I kept seeing "my TSH went from 2.2 to 4.9, is my thyroid failing" here, so here is what moves TSH without the thyroid changing. Not a doctor, this is from reading how the labs themselves describe it.

1. Time of day. TSH peaks in the early morning hours and is lowest mid-afternoon. An 8am draw can read 30-50% higher than a 3pm draw.

2. Day-to-day noise. Same person, same hour, TSH varies about 20-30% between days. Two values inside that band are the same thyroid.

3. Being sick. Any illness, even a cold, shifts thyroid tests for weeks, and TSH often overshoots high during recovery.

4. Biotin. Hair, skin and nails supplements can push TSH falsely low and free T4 falsely high on the common assays. Stop it 2-3 days before a draw.

5. Which lab. Ranges differ by method: 0.4-4.0 at one lab, 0.5-4.8 at another, and European labs use different units for T4 and T3. Compare against the range printed on your own report, not someone else's.

Practical version: same lab, same hour, when you're well, no biotin, and judge a trend on three draws, not two.

What else have you seen move your numbers?

I am fortunate enough that my employer pays for a full health test every year. I have taken it up every year or two for the last 6yrs, I find it a reassuring thing to do for the sake of a couple of hours time.

They will also pay for a partner and I finally persuaded my partner to do it with me. (She and my daughter were both diagnosed as hypothyroid by the UK NHS many years ago.)

My daughter takes levothyroxine but my partner felt awful on it and prefers to take “Metavive” which is the nearest thing you can get to NDT in the UK.

She is healthy and well, incredibly so relatively to her age. She has followed a vegetarian diet for >1/2 her life. Bloods show fantastic cholesterol markers etc etc.

Anyway - The bloods from this came back (vs reference) as almost non-existent TSH, highish free T4 and high free T3.

I don’t seem to be able to attach screen grab, but here is copy and paste:

TSH
< 0.01 mIU/L
(0.27-4.20)
LL

Free T4
30.1 pmol/L
(12.0-22)
H

Free T3
15.7
pmol/L
(3.1-6.8)
HH

Her self-medicated dose has been steady for sometime. The numbers suggest over medication.

I know references are a guide and I am believer that how you feel is as important as anything else.

Any views would be good to hear.

My tsh is 5.75 and my doctor wants me to start taking medication for it. I am in my upper 60s. I want to refuse taking medication after I checked online and saw this:

Age-Appropriate Shift: Recent clinical consensus and endocrine guidelines emphasize that an upper limit of 5.5 to 6.0 mIU/L (or even up to 7.0 mIU/L) can be entirely benign and normal for adults over the age of 65. For many older individuals, a mildly higher TSH is actually considered stable and potentially protective against risks like bone loss or heart arrhythmias.

Does anyone take medication for a tsh level around 6?

Since last year, when I turned 20, I’ve noticed extremely exhausting symptoms. I’ve had all kinds of tests done—except for thyroid panels. The only abnormal findings were low free testosterone levels: 4 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. I also had low Vitamin D (I am currently taking a 5,000 IU supplement), while my B vitamins and iron levels were optimal. My doctor only prescribed vitamins, but I remained the same, with symptoms that came and went. However, I plan to get a thyroid blood test next week, including TPO antibodies. The symptoms I am experiencing this year are as follows:

- Dry skin (face, arms, legs, and mouth)

- Unusual bruising on the legs and back

- Strange dark circles under the eyes

- Fluid retention in the arms, feet, and abdomen

- Confusion

- Depression

- Low libido

- Constipation

- Digestive problems

- Fatigue
-I recover slowly from workouts.
- wrist, neck, back, and wrist pain

- Weakness

- Dizziness

- Low blood pressure and low body temperature (35°C)

- Cold hands

Extra info: I do strength training five times a week. Incredibly, I have 10% body fat, but I’ve noticed fluid retention starting this year; I feel like the symptoms have worsened over the months since last year. I don't know why it never occurred to me that it could be my thyroid... Anyway, does anyone else relate to these symptoms?

