# TPO - What is considered "high"?



## sjmjuly

I have searched everywhere trying to get a definition of what is considered a "high level" of antibodies. I see people with levels all over the place and wondered what "alot" is?????
Mine were 439 when I started medication (TSH was elevated, free's were in the basement) Better now and at last labs my TPO was at 237 (TSH is LOW and free's are normal low range) I know anything over the "range" is over the norm, but does anyone have an opinion on what is "high"?


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## Lovlkn

I believe the normal is <35 so technically you are still fairly high.

I was diagnosed at around 435 and 4.5 years later when I had surgery they were at 1800. Mine doubled within 8 months of taking ATD's.


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## alliebeth88

I remember reading like one sentence in a scientific paper that said that TPOabs at or around 200 were highly indicative of Hashimoto's disease. I can't remember the name/journal though.

I've been searching for this info too. It seems some people have a diagnosis with anything over 35, while I'm also seeing people with TPOabs in the thousands. It is confusing.


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## Lovlkn

My TSI was 325% with a TPO of over 1800.

My body was at war with itself - surgery saved my life.


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## lainey

It is not uncommon for people to come through a forum like this with TPO antibodies in the thousands, with a very few in the ten thousands. Most common is in the low hundreds.

You can have a few, and have a lot of thyroid dysfunction as measured by lab tests, and you can have a lot of antibodies and a thyroid that still appears to be working. You can be on replacement and still have a lot of antibodies. There aren't any direct correlations.


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## surge

I had over a thousand, with the normal range in my lab being <9. Ridiculous. I've noticed anecdotally that people seem to really feel more erratic when those antibodies are over 4-500...again, totally anecdotal inference, so I'm sure you can feel terrible under 200. The higher the antibodies in one range, the more likely you'll have high antibodies in another. It's a show of increasing inflammation in the body. I don't think 'we' know too much about antibodies, except that they suck. And whatever you're doing is right, since you're antibodies are on the way down... good luck!


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## sjmjuly

I felt like total crap when they were 439. They went down to 368, then 290 and last lab was 237. I feel better now than ever. I am hoping they are even less at my next check. I know they wax and wane so I try to do everything to calm the immune response. Gluten free, supplements, etc. My TSH at last lab was .09 and though the doc freaked, I feel great and no hyper symptoms. Free's are normal low range. It seems my antibodies calm down and don't attack because my thyroid "is on vacation". I think it's because of the Naturethroid. I take 1 grain now.


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## bigfoot

sjmjuly said:


> I felt like total crap when they were 439. They went down to 368, then 290 and last lab was 237. I feel better now than ever. I am hoping they are even less at my next check. I know they wax and wane so I try to do everything to calm the immune response. Gluten free, supplements, etc. My TSH at last lab was .09 and though the doc freaked, I feel great and no hyper symptoms. Free's are normal low range. It seems my antibodies calm down and don't attack because my thyroid "is on vacation". I think it's because of the Naturethroid. I take 1 grain now.


This is most excellent! :anim_32:


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## Andros

sjmjuly said:


> I have searched everywhere trying to get a definition of what is considered a "high level" of antibodies. I see people with levels all over the place and wondered what "alot" is?????
> Mine were 439 when I started medication (TSH was elevated, free's were in the basement) Better now and at last labs my TPO was at 237 (TSH is LOW and free's are normal low range) I know anything over the "range" is over the norm, but does anyone have an opinion on what is "high"?


We have some posters whose TPO Ab is in the thousands. I would say that is high.

By the way, everyone has some TPO, but the healthy person should not have any TPO Ab.

TPO
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


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## sjmjuly

Andros said:


> We have some posters whose TPO Ab is in the thousands. I would say that is high.
> 
> By the way, everyone has some TPO, but the healthy person should not have any TPO Ab.
> 
> TPO
> 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


Wow. I can only imagine how I would feel if my TPO was in the thousands! I felt like death when they were only 439.


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## CA-Lynn

Just a reminder that on some occasions a false positive will occur.

Are you sure it was in the thousands.....and the unit of measure wasn't 10 times the usual unit of measure?


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