Thyroid issuses....??

Question

okay i have looked all over this site and still cant find what i need....i recently went for my annual physical and the dr checked my thryoid said it was at 2.1 level, told me that it was "normal" but gave me a referal to see an endocrinologist. my question is has anyone had a 2.1 level and why do i need to go to a specialist if its "normal". AND what does a 2.1 level mean????

any help would be appreciated thanks in advance

Answer 1

A healthy thyroid usually works with a TSH of 1 or 1.5 or around that. To get a better idea of your thyroid you proably want to repeat the blood work in 2 months. To get a more comprehensive evaluation and accurate diagnosis - test for more stuff: T4, T3, FreeT4, FreeT3, TPO antibodies. Once you get the results - look for the high end results meaning - your each result should be in the high end. If your TSH comes back 2.1 or around that again - and you do not have antibodies - that means that right now your thyroid is good and healthy. However, do you have any hypothyroid symptoms? The biggests are: lethargic, tired, weigh gain, hair fall. If you dont have these, test yourself again in 6 months, and then a year. If all these are correct - you can get the testing done once a year again. If your TSH will be eventually higher and becomes 2.5, 3, 3.5 or even higher that can mean that you are hypothyroid. If you have high antibodies that means you are autoimmune hypothyroid and the treatment is the same for both. Usually you get synthetic thyroid hormone - which is a very safe medicine once you are on the correct dose. If you are symptomatic - TSH above 2 can benefit from a small amount of thyroid hormone too. If the synthetics do not work for you - you can opt for natural thyroid hormone from pigs (I take that and that worked better for me.) At this point - you probably need more testing to see whats going on. I wish you good luck!

Answer 2

Was it a morning test? TSH should only be done in the morning. While 2.1 is normal its showing that the gland is beginning to slow down. My first TSH was 2.6 and I was told it was normal. 9 months later the TSH went to 6.8. TSH is a lousy test for diagnosing the condition. Better tests are the free t4 and free t3.

The ony thing I'm thinking is that your doctor felt a nodule when he felt your thyroid and that's why he/she is referring you to an endo. Did you have an antibody test done too? If so, perhaps that was elevated.

When you test thyroid again, make sure its only done first thing in the morning. If possible get a TSH, free t4, free t3, and an antibody test. While anything over a 2.0 shows the gland is slowing down, no doctor will treat you until its at least a 3.0. Some won;t treat you until its above 5.5. in 2003, AACE changed the range for TSH to 0.3 to 3.0, where most labs like Quest will still have the range at 0.3 to 5.5.

Links below.

Answer 3

Which particular component of Throxine did he check? T3 or T4? Or TSH, the Thyroxine Stimulating Hormone? You can look up the report which would give these details and the normal ranges too.

TSH will be high if you have low values of T3 and T4 in blood and TSH will be low if T3 and T4 are high.

Look in www.webmd.com and enter Thyroid for more information.

Answer 4

I can't remember off the top of my head what my thyroid level was when I was diagnosed with problems, but it's possible your doctor saw an increase in your thyroid level from your previous checkup. Your thyroid can grow rapidly if you do develop problems, so he probably just would prefer to be on the safe side.

Answer 5

You know what?If you take your car in to have a check-up and you find that there needs to be $100.00 worth of work, the mechanic should be able to tell you why. Likewise, your doctor should be able to answer these questions for you. If he doesn't know, he should just say that he doesn't know.