Opinions please..

[Deanna in CO]

I am unfortunate enough to be a Kaiser patient. Kaiser currently says TSH levels below 5.5 are normal, in spite of clear statements to the contrary from the American Academy of Endocrinology and others. My TSH has been above 3.5 for several years, and literally every female member of my family - both grandmothers, 4 aunts (3 on one side, one on the other), mom, sister - has thyroid disease of one kind or another. Both my grandmothers had thyroid cancer. I'm planning to ask the doctor to do not just TSH, but free t3 and free T4 as soon as I can get retested (they will only do it every 6 months and mine isn't up until March 1).

1) Is there anything else I should request related to this when I get those done?

2) If my levels still come back below Kaiser's limits, is there anything I can take or do to make developing full-blown thyroid disease less likely?

[tex]

Testing for thyroid antibodies would be helpful, because many of us have autoimmune Hashimoto's disease.

Sometimes taking iodine can help thyroid issues, but if your TSH is consistently above 3.5, you are clearly hypothyroid. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommended that change in the "normal" range almost 10 years ago. Kaiser is apparently still practicing medicine in the stone age.

Tex

[Deanna in CO]

I checked my lab results just to be sure. In January of 2005, my TSH was 2.673. In February of 2007, it was 3.641, and since then, it has bounced around a bit (over 3.5 only one other time) but never gone below 3. Looks like I need to ask for the free T3 and free T4 and the antibodies, for sure. I hope Kaiser will agree to do them; if not, I may have another friend who's a Dr order them for me, even if I have to pay for them.

[tex]

I sure would, because if you're low on thyroid hormone, it can throw a monkey wrench into all sorts of processes in the body, because the thyroid hormone level influences the production of various other hormones, also.

Tex

[DebE13]

Tex- It doesn't appear that any other tests were last September related to the Total & Free T3 &4 tests and I'm not sure about the antibodies. Since these are 6 months old, I don't think it's unreasonable to make the request for new testing since I'm having many of the symtoms. Would I just request a more detailed testing and they'd know to test the all of the above mentioned or do I have to be very specific? It all means very little to me, but would I ask for:

TSH
Total T3 & Total T4
Free T3 & Total T4
Thyroid Antibodies

I have to check in at the end of the week for the budesonide so I'll include this in my fax to my GI. Not sure if he'll refer me to my family doc or not. I just remember too that my eye doctor often reminds me about my thyroid because one of my eyes is slightly different than the other, indicative of thyroid. I keep telling him that my results are normal but that's another reason to get the courage to ask for more detailed testing.

Thanks for the additional references Gloria- I'll be looking into it more.

Shirley, you're not alone in the getting side tracked at the doctors office. I do it time and again. I often leave and later realize I skipped some topics I wanted to cover simply because I want to get in and out as quickly as possible. Not very smart when I'm paying them to help me but I rarely have the feeling that we're working towards the same goal.

Brandy- Interesting with the fragrance free suggestion. I'll have to try it- it can't hurt.

[tex]

I doubt that your GI specialist will order any thyroid tests, because that's not his turf, but I could be wrong, of course - he might order them anyway, and send you somewhere else for the evaluation.

Not knowing your doctor's usual routine, I don't have any way of knowing which tests he or she would order if you don't specify them, (or even if you do specify them), but as far as I'm aware, it's rather uncommon for most doctors to order the Free T3 and Free T4 test, and usually, they would only order the antibody tests if you had one or two obvious autoimmune diseases, (such as RA, or SLE, etc.). I doubt that very many doctors even realize that MC is an autoimmune disease, (since most don't consider it to be a IBD). I always specifically request the tests that I want. Whenever I haven't done that, I've been disappointed every time, but maybe you're luckier than I am.

I just remember too that my eye doctor often reminds me about my thyroid because one of my eyes is slightly different than the other, indicative of thyroid. I keep telling him that my results are normal but that's another reason to get the courage to ask for more detailed testing.

Exactly - everything happens for a reason. It couldn't hurt to point out that your eye doctor keeps reminding you that your eye issues appear to be associated with a thyroid problem, so you need more than the usual basic tests. More than one dentist has pointed out to patients that they probably have celiac disease, based on the damage to the enamel of their teeth, for example. IOW, peripheral symptoms are important, and shouldn't be disregarded.

Tex