[Anonymous April 17, 2000 at 5:10 pm Post count: 93172]

#1127302

Hi Jake – Can you clarify something? I understand about the labs using different levels to indicate who is normal or not. But,

1. does that also mean that these labs use different procedures to get at the TSH? Meaning, if I get a TSH of 5.9 at Lab 1. Will Lab 2 also get a TSH of 5.9? Or, do they use something else and can get a 6.9?

2. And then, if the TSH levels are the same, the first lab can say I am normal, and the second will say I am abnormal because they also INTERPRET differently?

(Numbers all arbitrary.)

Is is just #2 or both #1 and #2 that each lab does differently? Hope this make sense and thanks for your help.

Janet

[Anonymous April 17, 2000 at 7:52 pm Post count: 93172]

#1039265

Afternoon Warrior’s

Just wanted to take a moment to point out something. Over the past week or so we have had a number of people put their levels on our site and ask what they mean.

Well that is kind of tough. Many labs use different levels for their tests and they very from lab to lab. When someone tries to tell you what your levels mean they could be way off base. We monitor our board to make sure no one gets false information to the best of our ability. Labs are even different from one country to the next.

Here is an excerpt from a post from another board that is telling someone to cut their medicine based on the levels they posted on that site. They gave no indication that they told them to contact their doctor or to do so with a doctor’s knowledge:

“”Hi XXXXX
I’d lower the dose to 100 mg if I were you, but I’d do it in ncrements, like going to 125 mg for a few days first if you can break your pills. Whatever, I had labs exactly like yours 18 months ago when I switched to XXXXX and the prescribing doc calculated wrong giving me 1/3 of the dose I needed. Normal TSH levels run about 0.4-4.5 and most docs like to keep treated GD patients at the low end of normal. Myself, I’m hypo at levels greater than 0.2. FT4 normal is 0.8-1.8, and patients feel best at around 1.5. I like to be at 1.8-2.0 FT3 normal is 2.0-5.0, and I haven’t had one in a while since my laboratory quit running them. When I felt yucky, though, my level was a 2.0. It’s true that once you have levels showing you’re euthyroid and have responded to the drugs, the dose is lowered.””

I was forwarded this by quite a few people and asked if this was acceptable and to please do something so people would not do something to harm themselves. It is NOT acceptable on our site and I cannot speak for other sites. They each have their own rules or lack of them. The reader must be aware of what type of site they are reading or posting on and if they wish to follow that advise.

That excerpt may be considered practicing medicine without a license. The person giving this advise probably does not have the whole medical history of person XXXX nor do they probably know what other meds the person is on, other health conditions, etc.. If the person follows the advise given and falls ill the person providing the advise may be subject to a legal action. To ask us if this is OK is way out of our realm. We cannot be responsible for information on other sites.

There are a lot of sites out there that offer advise or alternatives. Do they subscribe to any of the Health site codes of ethics? Do they have a medical board to ask advise of? Do they screen their message traffic to keep people from harm? We have had a few posts over the years that had we not removed the posts and people followed the advise they may have done lasting harm to themselves.

All we can say is to read about your disease. If you subscribe to any health sites, see if they have any medical boards, have a national or international affiliation, have they been around for a long period of time? If the answer is no to one or more of these questions you may wish to look elsewhere.

We are only a click away.

Jake
On-line Facilitator

[Anonymous April 17, 2000 at 9:11 pm Post count: 93172]

#1127303

OK,

Here goes. Different labs use different numbers. The key is what they put on your labs as what is the “Normal” range. In other works a 5.4 may be normal for one lab and a 6.9 may be normal for another. They tell you as part of the labs what the ranges are.

That is why it is so hard when someone says what they tested. If you are looking at your labs and they use a different one you may say they hare hyper or hypo when they are in fact in the normal range.

Clear as mud? That is why we tell people to ask their doctor. That is also the reason we tell people that they should try to use the same lab every time for their blood tests for consistancy.

We are only a click away.

Jake
On-line Facilitator

[Anonymous April 18, 2000 at 7:12 pm Post count: 93172]

#1127304

I don’t recall reading a post on specific types of TSH lab tests but about a year ago I learned that there are a couple of types of tests to measure TSH. One appears to be the old standard type and the latest is called “third generation.” The latter appears to be more refined and will give a more true reading. Anyone else come across this?

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