ArtfulD

Hi Aces21. Your Free T4 seems a little low to me, but so does your TSH, and increasing your T4 would lower the TSH even more. But perhaps you are one of those folks who feels best with a really low TSH (even lower than 0.1 works for some). I think Meep would actually be better able to interpret these tests, as I'm not as familiar with the Total and Uptake tests.

A 12/31/01 post from our Information Archive describes some of the common thyroid blood tests. Here are the blurbs about the ones you've posted:

<B>Free T4</B>: This test directly measures the free T4 in the blood rather than estimating it like the FTI. It is a more reliable [method], but a little more expensive test. Some labs now do the Free T4 routinely rather than the Total T4.

<B>Thyroxine (T4)</B>: This shows the total amount of the T4. High levels may be due to hyperthyroidism, however technical artifact occurs when estrogen levels are higher from pregnancy, birth control pills or estrogen replacement therapy. A Free T4 (see below) can avoid this interference.

<B>Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)</B>: This protein hormone is secreted by the pituitary gland and regulates the thyroid gland. A high level suggests your thyroid is underactive, and a low level suggests your thyroid is overactive.

<B>T3 Resin Uptake or Thyroid Uptake</B>: This is a test that confuses doctors, nurses, and patients. First, this is not a thyroid test, but a test on the proteins that carry thyroid around in your blood stream. Not only that, a high test number may indicate a low level of the protein! The method of reporting varies from lab to lab. The proper use of the test is to compute the free thyroxine index.

From the tests you've had, your doctor can calculate the following:

<B>Free Thyroxine Index (FTI or T7)</B>: A mathematical computation allows the lab to estimate the free thyroxine index from the T4 and T3 Uptake tests. The results tell us how much thyroid hormone is free in the blood stream to work on the body. Unlike the T4 alone, it is not affected by estrogen levels.

But it would be helpful to also know how you're feeling. Are you having hypo or hyper symptoms? Have things been steady for you on this dosage, or has your health fluctuated? It may be time to evaluate you based on symptoms now that your bloods are close what is considered "normal."