A couple months back, some of my labwork came back with a slightly elevated TSH of 4.19.....Shenacat and JessicaE thanks for responding to my inquiry at the time!
As you both suggested, I spoke with my RE who is going to rerun the TSH test. He said if it is over 4 he will treat me for Hypo. He also said he wants to obtain an "Antithyroid Antibody titer", does anyone know what this is? Also, are there other tests that should be run again too.....what about T3 and T4?
One last question, since TSH levels can vary, does anyone have any tips for getting the most accurate reading? I've seen that certain food should be avoided (soy, some veggies.) Is there a time of day, or cycle day when these tests will be most accurate?
It depends. Most doctors tell you that your TSH does not fluctuate over the day, but there is research supporting that it does. When do you feel worst? Morning, noon or night? Use this as your indicator.
The Antibodies test is to check to see if you have autoimmune hypothyroiditis, or Hashimoto's thyroiditis. It is the autoimmune version of thyroid disease, and is common. Unfortunately, if you have one autoimmune disease you will usually develop more because it means your immune system is going crazy and trying to destroy parts of your body (in this case, the thyroid).
FREE t3 and T4 would be helpful. Do not let them do a T3 uptake because that is a useless test, it measures nothing. (It is a mathematically derived number and not related to actual levels of T3 at all.) Free t4 or total T4 doesn't matter at this point they are both decent pointers.
The cycle day when you have the most estrogen in your body would be the day you'd be most hypothyroid - estrogen binds to thyroid hormone. I don't know when this would be, someone else might or you could look it up.
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PCOS+IR, Hypothyroidism
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Logan Scott born April 9, 2004!
Conor James born Nov 1, 2006.
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From my TTC research, I believe your estrogen would be highest mid-cycle, just before you ovulate. It should come in tandem with cervical mucus that looks like egg whites (clear and stretchy). Unfortunately, many of us PCOSers don't ovulate, so finding the time w/ highest estrogen might be tough.
As for autoimmune diseases, having one (Hashimoto's, which is what they'll be testing you for) does increase your chances of developing another one. But it certainly doesn't doom you, and it isn't anywhere near a certainty. I will try to look it up, I think the data is that if you have one autoimmune, you have a 25% chance of developing another.
Good luck!
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Two sweet boys!
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Getting TSH Retested - Question 
