Low TSH, and Why You Can Still be Hypothyroid

For years I went undiagnosed for Hypothyroidism because I am one of those people who has an extremely low TSH. It was only on instinct that I pursued treatment even though many doctors told me that I wasn't Hypothyroid, based on the TSH test.  Here is some incredible new information about why TSH is inaccurate. 

According to this article by Richard Stanley Wilkinson, M.D., TSH is a test of the pituitary gland which governs the thyroid. If the thyroid function is low (hypothyroid) the pituitary gland starts shouting at the thyroid to work harder, causing the TSH level to rise.  

This means high TSH is typically used to determine hypothyroidism. But if your TSH is low (below 5.0) your doctor may say you aren't hypothyroid, which means you could be walking around feeling like garbage from hypothyroid symptoms, like being overweight, depressed, tired, cold... and you don't know why. Here are two incredible reasons why TSH is useless test:

• TSH levels can vary as much as 200% during the day. This is a huge margin of error! (Shocking!)

• Often after childbirth a woman's pituitary gland can be damaged! When this happens the pituitary can no longer shout at the low functioning thyroid to work harder. The result is that the TSH looks "normal" but the patient is hypothyroid, and consequently misdiagnosed as depressed, lazy, or overweight (and other hypothyroid symptoms). This damage to the pituitary gland is called Sheehan's Syndrome.  This explains at least one reason why so many women become hypothyroid after pregnancy. 

Your health is only as good...

     as your doctor.

If your doctor is still relying on TSH as the measure of hypothyroidism, RUN! It's highly unlikely you will change their perspective. Instead find a doctor who measures hypothyroidism based on symtoms, body temp, and the Free T3 and Free T4 lab results. 

xxoo

Lizzy