TSH level...normal?

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-16-2004
TSH level...normal?
4
Tue, 11-16-2004 - 6:20pm

Hi everyone, my name is Julie. I'm 26 years old and new to this board. I've recently been seeing an endo and had my hormone levels and TSH checked to determine possible causes of symtoms I've been having for the past couple of years. The TSH level was 3.42. I haven't seen my endo for my follow up yet but was wondering if anyone off hand knows if this level is normal. I've heard that the new upper limit is 3.0 for TSH? Is that correct? And if so, does anyone have any literature that supports this? Thanks for any in put that anyone has.

Julie

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-22-2004
Tue, 11-16-2004 - 10:30pm


Hi Julie:

You're range is correct: 0.3-3.0 is the TSH normal range... HOWEVER, many labs are not up-to-date. I had many symptoms (including a miscarriage) with a TSH of 3.4. Mary Shomon has a write-up about it on http://thyroid.about.com. Her book is really useful, too ("living well with hypothyroidism")

Good luck!
Dee.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-16-2004
Wed, 11-17-2004 - 2:06pm

Thanks Dee! That info definitely helps a lot. What meds are you on right now? And has it helped with your sympoms?

Julie

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-22-2004
Mon, 11-22-2004 - 10:16pm


Hi Julie!

Darn it! I just noticed your question, and then wrote a reply and lost it! Phooey!

Anyway... I'm on .128 of Levoxyl. My TSH is 3.6 and my dose was recently put up from .114. I'm not better yet; I usually have a spike and feel OK for a couple of days 1-2 weeks into a new dose, but then by 6 weeks I'm crummy again. My endo says that since my T3 is "low-normal," we can try a T-3 supplement too. So I'm going to give it a go. The Hashimoto's makes it hard to get settled into a dose because the antibodies continue to kill of the thyroid function... when it's completely burned out, I'll be able to get settled into a supplement.

Hope this helps,
Keep us posted,
Take care,
Dee.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-16-2004
Wed, 11-24-2004 - 11:21pm

Thanks Dee! Sorry I just wrote back now, I've been super busy. I just went to my general doctor today after my endo told me my TSH of 3.4 was not high enough to start meds, even with my family history. So my general doc had me do a full Thyroid workup to test everything including the antibodies. I have a feeling I may have hashimoto's as well. Hopefully the tests will come back with some positive results. It's the first time in my life I've actually wanted a test to come back positive :)

Thanks again!

Julie