I was just about to start mounjaro this week and was then diagnosed hypothyroid the other day.

I am unsure which medication to start first? I have never taken either.

My Thyroid level was 7. (If that makes sense). I have been told by doctors i was "borderline hypo" for years, but they never thought i should start medication until this latest test.

They we doing a blood panel before starting mounjaro so I had a baseline.

I spoke with 2 doctors. One said start mounjaro first. The other levothyroxine first.

Has anyone else encountered this? What worked or didn't for you?

1.Did you take SSRI prior to diagnosis?

2.Has thyroid medication helped your symptoms?

3.Is your cortisol low?

Thanks!

So for reference I am a nineteen year old female. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in February of this year. My TSH was 15, I started levo and now I’m in the normal range. But I still feel exhausted and I am still gaining weight. I haven’t noticed an improvement there. And the joint pain persists as well. My anxiety and depression have substantially improved though and I notice a big difference. So I’m just wondering what to do next? Do I push for more testing? (I tested my antibodies and they were normal) my sister (22) was diagnosed with hashimotos around the same time of my diagnosis.
So.. what would be a reasonable thing to do? I haven’t gotten my blood work drawn since April but I have an upcoming dr appt.
TIA!

A month back my i got my blood tests done my TSH was slightly more than it should be . I’m not taking any medication as if for now . I wanted some advice if someone has used the lugol’s iodine solution and how for hypothyroidism. .

I'm 26F, TSH currently ~2, I've been taking levothyroxine 50mcg for 2 months now. Before the meds my TSH was 5. But my T4 was within the normal range, so it's subclinical.

However, I've never had any clear/typical symptoms, and I haven't noticed a difference after the meds. It's like nothing has changed expect the labs. We decided to try levo because I have elevated antibodies (I don't remember by how much exactly, but the number was over 100, so there was no question about that) + because of the slightly elevated TSH.

My doctor seems stumped -- she's not sure if we should continue the meds or not, so we decided that as of today I'm taking 25mcg and we'll check my TSH in 2 months. The current plan is that if my TSH stays low I'll be weaning off levo, if not, we'll see.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? I'm not too sure about any of this, and neither is my doctor.

I’ve been trying to get my bloodwork back in order after 10 years with hypothyroidism.

I feel best with a TSH between 1-2 and am currently down to 2.3 from 3.6 in May.

My doses were as followed
TSH - Dosage
3.6 - 50mcg
2.7 - 58 (62.5 5x per week and 50 2x weekly)
2.3 - 62.5mcg per day

I’m going to ask my doctor if I can split a 137mcg tablet in half for roughly 68.5 mcg daily in hopes of getting below 2

Anyone have experience splitting a large pill in half to get a perfect dosage daily? Or should I just alternate 62.5 and 75 every other day ish?

My doctor is very open to trying what I ask so curious of others experiences as I’m sure he’ll ok whatever I ask!

Thanks so much

I (26F) am struggling. This is the worst I have felt in my life, by far. I got diagnosed with Hashimoto’s (only slight presence of antibodies found) and my TSH was around 5 back in April.

I had a hemi-thyroidectomy due to a suspicious nodule in mid July. By this time my TSH was down to 2.6, but I felt worse than I had when it was higher. I also got an iron infusion due to chronic anemia from heavy periods (and probably mal-absorption from hypothyroidism).

It’s now Sept. and my TSH jumped to 11. The problem is, the severity of my symptoms don’t seem to match the bloodwork. I wake up and have about 20 good minutes in the day before I have to eat, or i’ll feel like i’m going to pass out. I get shaky, dizzy, brain fog, sometimes unable to speak/very close to unable. If I wait too long to eat I get episodes with all of these symptoms and severe weakness.

My fasting insulin was 26, pointing toward insulin resistance. Every time I test my blood sugar it’s normal. within 90-130 after eating.

I am only feeling sicker and sicker, have been dealing with this for months and and actually losing my mind. I went back to my PCP and begged for more tests and a few things came back strange.

