some of my health is not crap!

[baratron]

I meant to post the results of my blood tests, seeing as I got them on Friday. Apparently my liver function is all well in the middle of the normal range (I've forgotten the exact number). My TSH is within the range of normal, but somewhat on the high side - mine is 3.81 uIU/mL and the normal range is 0.4 - 4.0 uIU/mL. This means that I do not have

Comments

[geminigirl]

I know in the US, the more current guideline is to treat as hypothyroid at 3.04 or higher, or if there are symptoms. In fact, the lab results I got back gives the normal range and the disclaimer "Normal values do not rule out the possibility of sub-clinincal hypothyroism."

I'm lucky-I've had sub-clinical numbers and a doctor willing to treat aggressively. It's made a huge difference.

[baratron]

They're a little more cautious here - I think because being on thyroxine means you get free prescriptions for life. Also, I don't noticeably have any of the symptoms; except for weight gain, which has at least partially been explained by mirtazapine. Not like my poor mother who still experiences way too many of the symptoms despite being on the "right" level of thyroxine :/

I need to look into how carbamazepine causes "abnormal thyroid hormone tests" (not abnormal thyroid hormone levels) because clearly I need to keep getting my thyroid tested every couple of years, or if I suddenly notice that I have several symptoms. Am hoping it's simple enough to deal with, or they can do a carbamazepine level test to normalise the numbers.

[brooksmoses]

Indeed; I was going to comment on that, since suzimoses has hypothyroidism and is a bit of an evangelist for frequent testing and such. From what I gather, there seems to be a fair range there that amounts to "may be hypothyroidism, depending on whether symptoms are shown".

Not that long ago, the U.S. numbers were 5-something (IIRC), and apparently some labs/doctors are still using that as the cutoff.