[teacherhelper]

#1018765

I’ve been told to get my lab reports every time I have blood work or something done. I am totally CLUELESS as to how to tell anything from the reports. How do I know how to read my T4, T3 and other thyroid levels? It’s very frustrating. I get the bloodwork AFTER I’ve seen the doctor and he orders it. I had my levels checked 12/21 after seeing the doctor because of some symptoms and he decreased my Methimazole from 10MG every 12 hours to 1 pill a day. The nurse told me when she called that my thyroid was very active. I was just diagnosed 10/28 and confirmed on 11/17. I’m really very confused over this whole thing. Right now I’m starting to feel exhausted like I did before being diagnosed. There are a lot of medical issues going on in my husband’s life right now (badly damaged liver from cirrhosis and now he needs a heart cath.) Can’t get rid of the stress! I would appreciate some answers!

Happy New Year to all on here!

Thanks for the time to help me.

[Ski]

#1066959

The lab reports are most helpful when you relate them to each other, and to your symptoms, so just get them, and keep them, and keep learning about what’s going on, then you can paint the whole picture for your own treatment. It’s all because no one cares as much about our health as WE do, so it’s important that we have all the information possible.

[Bobbi]

#1066960

I’m sorry for everything you are going through right now, teacherhelper. It’s bad enough to be dealing with Graves in a "normal" time in ones life. But to have it going on while someone else in the house is majorly ill has to be the worst thing possible. My heart goes out to you.

To add to what Ski said about the lab reports: They typically give you a range of "normal" for every part of the blood tested. And then, there is a column that indicates whether or not an abnormal reading is "high" or "low". So, when you are looking at your thyroid numbers, a quick way of telling what is going on is to look at the TSH and the T4/T3. T3 and T4 are actual thyroid hormones. TSH is a hormone that comes from the pituitary gland (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) that is used to help control thyroid hormone production. If the actual levels of thyroid hormone are too high, then the pituitary lowers its production of TSH. (You don’t want to stimulate extra production of hormone from a gland that is already pouring too much out.) Sometimes, after our diagnosis, our docs only look at the TSH because the test for it is really good, and can find amazingly small amounts of it in the body. Anyway, if you think of a seesaw with thyroid hormone on one end, and TSH on the other, that is the relationship between those elements of the blood test. You want them both to be in the normal range – i.e. balanced, if you will.

And do not fret about not being able to make hide nor hair of the lab tests. NONE of us can interpret our own lab results. We can, as Ski said, use them to compare to other tests, and to symptoms, to try to get a handle on what is going on, and how well the treatments are working, but just in general.

With the stress you are under, it would help you a lot if you could find a way to relax even if only for five minutes at a time. Did you ever do Lamaze training for childbirth? When things got really overwhelming for me, I did "candleblowing" breathing. If you never took it, you might want to find someone you know who did, and have them teach you that type of breathing technique. It’s easy, it can be done anywhere, and it does bring a bit of relaxation into an otherwise stressful time. If you can destress a bit from time to time, it will help you to cope with all the problems.

I hope this helps,

[teacherhelper]

#1066961

I just got my script for my lab work in 8 weeks. I told the nurse that I want to talk to the doctor after that results because I want to be in the know as far as my results. She said I’d have an appointment after they get the results back. I hope that’s true because that hasn’t happened yet. I’ll make sure it does happen as I need to start being in control. Thanks for the help!

[Author]

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