# High TSH, feel fine, many questions



## alowe (Sep 18, 2012)

Hi all,

Hopefully i'm posting this in the right place.

A little over a month ago I had my blood work done as a part of a routine physical. I'm 33, in good shape, eat a well balanced diet, and I feel perfectly fine. My bloodwork came back perfectly normal except for my TSH level. The test reported that my TSH level was 15.87, well above the standard range. Since I felt fine without any symptoms, I decided to wait a month and retake the test. Well, I retook the test on Sunday and it came back at 11.17.

Now the doctor has prescribed me with levothroid 75 mcg. I did some reading around and I've requested to have a T4/TFree blood test done as well. Is there anything else that I should request to have looked at?

It's just surprising to me that my TSH levels are so high and yet I don't have any symptoms. Is this a common occurance? Should I get on the prescribed medication even though I am currently asymptomatic? Are there any risks with taking levothroid? Do I have any options outside of prescription medication to lower my TSH level?

This is all so new to me and I don't know what to think at times.

Thanks!


----------



## Rdonnelly (May 2, 2012)

Well, you took the right first steps and found this forum. The standard doctors approach of prescribing just off TSH is par for the course. I would be reluctant to start taking the meds without further tests as they can make you feel aweful. I am pretty new to all this, about 2 years into it, and 33 as well. I am sure all the vets on this site and more bloodwork with help you with a plan of action.


----------



## Octavia (Aug 1, 2011)

alowe, the fact that you are asymptomatic with a TSH of 15 makes me wonder if it's just going to end up being a transient thing, perhaps caused by being sick, taking a new medicine, or something else.

Is the TSH level the only result you have in your hands? Did they test your Free T3 and Free T4, by any chance?

Generally speaking (and we're all different), if we had a TSH hovering at 10 to 15 for an extended period of time, we'd pretty much feel like doo-doo. It's like living in slow-motion, walking through quicksand. But if it's just a short-term thing, it might not be that bad, or that noticeable.

If you didn't get additional thyroid labwork done, I would push for some additional testing prior to starting the meds.


----------



## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

alowe said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Hopefully i'm posting this in the right place.
> 
> ...












This has been known to happen. One reason is that the disease is insidious and we tend to grow into to it, adapt and make excuses that we are getting older.

It will be interesting to see how you feel once that TSH really comes down.

Glad you requested the FREE T4 and really it would be wise to get antibodies' run and also an ultra-sound of your thyroid.

TSI
Normally, there is no TSI in the blood. If TSI is found in the blood, this indicates that the thyroid stimulating immunoglobulin is the cause of the of a person's hyperthyroidism. 
http://www.medicineonline.com/topics/t/2/Thyroid-Stimulating-Immunoglobulin/TSI.html

Trab
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17684583

TPO (antimicrosomal antibodies) TBII (thyrotropin-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin), Thyroglobulin Ab, ANA (antinuclear antibodies), (thyroid hormone panel) TSH, Free T3, Free T4.

You can look this stuff up here and more.........
http://www.labtestsonline.org/

I included the tests for hyper because based on TSH alone, one cannot be sure as antibodies do attack the receptor site causing unusual numbers. There are binding, blocking and stimulating antibodies all working to off-set on another.


----------

