Forget *3*, in thyroid-land *1* is the magic number!
For those of us doing battle with our thyroid glands, or in my case now sans thyroid gland, juggling medication levels to emulate our thyroid function, 1 is the magic number. Not all doctors and Endo are aware of this purported holy grail of TSH readings, but so much research and information out there in the real world points to the fact that a TSH of 1 (or as close as dammit) is desirable for optimum well-being.
I've only been near the magic 1 twice since I my first official thyroid blood panel, taken in 2004. The first one was back in July of 2009, with a TSH of 0.65...alas that was a very short lived 'blip', in June '09 my TSH had come back as 4.64, and by August '09 it had dropped to 0.01, firmly back in hyper-land. I can only assume, that somewhere between September '08 and January '09 it also crossed the magic 1.0 threshold, albeit for a day or so, as it swung from 0.03 up to 18.3, well into hypo-land. and most recently, the last time was a month before my thyroidectomy, when the bloods taken on 12th April '10 came back with a TSH of 1.36.
But yesterday, I came back from my GP's surgery staring at a copy of my latest lab results, with a magical 1.1 in the TSH column. FT4 wasn't so bad either at 20.7, just 0.6 above normal ranges...and as explained to me by the kind folks on the Thyroid-Disease Support Forum it was suggested that since I no longer have a thyroid gland at all, a slightly high FT4 is OK, if not desirable. "Barbara" on the T-DSF wrote "when you are on complete [thyroid] replacement you need more T4 because of poor peripheral conversion to T3 in your body tissues. A normal thyroid produces mainly T4 and it also produces a little T3 too but once your thyroid stops working, either by disease or removal, you need extra T4 to compensate."
As I understand it, form the crash course I'm currently undergoing regarding life without a thyroid gland, I need to be aiming for a TSH as close to 1 as possible, and FT4 slightly above range...and if this latest set of bloods are anything to go by, I'm there, right here, right now!
But...and there always has to be a but...only by subsequent blood tests, presumably scheduled within the next 2-4 weeks, will we know for sure if it is all levelling out and reaching some kind of 'perfect' thyroid equilibrium, indicating my bloods are spot on, and in turn, that my medication levels are perfect...or if my TSH will continue to drop (2 weeks ago it was 4.07 (indicating I'm possibly over-medicated) or indeed, bottom out and start to rise again(indicating that I'm under-medicated).
Still lots of hypO cramming to do before I see the NEW Endo on Tuesday, but I feel I'm just starting to get my head around how to lead a gland-less life, and will have some newly-learned armoury to take in with me to my appointment, just in time for the *all-switch* medical staff rotation that takes place in teaching hospitals across the land...
A few articles of interest, regarding 'optimum' TSH...
*Normal* TSH - An article on optimum TSH published by Thyroid Australia Limited
UK Guidelines for the Use of Thyroid Function Tests - go to page 25
TSH, Temperature... - An article by Dr Raymond Peat MA PhD
What is the Optimal TSH Level for Thyroid Patients? - An article by Mary Shomon
And finally, I love the idea of this, and look forward to giving it a go!
Yoga Can Help Thyroid Conditions - an article by Dear Thyroid, posted on Opposing Views
In other news....I would have posted this blog yesterday evening, but I got ghoulishly caught up in the media circus regarding Raoul Moat and the inevitably fatal end-game, and I ended up glued to Sky News until 4am...
For those of us doing battle with our thyroid glands, or in my case now sans thyroid gland, juggling medication levels to emulate our thyroid function, 1 is the magic number. Not all doctors and Endo are aware of this purported holy grail of TSH readings, but so much research and information out there in the real world points to the fact that a TSH of 1 (or as close as dammit) is desirable for optimum well-being.
I've only been near the magic 1 twice since I my first official thyroid blood panel, taken in 2004. The first one was back in July of 2009, with a TSH of 0.65...alas that was a very short lived 'blip', in June '09 my TSH had come back as 4.64, and by August '09 it had dropped to 0.01, firmly back in hyper-land. I can only assume, that somewhere between September '08 and January '09 it also crossed the magic 1.0 threshold, albeit for a day or so, as it swung from 0.03 up to 18.3, well into hypo-land. and most recently, the last time was a month before my thyroidectomy, when the bloods taken on 12th April '10 came back with a TSH of 1.36.
But yesterday, I came back from my GP's surgery staring at a copy of my latest lab results, with a magical 1.1 in the TSH column. FT4 wasn't so bad either at 20.7, just 0.6 above normal ranges...and as explained to me by the kind folks on the Thyroid-Disease Support Forum it was suggested that since I no longer have a thyroid gland at all, a slightly high FT4 is OK, if not desirable. "Barbara" on the T-DSF wrote "when you are on complete [thyroid] replacement you need more T4 because of poor peripheral conversion to T3 in your body tissues. A normal thyroid produces mainly T4 and it also produces a little T3 too but once your thyroid stops working, either by disease or removal, you need extra T4 to compensate."
As I understand it, form the crash course I'm currently undergoing regarding life without a thyroid gland, I need to be aiming for a TSH as close to 1 as possible, and FT4 slightly above range...and if this latest set of bloods are anything to go by, I'm there, right here, right now!
But...and there always has to be a but...only by subsequent blood tests, presumably scheduled within the next 2-4 weeks, will we know for sure if it is all levelling out and reaching some kind of 'perfect' thyroid equilibrium, indicating my bloods are spot on, and in turn, that my medication levels are perfect...or if my TSH will continue to drop (2 weeks ago it was 4.07 (indicating I'm possibly over-medicated) or indeed, bottom out and start to rise again(indicating that I'm under-medicated).
Still lots of hypO cramming to do before I see the NEW Endo on Tuesday, but I feel I'm just starting to get my head around how to lead a gland-less life, and will have some newly-learned armoury to take in with me to my appointment, just in time for the *all-switch* medical staff rotation that takes place in teaching hospitals across the land...
A few articles of interest, regarding 'optimum' TSH...
*Normal* TSH - An article on optimum TSH published by Thyroid Australia Limited
UK Guidelines for the Use of Thyroid Function Tests - go to page 25
TSH, Temperature... - An article by Dr Raymond Peat MA PhD
What is the Optimal TSH Level for Thyroid Patients? - An article by Mary Shomon
And finally, I love the idea of this, and look forward to giving it a go!
Yoga Can Help Thyroid Conditions - an article by Dear Thyroid, posted on Opposing Views
In other news....I would have posted this blog yesterday evening, but I got ghoulishly caught up in the media circus regarding Raoul Moat and the inevitably fatal end-game, and I ended up glued to Sky News until 4am...
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