it was, hence the drop in his TSH for the last two dates. I am FURIOUS! And determined they aren't going to do the same with me. I'm seeing my doctor on Thursday; I really don't know where to start. 16th February 2009: TSH 6.5 F4 12.815th May 2009 TSH 5.3 F4 13.816th October 2009 TSH 7 F4 114th October 2010 TSH 5.3 F4 1412th September 2011 TSH 6.4 F4 15.310th November 2011 TSH 2.519th January 2012 TSH 2.2

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[Guest guest]

There is no need for a correction . If you read my message

again, you will see that you have overlooked the word 'recommended'.

Go to our FILES SECTION, and scroll down the list until you come

to one entitled References

& Research Papers and then scroll down to 'Thyroid

References'. You will find all of these recommendations there.

Different doctors throughout the world, just like here in the UK

will use whatever reference range they choose to use, and these can range from

0.3 to 2.5., to 10.0.

Your doctor and lots more like him chose to use the 0.3 to 4.5.

Sheila

Correction

if I may: in Belgium the range is 0.3-4.5! In spite of all the symptoms under

the sun and an operation for carpal tunnel (linked), I had to wait till I went

over 4.5 to get a diagnosis. This is still valid today.

This is quite appalling Helen. Obviously, his doctors over this

time believe that the recommended reference range for TSH is what the BTA

recommend, i.e. 0.5 to 10.0 - and if results appear below 10, a patient doesn't

have a problem. I would tell the GP that as far back as 2003, over 40,000

endocrinologists in the US decided that the ref. range of 0.5 to 5.0 was far

too wide as they were missing many who were suffering with hypothyroidism, so

they decided to recommend a new ref. range of 0.3 to 3.0. In Belgium, Sweden,

Germany and other European countries, they decided to drop their TSH ref. range

to 0.3 to 2.5 with a recommendation this be dropped even further to 0.3 to 1.5.

Do the doctors in the UK know something that these countries do not know - if

so, why don't they enlighten us.

[Guest guest]

You say "they decided to drop their TSH range to 0.3-2.5 with a further recommendation..." This is not the range used in Belgium, it is 0.3 to 4.5. Conventional doctors won't acknowledge hypothyroidism below the upper range.

From: Sheila <sheila@...>thyroid treatment Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 10:04 PMSubject: RE: My husband's thyroid test results

There is no need for a correction . If you read my message again, you will see that you have overlooked the word 'recommended'.

Go to our FILES SECTION, and scroll down the list until you come to one entitled References & Research Papers and then scroll down to 'Thyroid References'. You will find all of these recommendations there.

Different doctors throughout the world, just like here in the UK will use whatever reference range they choose to use, and these can range from 0.3 to 2.5., to 10.0.

Your doctor and lots more like him chose to use the 0.3 to 4.5.

Sheila

Correction if I may: in Belgium the range is 0.3-4.5! In spite of all the symptoms under the sun and an operation for carpal tunnel (linked), I had to wait till I went over 4.5 to get a diagnosis. This is still valid today.

This is quite appalling Helen. Obviously, his doctors over this time believe that the recommended reference range for TSH is what the BTA recommend, i.e. 0.5 to 10.0 - and if results appear below 10, a patient doesn't have a problem. I would tell the GP that as far back as 2003, over 40,000 endocrinologists in the US decided that the ref. range of 0.5 to 5.0 was far too wide as they were missing many who were suffering with hypothyroidism, so they decided to recommend a new ref. range of 0.3 to 3.0. In Belgium, Sweden, Germany and other European countries, they decided to drop their TSH ref. range to 0.3 to 2.5 with a recommendation this be dropped even further to 0.3 to 1.5. Do the doctors in the UK know something that these countries do not know - if so, why don't they enlighten us.

[Guest guest]

>In Belgium, Sweden, Germany and other European countries, they decided to drop

their TSH ref. range to 0.3 to 2.5 with a recommendation this be dropped even

further

to 0.3 to 1.5.

could you clarify please ...i interpreted what you said above in the same way as

susan.

in the letter to uk members of parliament it also states:

" In Germany, Belgium and now Sweden, it has been lowered to 0.3 to 2.5mU/L.,

with a recommendation by Belgium endocrinologists that the upper limit be

dropped further to 1.5. "

i'm sorry if you think i'm being picky!

trish

>

> There is no need for a correction . If you read my message again, you

will see that you have overlooked the word 'recommended'.

>

> Go to our FILES SECTION, and scroll down the list until you come to one

entitled References

<thyroid treatment/files/References%20\

%26%20Research%20Papers/> & Research Papers and then scroll down to 'Thyroid

References'. You will find all of these recommendations there.

[Guest guest]

Whatever the reference ranges for TSH were used in those

countries, a lot of the medical practitioners still use them, just as here in

the UK, the average TSH reference range is 0.5 to 5.6, the British Thyroid

Association and the Royal College of Physicians have got together and agreed a

recommendation that the TSH reference range be widened to 0.5 to 10 and

recommend that doctors should not give a diagnosis or initiate thyroid hormone

replacement if a TSH comes back within that range - and only to diagnose and

treat if it goes out side of that range. Many doctors in the UK continue to use

the 0.5 to 5.6

In the USA, there were over 40,000 endocrinologists who decided

that their ref. range of 0.5 to 5.0 was too high and they were missing out on

diagnosing millions of patients, so they decided to recommend the TSH level

should be dropped to 0.3 to 3.0. Some doctors use this, others do not.

In Germany and Belgium, their reference range was around 0.3 to

4.5, and they too decided this was too wide and recommended the top of their

TSH ref. range should be dropped to 0.3 and in Belgium, it was recommended

further that the top of the TSH level be dropped to 1.5. Again, some doctors

use these recommendations and others do not.

In Sweden, only recently I believe, they recommended the TSH

range be dropped to 0.3 to 2.5 - though like all the other countries who have

recommended lowering the range, doctors continue to use the range that they

believe works best.

These are in the references that I posted to (apart from

the Swedish one of which I have a paper somewhere) but no time to weed these out

for you. The 'Thyroid References' are in our FILES SECTION.

Luv - Sheila

>In Belgium, Sweden, Germany and other European countries, they decided to

drop their TSH ref. range to 0.3 to 2.5 with a recommendation this be dropped

even further

to 0.3 to 1.5.

could you clarify please ...i interpreted what you said above in the same way

as susan.

in the letter to uk members of parliament it also states:

" In Germany, Belgium and now Sweden, it has been lowered to 0.3 to

2.5mU/L., with a recommendation by Belgium endocrinologists that the upper

limit be dropped further to 1.5. "

i'm sorry if you think i'm being picky!

trish

>

> There is no need for a correction . If you read my message again, you

will see that you have overlooked the word 'recommended'.

>

> Go to our FILES SECTION, and scroll down the list until you come to one

entitled References <thyroid treatment/files/References%20%26%20Research%20Papers/>

& Research Papers and then scroll down to 'Thyroid References'. You will

find all of these recommendations there.

No

virus found in this message.

Checked by AVG - www.avg.com

Version: 2012.0.1901 / Virus Database: 2109/4764 - Release Date: 01/24/12