Thyroid Hormone Panel (TSH, free T3, free T4) Lab Test
Testing Your Thyroid Hormones
Hypothyroidism and Low T3:
- Weight Gain
- Enlarged thyroid (goiter)
- Fatigue
- Hair Loss all over the scalp and lateral eyebrows
- Constipation
- Irregular menstrual periods in women
- Intolerance to cold
- Dry skin
- swollen or puffy calves
Hyperthyroidism and High freeT3:
- Weight loss
- Increased heart rate
- Anxiety
- Sweating
- Trouble sleeping
- Tremors in the hands
- Weakness
- Diarrhea
- Light sensitivity, visual disturbances
- Puffiness around the eyes, dryness, irritation
- Bulging eyes
The human body produces five different thyroid hormones You need all of them, but T3 is the most active Thyroid Hormone. It does 90% of all the work. However, most physicians are prescribing only Levothyroxine (Levoxyl or Synthroid), a synthetic copy of only one thyroid hormone, Thyroxine, also called T4.
Patient with Hypothyroidism (Low Thyroid Hormone levels) who have taken both types prefer natural, full-spectrum thyroid extract to T4-only preparations according to The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 98, Issue 5, 1 May 2013, Pages 1982–1990. This was a crossover comparison study, where each volunteer takes one Thyroid for half of the study, then switches to the other.
Although there were no differences in documented symptoms or neurocognitive measures, 49% of the volunteers in this randomized, double-blind study preferred Desiccated Thyroid Extract (DTE) while only 19% preferred the T4 hormone (33% had no preference). An analysis of those who preferred DTE found that they lost an average of 4 pounds while on DTE, and reported better concentration, memory, and sleep, and greater happiness and energy.
Why might people feel better on desiccated thyroid hormone than on synthetic, T4-only preparations?
Both human and pig thyroid glands produce T1, T2, T3, T4, and calcitonin. T4 is a storage hormone that must be converted into T3 to be metabolically active. Calcitonin is a hormone made by the body to regulate blood levels of calcium. The functions of T1 and T2 are still as yet unknown, but were placed there by nature, which is smarter than man.
Patients taking natural thyroid also report improved mental and emotional well-being, less depression and better short-term memory recall.
Mainstream medicine preaches that it is sufficient to supplement only with T4; that the body will convert an appropriate amount of T4 into T3; and that T1, T2 and calcitonin aren’t needed. While this may be true for a few hypothyroid patients, clearly there are many others who get better only when they take DTE.
Much rests on the assumption of conventional medicine that the body will convert enough T4 into T3, although many things can interfere with the conversion process. PureHealthMD reports the following:
Nutritional deficiencies such as iodine, iron, selenium, zinc, vitamin A, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and B12, along with the use of certain medications including beta-blockers, birth control pills, estrogen, iodinated contrast agents, lithium, phenytoin, and theophylline, can inhibit the conversion of T4 into T3. Other factors that can cause this inhibition include aging, alcohol, alpha-lipoic acid, diabetes, fluoride, lead, mercury, pesticides, radiation, stress, and surgery. (Source: Understanding Thyroid Metabolism)
Another problem is that too much T4 can convert to something called “reverse T3,” which has only 1% of the effect of T3, but also binds to the T3 receptor, thus blocking T3 from doing its job:
Factors that may lead to a preferential conversion to reverse T3 include high cortisol, glucocorticoids, stress, excess estrogen, and nutritional deficiencies such as selenium, iodine, zinc, and iron.
All of these factors are common. Some—such as aging, stress, fluoride, and pesticides—are so ubiquitous that it is easy to imagine that a large percentage of thyroid patients are inadequately converting T4 to T3, and thus need a thyroid preparation that contains some T3. There is also the possibility that T1 and T2 are performing functions in the body that we are not yet aware of, and that they need to be supplemented along with T3 and T4 (as they are with DTE).
The basic screening test for hypothyroidism is the TSH test, which is short for thyroid-stimulating hormone. TSH is secreted by the pituitary gland when it senses that thyroid levels in the blood have dropped too low, so low levels of TSH generally mean that there is plenty of thyroid hormone in circulation. But for a variety of reasons, the pituitary can sometimes fail to produce enough TSH (even though thyroid levels are low), in which case a low TSH level would give the false impression of having plenty of thyroid. And even under optimal circumstances, TSH levels can fluctuate.
In 2002, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), recognizing that many patients are misdiagnosed, lowered the upper end of acceptable TSH levels from 5.0 to 3.0, doubling the number of people needing treatment for hypothyroidism. Under the old guidelines, these people had been considered totally normal, and many had been denied treatment despite predisposing family histories and symptoms such as weight gain, depression, fatigue, hair loss, constipation and high cholesterol, all of which can be caused by low thyroid.
Is it any wonder that best-selling thyroid author Mary Shomon’s motto is, “We’re patients, not lab values”?
Speaking of the acceptable TSH ranges, Shomon notes:
This narrow-minded means of diagnosis has been the “standard of care” for conventional doctors and endocrinologists for decades, based on a near-slavish reliance on the TSH test—often to the exclusion of clinical evidence, symptoms and medical observation.
I believe the adherence to the use of the inferior and antequated tests is due to the fact that Insurance companies are unwilling to pay for the newer more accurate tests because they are cheep and have deep alliances with the drug companies making synthetic patent drugs.
For more information about hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism click here.
Testing Details
Hormones to be Tested: TSH, freeT3, freeT4
Sample Type: Blood Serum
Collection Method: In person at Hansen Clinic.
Timing: Testing should be in the AM; No specific testing time is required if you are not currently taking Thyroid medication; if you are taking any Thyroid medication, you should take your morning dose of Thyroid precisely 4 hours, or as close to 4 hrs as possible, before your scheduled testing time.