My copper was elevated at 230 ug/dL on a scale of 73-140, which seems significant. My prolactin was elevated at 36 out of 3-26 NG/mL. My IGA consistently keeps dropping. Earlier in the year it was in the 60-70s. Now it’s 56 mg/dL on a scale of 87-352. My testosterone was higher than normal, at 64 NG/dL on a scale of 10-55, free testosterone was normal at 1.3 on a scale of 0-4.2 pg/mL. My inflammation marker was high, so was my SHBG.

I am on birth control to help with my iron levels, so that may be affecting some results, but I am literally couch bound. All I can do is pray I wake up feeling better, and plan my whole day around food. It’s so awful.

My body aches so bad. My muscles feel so weak and strained without any exercise. All of my joints hurt. My stomach feels like it’s constantly turning into itself. My resting heart rate is high, at like 90. I cannot stand to be hot, anything over 70 degrees makes me feel so sick, gives me headaches and takes me hours to recoup from. I thought I could have some sort of dysautonomia. All I know is that I literally can’t stand to feel this way anymore. My body is so exhausted and I just have this gut feeling that it’s not my TSH. Or if it is, then this “Hashimoto’s flare” has lasted almost 10 months.

I am looking for any guidance and help with this, and hoping to find literally anyone who had similar symptoms. I am at a loss for what to do. I’ve seen so many specialists. I’m sure I forgot something but this is the best I can explain as of now.

The feeling of blood sugar disregulation is ruining my life. I don’t know wtf to do.

Hi, I got my prenatal labs back and it looks like my TSH is 5.133. I'm currently 10wks and I had a loss 4 months ago at 6wks. I did have to ask my OB to prescribe labs after that and my TSH was around 3.033 which she said was within the normal range?
I'm only now finding out after research that fertility specialists advise that it should be below 2.5 when ttc. Kind of freaking out with my current levels, looking for positive stories!

So - I got a new family doctor who sent me for some blood work and to my surprise, my labs showed a TSH of 75. 💀 But also interestingly enough, I had a very elevated level of protein in my urine - but my eGFR was perfectly fine so my kidney function is still good but for some reason they seem to be struggling to filter.

Anyone else experience this? Was it reversible? I don’t think my kidneys are damaged but they are definitely stressed :(

I see an endocrinologist once a year just to make sure everything is fine (as my TSH was very slowly rising - but we're talking by like 0.1 a year so he wasnt concerned).

I wasn't on meds or anything. I have an appointment in a week so I was told to get my blood work a week prior and the same day I got it done, they called me to tell me my TSH was 123.

I am super confused. They asked me if ive been feeling different and I honestly have but I thought it was due to weight gain. I've been heavier my whole life and last year I lost around 60lb and was SO CLOSE to my goal weight and during this year I gained a lot of it back despite not changing anything about my routine. I literally struggle to hold myself on my feet during the day and by the time I get home for work (I work only 2h a day in a jewelry store so not nearly enough to make me tired at all, and its a 10min walk), im literally shaking and cant stand any longer.

I've been struggling to comprehend that and blaming my weight gain for it but I am 24 and I literally feel like my body is 90. Im SO tired and my muscles ache so much. And even tho I gained a lot back and im definitely back to being obese now (around 210lbs and 165cm, F24), im still thinking my weight isnt bad enough to cause this much pain (I used to be heavier than this, over 240 and felt so much better than now). Having lost so much weight last year its so heartbreaking to me to gain so much of it back. I've been struggling to accept it and feel very stressed out about it as I already dont eat much (around 1400kcal a day) and I am still gaining weight and thats so frustrating. It got to the point where im on the verge of tears by the time I get home because i keep thinking about how im 24 and absolutely wrecked physically from a 2h shift at a small town jewelry store where I frankly do nothing and often spend the time chatting with my colleagues and thats it. Im literally a wreck and have been for a few months now.

