BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Thyroid Health Low FT4

Hi I have been searching all over for help, and am hoping someone might have some advice for me or some links where I can find out more info. I recently went to my doctor because I have been having fatigue, stomach pain, body aches, headaches, weird periods, panic attacks, depression, ect. My doctor did some lab work and my FT4 was low (.53) my TSH was 1.25 and my T3 was 3.0. I am confused as to what these results mean... I have tried to call my doctor 4 times and she will not call me back. She just sent me my results in the mail. I am begging for help. If anyone knows what this means or knows where I can findout I would really appreciate it. thank you

Are you new to thyroid issues?
And did you have a total t3 or free? Do you have the ranges for normal? Did you have other lab work besides thyroid done, like vitamin levels?
What kind of insurance do you have? If you can, you may want to bypass your internist and visit an endocrinologist for antibody testing.

I'm sorry I'm not much help. My experience with thyroid is in the hyper, not hypo. Though some good hypo books are Mary Shomon's Living Well with Hypothyroidism and the Shameses' Thyroid Power. And our moderator, who is sure to chime in soon, has lots of reliable articles on the subject of hypo and is sure to give you more direction.

And I do know some good questions to ask to enable those in the know to help you better ;-)

Christal,

Welcome to the forum!
As Fayge requested, we would be interested in those lab ranges if you can add them for better comparison. I would say at glance that your T4 result was low and sounds like this is what you were told. If either the T4 or T3 are low (or both) it indicates hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) of some type. Fayge also mentioned getting tested for thyroid antibodies, which in the case of hypothyroidism would be the "TPO and TG" antibodies which can help to determine if it is caused by Hashimoto's thyroiditis (if either or both are positive). It is the most common cause of hypothyroidism but some people during early onset of the disease (thyroid autoimmunity) will have phases of hyperthyroidism (overactive) and when this is happening, the "TSI" antibodies might also need tested for which if also found positive can mean you are experiencing "Hashitoxicosis" (hyperthyroid phases) or that you could possibly even transition over to Graves' Disease, the autoimmune type of hyperthyroidism over time.
Most people with hypothyroidism caused by Hashimoto's continue into progressive hypothyroidism but anxiety symptoms are not uncommon with it regardless.
I've kind of gone over this generally to give you a quick understanding of autoimmune-caused hypothyroidism but there are other less common types such as "Central Hypothyroidism", caused by a failure in the master brain glands to regulate the thyroid gland.
Fayge mentioned some great books/authors that I also think a lot of. I did want to refer you to a couple of article links of mine that might help.
click here>http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art57465.asp
and here>http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art58620.asp

Also, please continue to ask all the questions you like, we enjoy the fellow-patient posting and learning from eachother here.
As I mentioned in another recent thread, I often reply in detail and enjoy the opportunity to do so. BellaOnline sites have very high article traffic but not very high forum traffic but we do enjoy the posts we get.

Thank you so much for your replies.... Here are my test results in detail: Ft3 free 3.0 nrml 2.3-4.2 FT4 .53 nrml .58-1.12 TSH 1.25 nrml .34-5.60 I am just confused by it all and have been feeling so bad since the birth of my last child 10 months ago. And I am getting no support from my GP. I need to find a new one. Thank you for the links also, any info is welcomed Christal

Christal,

That FT4 is flagged low and reveals hypothyroidism, regardless of the normal TSH. No two people have labs reflecting abnormals exactly the same and some have a TSH that delays in reflecting low T4 or T3. In some cases this is due to a secondary type hypothyroidism such as "Central" I described earlier.
Postpartum Hypothyroidism can occur as much as a year after giving birth according to medical sources. Some women who are predisposed to developing autoimmune hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's) because it runs in their family, can develop Postpartum Hypothyroidism (often only needs treated temporarily) that becomes the permanent type, once the immune system continues to send out antibodies that cause thyroid damage/destruction.
In my opinion, you need tested for "thyroid antibodies". That would be the logical next step, plus retesting with a thyroid panel again to reconfirm abnormal hormone levels. I can't imagine any doctor not also seeing the need for the further testing. If you find difficulty in getting it ordered, I would make an appointment with another doctor, qualified in treating thyroid.

Thank you so much... you have no idea how you have helped me. I wasnt sure if I should go seek a second opinion or just live with my symptoms. I will be finding a new doctor and have more testing done. I have read the link above as well as took the test. Thanks again, Christal

You are very welcome!
Keep us updated on your case if you can and continue to ask questions or post comments as often as you like.

[quote]I have been having fatigue, stomach pain, body aches, headaches, weird periods, panic attacks, depression, ect.[/quote] That pretty much fits me own symptoms recently. I still wake up several times a night and still have stomach pain and muscle pains and weakness. It's difficult to live with. I got diagnosed with a D deficiency so that was making everything worse. Good luck to you!

I have so many symptoms that reflect hypothyrioidism it's rediculouos and no dr's would treat me. I have severe swelling, weakness in all muscles, a backache that prevents me from standing or walking for more than 10 min max, I was recently hospitalized because my entire body was so swollen I was practically unrecognizable. I carried approximately 40 lbs of water, gained about 50 lbs in weight as well and clothes that fit last week don't fit this week and my dr dismissed it and dismissed it until the hospital incident. My T4 was as low as it could be without being below the "abnormal" level so I went untreated by several dr's for many years when I decided to treat myself, I spent countless hours of research on the thyroid gland the dosages of the medications along with the "Normal" levels of throid blood tests and now know more about hypothyroid than most dr's. I went to mexico, bought the medication, followed the dosing instructions and low and behold every symptom I suffered with for so long went away. within 8 weeks I went from a size 18-20 back to my normal size 7 and every bit of swelling went away all muscle weakness all fatigue. I continued to treat myself until my last trip to Mexico when they told me that the country stopped making that medication, Cytomel, and it's the ONLY one of it's kind. No supplement, no substitute, nothing. I'm now back to size 20 and all sypmtoms have returned. After my 5 day hospital stay three Dr's all agreed I am hypothyroid and thankfully are giving me cytomel but they are giving me the dosage that a 0 to 3 month old baby would get not an adult dose. my next visit I will try to reason with the dr and tell him my dose was 70mcg when I was treating myself and see if he will agree, wish me luck! And to all of you out there that are experiencing what I've gone through, don't give up, find a dr. who will treat you! I've learned that over 30 thousand Americans a year go untreated with hypothyroidism. AMAZING HUH?

Hi Brenda,

Thanks for commenting on this thread and sharing your experience. It's always great to read about a fellow-patient who advocated for their self and self-educated! It is often the only way many people get treated, as you point out. Of the tens of millions of people suffering thyroid disease (80% hypothyroidism), the AACE estimates that as many as half remain undiagnosed. Likely it is for the same reasons many of us struggled to get doctors to listen and to order proper testing.

I do wish you the best with your new doctor. Hopefully to fully evaluate you, he will order the T4 and T3 level, along with TSH, an important thing when they newly treat a hypothyroid patient in my opinion!