# Would love input - high TgAb, low TSH



## qiri (Oct 4, 2010)

Hi! I am new here so pardon my inexperience, but I am so glad I found this site 

I am 24 yo white female. I am overweight and have struggled at this for my whole life despite a reasonably healthy and active lifestyle. 2 weeks ago I had a doctors appointment for a general physical exam. Most things were normal - I have raging acid reflux (well we think, and omeprazole seems to be helping). I would say I have struggled with on/off depression and anxiety. However both the acid reflux and mood disorders probably aren't helped by the fact that I am a grad student so I am not too alarmed.

I mentioned that my mother is hypothyroid (developed late in life after children) and my doctor suggested running a thryoid test (also bc of my weight challenges). My TSH came back quite low (0.17 - normal .4 to 4.5). Along with the TSH, all other bloodwork (CBC/Chem/Lipid profile) was normal except for a low HDL and some calcium oxalate crystals in my urinalysis.

I went back last week for some repeat bloodwork (a more comprehensive thyroid panel) and got the results yesterday. Here they are:

TSH - *0.15 mlU/L* (n = .4 to 4.5) = LOW
T4, TOTAL (THYROXINE) - *9.1 mcg/dL* (n = 4.8 to 10.4)
T3 UPTAKE - *1.34* (n = 0.79 to 1.16) = HIGH

Thyroglobulin Anitbodies - *130* (n = <20 IU/ml) = HIGH
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies - *11* (n = <35 IU/ml)

These were all the tests run. I have already scheduled an appointment to go back in next week but I am just really curious what is going on. It seems that I am hyperthyroid - despite absolutely no symptoms of hyperthyroidism and most symptoms of hypothyroidism. One of the main things she suspected was Hashimoto's disease - but I cannot explain the low TSH and normal TPO Ab's and the high T3RU?

If anyone has any insight or can point me in the right direction of credible sources I would love to know. I have access to full text PubMed if there are any articles you suggest!


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## midgetmaid (Jul 22, 2010)

Your labs do suggest hyperthyroidism, but a TSI would help. Some people do gain weight with hyper.


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## lainey (Aug 26, 2010)

Keep in mind that many of the "primary" symptoms, such as fatigue, weight changes, dry skin, hair loss and the like are cross over symptoms, ie. they are common to both hyper and hypo, which is why blood testing is so important, even for monitoring patients taking replacement.

That and the T4 total and T3 uptake are outdated tests. The correct and more descriptive tests would be a free T4 and free T3 to see where these stand, along with the TSI (which are the thyroid stimulating immunoglobins) now that your TSH tests have come in low. A lot of GP's have to be prodded to run these.

You should also have a thyroid ultrasound, to see if there are any structural changes such as nodules, and also possibly a radioactive uptake scan to measure the functionality of your thyroid.

With the results of those, you'll have a better idea of what is going on.


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