# Another Newbie! Looking for help on blood results



## PamNJ (Jul 28, 2010)

Hi. I am a 54 y/o female, post menopause, hysterectomy last year. My gyn ran some work which shows the following: high Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab of 458 with a ref. range of 0-34. My T4, Free (Direct) is normal (1.02) (range .82-1.77) as well as my TSH (3.520) (range .45-4.50), T3 Uptake is 28 (range 24-39) and Thyroglobulin, also normal at 22.1 (.5-55). Someone told me the high TPO ab might be Hashimoto's. I also have borderline high cholesterol (237) that I have been working hard to bring down through diet and exersize to no avail. I also cant seem to bring my weight down and it seems to be creaping up while constantly watching what I eat. I am tired and have to nap daily. Of course I attributed it all to post menopause and the hysterectomy. MyGP appt is not till next week. Will he refer me to an endocronogist. Do you think he would watch and wait or prescribe or do further tests? Any thoughts from anyone would be most appreciated!!!! Oh, I also forgot to mention, my hair falls out big time in the shower. Ugh! Thanks, Pam


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

PamNJ said:


> Hi. I am a 54 y/o female, post menopause, hysterectomy last year. My gyn ran some work which shows the following: high Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab of 458 with a ref. range of 0-34. My T4, Free (Direct) is normal (1.02) (range .82-1.77) as well as my TSH (3.520) (range .45-4.50), T3 Uptake is 28 (range 24-39) and Thyroglobulin, also normal at 22.1 (.5-55). Someone told me the high TPO ab might be Hashimoto's. I also have borderline high cholesterol (237) that I have been working hard to bring down through diet and exersize to no avail. I also cant seem to bring my weight down and it seems to be creaping up while constantly watching what I eat. I am tired and have to nap daily. Of course I attributed it all to post menopause and the hysterectomy. MyGP appt is not till next week. Will he refer me to an endocronogist. Do you think he would watch and wait or prescribe or do further tests? Any thoughts from anyone would be most appreciated!!!! Oh, I also forgot to mention, my hair falls out big time in the shower. Ugh! Thanks, Pam


Hi there Pam and welcome!! High TPO is suggestive of Hashimoto's and it is also suggestive of a lot of other things.

Your FT4 is a little low as mid-range would be 1.29. It is better to be mid-range or a tad higher. And AACE recommends the range for TSH to 0.3 -3.0 so I think your TSH is a bit high. Putting those 2 together does indicate shypothyroid but one cannot really be sure w/o a Free T3 test for that is your active hormone.

You may wish to get a ferritin test for if that is low, your hair would fall out big time. Most of us with thyroid disease do have low ferritin. Ferritin is the protein that stores your iron for cellular uptake. Low ferritin could also cause you to be very very tired but so can thyroid disease.

Here is info on TPO.....
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/thyroid_antibodies/test.html

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003556.htm

And I do think it probably would be a good idea to at least get a sonogram to make sure there is nothing suspicious re nodules and such.

http://www.thyca.org/thyroglobulin.htm


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## PamNJ (Jul 28, 2010)

Hi again, I also failed to mention a low vitamin d level (28.3), but I take 2000 units daily. It seems to be that there may be a corrolation with the high TPO's. Is that correct?


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## kimmiann99 (Aug 4, 2010)

PamNJ said:


> Hi. I am a 54 y/o female, post menopause, hysterectomy last year. My gyn ran some work which shows the following: high Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) Ab of 458 with a ref. range of 0-34. My T4, Free (Direct) is normal (1.02) (range .82-1.77) as well as my TSH (3.520) (range .45-4.50), T3 Uptake is 28 (range 24-39) and Thyroglobulin, also normal at 22.1 (.5-55). Someone told me the high TPO ab might be Hashimoto's. I also have borderline high cholesterol (237) that I have been working hard to bring down through diet and exersize to no avail. I also cant seem to bring my weight down and it seems to be creaping up while constantly watching what I eat. I am tired and have to nap daily. Of course I attributed it all to post menopause and the hysterectomy. MyGP appt is not till next week. Will he refer me to an endocronogist. Do you think he would watch and wait or prescribe or do further tests? Any thoughts from anyone would be most appreciated!!!! Oh, I also forgot to mention, my hair falls out big time in the shower. Ugh! Thanks, Pam


I was just diganosed with Hashi with my TPO at 600 and same ref range as yours. My TSH was in the 2's. And free T4 was good. My endo just started me on Levoyl. I have been gaining weight, have been very tired and nap daily too. Haven't had any hair loss but my hair is very dry.


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