Thyroid Lab Tests to Ask For, It's not all TSH!

NutritionWellness

Jan 19

Your thyroid is a small, butter-fly shaped organ that sits at the front of your neck, stretched overtop of your trachea. It is a KEY player for hormone health, growth and development, metabolism and truly so much in the body because of the big roles these pieces play.

Typically when we get our thyroid checked by a conventional doc, TSH levels are the only ones looked at. While this is helpful, this gives us an incomplete picture into the true health of our thyroid because TSH levels may be within “normal'' range, yet we are still experiencing symptoms. Maybe you’ve been told your thyroid labs all look normal, but your energy is still low, you stay chilled or are struggling with weight loss or gain. Know that there are more markers than the TSH and they all give us healing information for how to navigate repairing your thyroid struggles.

Your doctor is typically checking in on your TSH…

TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is a pituitary hormone secreted in response to levels of T3 and T4 in the body. While levels of TSH may be in “normal” range, we could still be experiencing symptoms because of a deeper issue. This is why it’s important to ask for a comprehensive thyroid panel so we can see the COMPLETE picture!

So what would be a sign that you need to check your thyroid out further? Glad ya asked! Our bodies use symptoms as signs to communicate with us about where there is lack or to show us early signs or trouble and there are several standard signs of thyroid disfunction.

Symptoms of thyroid dysfunction: Low body temperature, cold hands and feet, hot flashes, difficulty gaining or losing weight, depression, fatigue, trouble sleeping, muscle pain, hair loss, skin issues, hormone imbalance & poor digestion.

T3 and T4 are the most abundant thyroid hormones in the blood. Thyroid hormones T4 and T3 are produced in the thyroid, but T4 is secreted by the thyroid in larger amounts - T4 representing 93% of thyroid hormone production and T3 making up 7%. Thyroid hormone T4 is converted into thyroid hormone T3 by the liver (60%), digestive tract (20%), and peripheral tissues (20%). Yes, that means if your gut isn’t healthy or your liver isn’t functioning ideally, then your thyroid hormones will show it. Another key is T3 is about 4 times stronger than T4 and must be converted from T4 to adequately run the body’s metabolism.

Are you starting to see how we need all the pieces of this thyroid lab puzzle to really answer WHY your thyroid is struggling so we’re able to heal? Even further how liver and digestive health and the necessary foundation to healing your thyroid woes? This was SUCH good news to me when I was struggling with the worst of my thyroid symptoms - hope!

Thyroid antibodies are also important to check. High antibodies can indicate the presence of an autoimmune disease, such as Hashimotos or Graves Disease.

When checking the function of the thyroid through blood work, we want to not only see levels of TSH, but also how the thyroid hormones are converting and the presence of antibodies. These are all keys for painting a full picture that gives us a healing direction (yes! thyroids heal! autoimmunities can be put into remission!).