# Help with labs please!



## Alli (Sep 14, 2012)

Thank You for your help!


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Alli said:


> Ok so here are my Labs which I BEGGED my OB/GYN for this week (after that Endo refused to test me)... the frustrating part of this for me is that I "feel" fine right now (this is the exact same place in my menstrual cycle when I was tested last month)... If these tests had been done 2-3 weeks ago I think they would've looked different.
> 
> NOTE: I am still waiting for my antibody results... not sure when I'm getting those back, when I do I will post them here.
> 
> ...


Both your Frees are mid-range of the ranges provided by your lab. Ideally, they should be a bit higher like say about 75% of the ranges given.

RBC below range which indicates hypo. (high, hyper....low, hypo)

Really looking forward to the antibodies' results.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

You need to supplement your D. You want your D to be in upper range.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> the frustrating part of this for me is that I "feel" fine right now


Next time have your labs drawn when you are feeling poorly.

Do you have any other lab history?


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

> Here are the labs again: 10/11/2012
> TSH 1.03 (normal .3-5.0)
> Free T4 1.1 (normal .6-1.6)
> Free T3 3.1 (normal 2.2-3.9)
> Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody 11.3 ( normal range is anything less than 9)


Anyone on thyroid replacement medication would be envious to have these labs.

They are normal. Antibodies are quite common in the general population--upwards of 20% have them. Your TSH is actually at it's lowest since 2006, according to the other results you posted.

"Thyroid symptoms" are attributable to a multitude of things--sex hormone imbalances, vitamin and mineral imbalances to name a few all mimic thyroid symptoms.

I am confused, because in your signature it says you are scheduled for surgery in November. What is it, exactly that you expect from the very low dose of replacement that you are going to try to talk a doctor into giving you right now?


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

> I want to know what is wrong with my thyroid & why this has happened... why the one side is severely enlarged with a huge mass on it causing a compromised trachea & why the other side is also enlarged...


What is wrong with your thyroid is that is has a growth. Otherwise, from the standpoint of measuring it's function due to labs, it appears to be fine. But there isn't really an answer to this question--it's like asking "why did I get ___________" and then fill in the blank with cancer, arthritis, heart disease, MS or any of a million things--it is something that was in your make up and it is what happened. You couldn't have prevented it, but now it is a problem to be dealt with.



> I think it is very interesting that I have all the symptoms of thyroid issues, have a grossly enlarged thyroid but my levels are normal... So I have an issue with my thyroid, but I don't <---that makes no sense at all to me.


Well you do have a thyroid "problem" but by your labs, it still seems to be functioning. As for your symptoms, that is a pretty common position to be in, if only because thyroid "symptoms" are so innocuous and common to so many other things--or nothing. People can have quite a lot of them and not have a documented thyroid "problem". Even people on thyroid replacement tend not to be completely symptom free 100% of the time.

I know that the answer seems pretty simplistic, but you're not really going to get a doctor to tell you why this happened, because likely they have no explanation either.

Philosophy and faith are just a few of the options people have to turn to when life hands them unexplainable circumstances. Hopefully one of these can help you work through this.


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

1.) Yes

2.) Yes

3.) Key word is POSSIBLE. The presence of antibodies does not ensure a thyroid problem. A person can have them and still have normal thyroid functions as measured by lab tests. It is estimated that about 5% of people with high antibody titers move to overt thyroid problems per year. So yes, a very high percentage of people who have antibodies can have normal thyroid function, and the presence or absence of thyroid antibodies does not guarantee a thyroid problem. Thyroid antibodies are not treated. Thyroid dysfunction is.

4.) Very rarely.

5.) The mass just IS. I don't think there is an explanation for it. As for why you feel like _______, once again there are too many extenuating factors for someone other than yourself to really answer it.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Alli said:


> The only Thyroid labs I have had in my 33 years of life are posted above
> 
> I wish I would have waited until this week to have them drawn (or that I could have had them drawn a month ago)... I doubt I can get any Dr to request more labs when the common belief among medical professionals is that TSH typically doesn't/can't fluctuate on a daily or weekly basis. I think those labs are the only ones I will have.
> 
> I guess what I really wonder is if the slightly elevated TPO with those labs indicates anything?


Okay. We have to use the proper acronyms here. You have elevated TPO Ab; not TPO.

You should not have any TPO Ab.

Here is credible information for you.

TPO Ab
Mild to moderately elevated levels of thyroid antibodies may be found in a variety of thyroid and autoimmune disorders, such as thyroid cancer, Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, pernicious anemia, and autoimmune collagen vascular diseases. Significantly increased concentrations most frequently indicate thyroid autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto thyroiditis and Graves disease.
http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/thyroid-antibodies/tab/test

Substances not found in normal serum
http://www.thyroidmanager.org/Chapter6/Ch-6-6.htm

TPO Ab should be negative, 0
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003556.htm
(The normal thyroid has TPO but should not have antibodies to TPO)

And since you do have a solid mass, it would be wise to get Thyroglobulin and Thyroglobulin Ab tests prior to your surgery.

cancer TPO and thyroglobulin
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1699-0463.1994.tb04888.x/abstract
http://www.wikigenes.org/e/gene/e/7173.html

Understanding Thyroglobulin Ab.
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/thyroglobulin/test.html


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## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

Alli, I'm curious...did your doctor or surgeon offer the possibility of a total thyroidectomy, or is that something you have considered? It might be worth asking about, since you say you've felt bad for so long, and you have such a gigantic mass, and you have some antibodies (not a huge amount, but some), and you may have a family history/tendency toward thyroid disease. I do wonder if your odds of feeling better would increase if you had the whole gland removed. I don't know...just thinking out loud here...


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