We Wouldn't normally Treat a TSH Under 10

[Guest guest]

At the beginning of last month I wrote to my GP following a TSH reading of 6.9,

following the guidelines that Sheila very kindly laid out for me. These were to

list my signs and symptoms, basal temp, family history, plus requests for

1) Further testing for various minerals

2) An Endocrinology referral

3) A trial of Levothyroxine

4) That the letter be answered in 2 weeks and placed in my records.

I very much wanted to hold out 2 weeks for a written reply without seeing the GP

in person. Unfortunately I required an appointment 10 days after sending the

letter for an eye infection. Although my letter was addressed to the head GP of

the practice, I found the Locum I happened to be seeing on the day had opened it

and was going through it. IN fairness, she had taken the time to look the

research references I had posted up on the internet.

Out of a request for testing for (please bear with me) iron, ferritin,

transferrin saturation, B12, D3, Magnesium, Folate, Copper and Zinc, she agreed

to test for TFT, thyroid antibodies, FBC and Ferritin. She said some of the

research papers I had listed had been conducted on rats, making her less

inclined to agree to authorise tests on the basis of it. As I was unfamiliar

with the literature myself I felt ill-placed to query this.

Then she said if I'd been getting all these symptoms, I probably had subclinical

hypothyroidism, as my Free T4 was normal. She added that " the guidelines suggest

we wouldn't normally treat a TSH under 10 " .

My results in full so far are:-

TSH - 6.9mu/L (0.3 - 5.5)

Free T4 - 15.7 pmol/L (10.0 - 19.8)

Free T3 - 4.8 pmol/L (3.5 - 6.7)

It was only after I'd left the consultation room I realised I'd come away with

neither a trial of medication nor a referral.

Truth be told, I don't mind things like being overweight or having sinusitis

overmuch, but the prospect of being depressed for the rest of my life leaves me

in great anguish.

Back to Square One?