# Levels back to normal - still have bone shaking chills!



## Joannev (Jan 2, 2013)

Hi all,

Had my blood test and doc said I'm within optimal range right now. BUT I still get the shaking cold chills one and off. Feels like the flu without the fever and nausea. Anyone else experiencing this?

Joanne


----------



## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Joannev said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Had my blood test and doc said I'm within optimal range right now. BUT I still get the shaking cold chills one and off. Feels like the flu without the fever and nausea. Anyone else experiencing this?
> 
> Joanne


Can you please post your most recent labs with ranges please.


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

Joannev said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Had my blood test and doc said I'm within optimal range right now. BUT I still get the shaking cold chills one and off. Feels like the flu without the fever and nausea. Anyone else experiencing this?
> 
> Joanne


We would like to see your lab results and ranges, please! Also, how is your Ferritin?

Ferritin (should be 50 to 100; the closer to 100,the better) 
http://www.thewayup.com/newsletters/081504.htm


----------



## Joannev (Jan 2, 2013)

OMG - well I had the chills because I had an fever! Hidden infection I didn't know about. So I'm much better now since on an antibiotic! But you do make me think - my doc never gave me a copy of my labs. Should I get a copy? Never even thought about it.


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Always, always, always, always get a copy of your lab work.


----------



## nikkij0814 (Jul 13, 2011)

joplin1975 said:


> Always, always, always, always get a copy of your lab work.


DITTO.

I didn't for years and it eventually caused a HUGE problem. They're very easy to read.


----------



## Joannev (Jan 2, 2013)

OK my TSH is 1.68 and my T4 is .90


----------



## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

Uh.....any chance those chills are the result of a common virus?


----------



## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Joannev said:


> OK my TSH is 1.68 and my T4 is .90


When you post labs please post ranges.

I'm thinking your
T-4 is actually a FT-4. Based on my ranges your FT-4 would be hypo.

It is a good idea to ask for FT-4 and FT-3 every lab - use those tests to request dose changes. Mid to 3/4 range is your goal for both tests.


----------



## Joannev (Jan 2, 2013)

Lovlkn said:


> When you post labs please post ranges.
> 
> I'm thinking your
> T-4 is actually a FT-4. Based on my ranges your FT-4 would be hypo.
> ...


Strange - the normal ranges she shows - I fall right within them. Can you explain? Maybe it would help me understand all of this.


----------



## Joannev (Jan 2, 2013)

CA-Lynn said:


> Uh.....any chance those chills are the result of a common virus?


Actually it was a UTI! I tend to blame my thyroid on everything these days!


----------



## StormFinch (Nov 16, 2012)

Every lab has different ranges Joanne and they aren't necessarily the ranges we need to feel good. For example, my doctor's lab has a top range on their TSH of 6.20, yet if any of us had a TSH of 6.20 we would feel horrid! There is a little less of a broad group of ranges in Frees thank goodness, but still no standard.

Typically, but not necessarily universally, we feel best when both of our Frees are in the top 2/3s of the test range as Lovlkn said, and TSH is somewhere in the 0.0 to 2 range, depending on the person and disease in question. As you may know, thyroid cancer patients are purposely kept as close to .0 as possible. *BUT*, TSH isn't nearly as important as the Frees because TSH is produced by the pituitary gland, NOT the thyroid. You can have a completely normal TSH and a thoroughly DEAD thyroid. There are even a few people with a normal TSH and NO THYROID AT ALL. For some reason, sometimes the pituitary just doesn't recognize that the thyroid isn't working, or there. There is also a lag time between what the pituitary says to do and when the thyroid does it.

The Frees on the other hand are an accurate picture of what the thyroid is producing at that given time. If your Frees are at the bottom of the normal range then your thyroid is working, but it's the difference between getting to work by doing the speed limit and getting to work doing 15 miles under. You're still legal either way, but you're going to be behind and playing catch up all day in the second case, not to mention all the traffic (your body's other systems) that you're going to irritate in the process.

The reason we ask for a Free T3 in addition to the Free T4 when we go in for labs is that some of us do not convert T4 to T3 well, and here's that crazy pituitary again. The thyroid produces 80% T4 versus 20% T3, but the body utilizes more T3. The pituitary is then supposed to convert the circulating T4 into T3 as needed. If you already have a low normal FT4 and then don't convert properly, your T3 could be in the basement.

Long winded I know, but I hope it helped.


----------



## Joannev (Jan 2, 2013)

So what do I need to do to get it all fixed? Call my doc or up my meds?


----------



## StormFinch (Nov 16, 2012)

The first thing you need is an accurate picture, or road map so to speak.

If you have current labs then you can post the ranges along with the results and quite a few people here are experienced enough with reading them that they can tell you where you sit.

If you don't have recent Free T3 and Free T4 tests then you can either have your doc run them or order them online. I believe the lab that a lot of the people here use, healthcheckusa.com, is having a sale on thyroid testing since it's thyroid awareness month.

Once we see your numbers with ranges, we can give you further clues as to where you should be looking. So few doctors have a handle on what a thyroid patient actually goes through that we have had to learn to become our own advocates, read our own tests, learn what works and what doesn't, and figure out when it's our thyroid and when it's something else.


----------

