'normal' Thyroid Levels

[Brittany2]

Hello I hope everyone's well and excited for Christmas!

Anyways, I have never been diagnosed with Celiac disease, but the gluten free diet has been an amazing change. Auto immune diseases do run in my family so that is why I suspected it with the symptoms I had. They've since luckily gone away, but I'm worried about my persistently low thyroid levels.

In late August I went to a dermatologist for a number of reasons, one of which was hair loss. They said it was telgium effluvium which is caused by stress, malnutrition and low thyroid. So they tested my iron and thyroid levels to find my iron was low but so too was my thyroid.

Ferritin lvls: 11

range 10-143

TSH 1.4

Range .53-4.30

T4 Free: .8

Range .9-1.4

After that I went to my personal care doctor where he tested my blood for overall nutritional levels, Free T3 and Anti endomysial AB IGA, everything was fine in the normal mid range.

Free T3 355

Range 287-455

TTG AB IGA: 8

Just this week I had the three month review that my doctor wished for, a month into being gluten free. My iron levels have luckily improved

Iron: 84

Range 27-164

Ferritin 31

Range 10-143

TSH: 1.38

Range .50-4.30

T4 Free: .6

Range .8-1.8

It worries me since they dropped from .8 in August to .6 now. My doctor assures me I'm fine since my TSH levels have not increased, but he plans on checking in three months again.

Also, before I went gluten free my body temp was usually around 95, now since I've been gluten free its been at 98. I have always had an intolerance to cold, and need for adequate sleep, as well as dry skin (hands and heels) They've improved slightly but still linger.

Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated, especially from those who are more knowledgeable to thyroid diseases. Thanks!

[mindwiped]

Truthfully the numbers I've always been told to watch the closest are the TSH #'s. The 'normal' rage they have listed is outdated, the newest range says that normal should be between 0.3 and 3.0, which both of your TSH #'s were. The fact that your regular body temp went up while gluten-free is a good sign! That means that you maybe self correcting with the gluten-free diet. I found a very technical link, published by doctors, that has good info if you need to take some with you to your next appt. Open Original Shared Link

[maile]

"It worries me since they dropped from .8 in August to .6 now. My doctor assures me I'm fine since my TSH levels have not increased, but he plans on checking in three months again.

"

first off your doctor is wrong, TSH is simply a test for pituitary function what you need to look at are your Free t4 and Free T3 levels.

Your Free T4 is VERY low, are you on any thyroid meds at all?

your T3 is also a bit low, it should be at about 3/4 to the top of the range.

try posting your results over at lowcarbfriends dot com in the thyroid section and Pam will be able to comment (she's a thyroid advocate and knows her stuff)

[Roda]

"It worries me since they dropped from .8 in August to .6 now. My doctor assures me I'm fine since my TSH levels have not increased, but he plans on checking in three months again.

"

first off your doctor is wrong, TSH is simply a test for pituitary function what you need to look at are your Free t4 and Free T3 levels.

Your Free T4 is VERY low, are you on any thyroid meds at all?

your T3 is also a bit low, it should be at about 3/4 to the top of the range.

try posting your results over at lowcarbfriends dot com in the thyroid section and Pam will be able to comment (she's a thyroid advocate and knows her stuff)

I agree with maile on this one.

[Brittany2]

Thanks, yeah I really don't trust my doctors opinion that its fine as per what my TSH levels are, I've already read a ton of things and I'm worried as to what is causing it. I've come to be really skeptical with most doctors, they do know a lot but they cant know everything. One needs to be their own advocate! Many have just pushed me under the rug because I'm a busy 19yr old college student.

I did not realize my T3 levels were lower either, huh. But no I'm not on any medication at this point, my doctor did not see the need to prescribe anything yet, I suppose he's waiting to make his call three months from now... ugh I don't want to wait that long. I'll be in touch with an endocrinologist soon so I'll see what they say and if I cant make an appointment.

What I'm really worried about is the fact that auto immune diseases run in my family it could be Hash's.

I just want all of my issues gone! They almost all are, save for some tired feelings (luckily a great portion of my energy has come back), hair loss and dry skin.

[nomad4life]

Hi Brittany,

Try posting your questions on Open Original Shared Link They are an incredibly knowledgeable and supportive group of people. I was diagnosed with hashi's a year ago and have found that board to be a great help.

All the best.

[RollingAlong]

Not an expert, still trying various meds and dosages to get my thyroid straight.

I have found some of the postings at the Heartscan blog to be helpful. As I understand it, he aims for about 1.0 TSH for his patients.

Open Original Shared Link

Your #'s look good to me; but the important thing is - how do you feel?

Congrats on getting that ferritin up!!

[Looking for answers]

Hey there,

I'm no expert either, but I had just about the same scores you have when I was tested four months ago. I do not want to be put on medication, so I've been seeing a naturopathic doctor. He suggested I have problems with adrenal exhaustion, which can led to immune system dysfunction, low thyroid, etc. Anyways, he ran a test and it turned out that I'm in a stage 2 adrenal exhaustion, which he attributed to my nearly decade battle with gluten intolerance before I was diagnosed. He put me on his regime and I'm feeling a million times better. I will get my blood tests retested in Janaury and would be happy to share them with you, if you're interested. This would follow six months of his treatment program (which is just taking some pre-cursor hormones and a metabolic-type diet - mainly organic meats and veggies).