{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Thyroid Mystery Solved: Hashimoto's and Hypothyroidism Revealed","title":"085 The Case of the Unnecessary Thyroid Medication","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":738,"description":"The Case:  Linda was having trouble with anxiety and sleep Routine blood work revealed a very high TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and she was given a medication to treat hypothyroidism. Linda wondered why she didn’t have many of the typical symptoms for hypothyroidism and worried that going on medication might be the wrong move.   Even though Linda was happy to have an answer, something didn’t add up. She was told to get on the medication, regardless of whether she showed typical symptoms or not. Linda wasn’t convinced. That’s when she came to see me.    The Investigation Linda was right to question her results and her treatment even though her numbers were very high. I knew I needed to figure out the root cause of her elevated TSH and determine if there might be a way to get her back into optimal range.    Normal Range for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)  The regular lab range for TSH is between .5 and 4.5, but the more functional range that we want to aim for is really between 1.8 and 3 if not medicated. Linda’s TSH was at 19, which was why her doctor was immediately alarmed.    Evaluating Thyroid Markers or Why You Need To Test All Thyroid Markers In order to truly evaluate the thyroid, it is very important to test all of the thyroid markers (as I explained in Episodes 27 & 28). We ran a second blood test with TSH and all the thyroid hormones as well as all 3 antibodies: TPO, thyroglobulin, and TSI antibodies. When the results came back with high TSH (even higher than before!), the interesting thing was that the other actual thyroid hormone markers were completely normal. Linda’s T3 and T4 were at optimal levels. Typically, when those thyroid hormones drop, the body’s signal to correct that would be raising the TSH. We were able to see here that the other hormones had not dropped in the first place, so that was not the reason the TSH was up.    High TSH with High Thyroid Antibodies  In Linda’s case, she didn’t have typical hypothyroid or slow thyroid...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/9ZbRr0xzgu8-YRnig2AcyeY_Nu_m2EBquTr83LV8K2g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQ4NTg5LzE3MTE1/NjQxMDktYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}