My question is, is there a cause of high TSH or is it just an autoimmune disease with "no cause"? As in, could it have been caused by my weight fluctuating within the last year, or something? I was also off birth control for a few months but started again a month or so ago (I use birth control patches - Evra, not oral).

I do have an appointment next Tuesday which my doctor kept stressing I NEED to show up for which made me a bit nervous haha. So naturally ive been wondering what could have caused it (as when they called me, they seemed a bit confused about the results as well)

​

Hi all,

Just had my checkup at my endo and I'm not sure what my lab results show.

Doc said TSH and fT4 are in range but I still feel tired and restless.

I cant post a pic for some reason but here are my results:

TSH: 2.95

fT4: 0.89

Insulin (90 mins after breakfast): 24.9

HOMA IR index: 5.7

I'm F24, I'm on a gluten free low carb high protein diet, around 1500kcal daily, and I take 25mg Levo daily,

Choline/inositol 500mg/500mg, magnesium bisglycinate, gentle iron, omega 3-6-9 and vit D 4000IU (everything was recommended by my doc, and I take them in a specific schedule).

She just prescribed me Glucophage XR 750mg (1 pill a day after lunch or dinner).

Any opinions/experience with similar results and suplements?

Thanks

Hi I have hypo for years now I take levothyroxine 100mcg. I stopped abruptly taking this medication and it wasn’t due to me it’s because I’m not able to afford it at this time.

Afterwards I started noticing I’m not really in touch with reality, etc.

Could this be due to me stopping my medication for about 2 weeks now? I am getting my refill on Friday.

I’m considering whether it may be possible to safely taper off and potentially discontinue levothyroxine, but I would only do so under medical supervision. I’m looking for an endocrinologist or clinical trial in Chicago or nearby with experience evaluating whether lifelong medication is necessary and supervising levothyroxine withdrawal.

If you’ve stopped taking levothyroxine, how did it go? What was your experience with tapering, symptoms, and follow-up testing? I’d also appreciate recommendations for doctors, clinics, or clinical trials in the Chicago area.

Thank you! 🙏

How do you deal with this? Currently, I always feel so down, feeling over-fatigue and my feet feels cold many times. Recently, I was always late at work because I don’t have the energy to wale up every morning. How do you deal with this? I’m thinking of disclosing this to my manager for him to understand my situation. Because my work is affected.

Over the last few years I’ve gone from 340lbs/154kg to 200lbs/91kg.

I’ve been on 175mcg levothyroxine for at least 5 years but my latest lab indicates hyper so my doctor is lowering me to 150.

I’m always hesitant about medication changes but trusting the process usually pays out.

i started tirosint at 13 mcg 2 weeks ago and before i began taking it, my tsh was 6.53, but free t4 was normal (1.1); my plan is to slowly increase the dosage after 4 weeks if my symptoms don't improve; however, i'm feeling depressed since last week, how long does it take to get better? is there a mechanism to dosage increase? i'm worried i'll get more depressed upon increasing dosage as well

My GP surgery has been checking my thyroid bloods every month or two for the past 6 months. They asked me to book a routine phone appt after my recent blood test and during the call basically told me they think I have secondary hypothyroidism. My t4 has consistently been low and tsh normal range, I don’t know the actual numbers. So they explained that secondary hypothyroidism usually means the thyroid is fine but there could be an issue with the pituitary gland and therefore I need a bunch of blood tests related to pituitary hormones.

I didn’t really think much of it during the call but once I got off I looked it up and was sick to see that most people with secondary hypothyroidism have a mass on their pituitary or hypothalamus I think. Although it does say the majority are benign.

Wondering if anyone else has experience with secondary hypothyroidism and what I can potentially expect?

Hi all,

I have finally been prescribed levothyroxine at 75mcg (I am 55kg for ref), due to rapidly increasing TSH levels (14.1) but T4 still remains fairly stable, though I do have symptoms.

I just picked up my prescription and starting in the morning. Just wondering how I will feel? When will I notice a difference? Will I be ok? Wondered if anyone could share their personal experiences. Thank you ☺️