5 Thyroid Tests to Ask Your Doctor About

Do you feel like something might be wrong with your thyroid, but your thyroid blood work says you’re fine? If your doctor only ordered the TSH test, you might need more information to know what is really going on.

More and more, people are being diagnosed with thyroid issues, but some people have thyroid issues without knowing it. It’s important to know what’s wrong with you so you can know what to do.

To that end, it’s crucial to know what thyroid blood work to have your doctor order so you can get the medical care that you need.

Thyroid disease is rampant these days and since the thyroid is affected and is affected by many things, including the food you eat and your adrenal glands, it’s important to get informed about this important gland as much as possible.

My Struggle with Thyroid Disease

I’ve struggled with hypothyroidism for years. I started noticing severe fatigue, dry skin, weight gain, and joint pain when I was just 22 years old.

I wasn’t old enough to be feeling that bad. I went to the doctor on a few occasions and described my symptoms telling her I just didn’t feel well.

She blew me off and told me I was perfectly healthy.

Long story short, I was able to begrudgingly get my doctor to run a TSH test. (This is the standard test pretty much all doctors run to test thyroid function. I didn’t have any idea what it was at that point.)

Two days later I received a call.

Low thyroid levels.  Supposedly I had hypothyroidism.
The plan? Start synthroid (that was the first problem, but more on that later).

I started my meds and waited 6 weeks.

I still felt bad.

We tweaked my meds. Waited 6 more weeks.

I still felt bad.

Round and round we went until my search for information (and a new doctor) began.

(Before we get started, I want to let you know that I am not a doctor or any sort of medical professional. All of this information I have gleaned from my own research and should not be used for any sort of diagnostic purposes. Use common sense, do your own research, and talk to your doctor before making any changes to your diet, supplements, or exercise routine.)

TSH: Just the Beginning of the Story

In this search for information, I’ve learned that the standard TSH test that most doctors rely upon for both diagnosis and treatment does not give a complete picture of what is going on with your thyroid.

You see, TSH, which stands for thyroid stimulating hormone, is actually a test of what the pituitary gland is doing.

That’s right, it isn’t even testing any of your thyroid hormones.

In theory, when your body does not have enough thyroid hormone, your pituitary gland should be releasing TSH to signal to your thyroid that you need to make more (sort of like a wake up call for your thyroid). Those with elevated TSH levels should theoretically have low thyroid levels and those with low TSH levels should have enough (or too much) thyroid.

So, what’s the problem? It seems pretty cut and dry, right?

Wrong.

There are many many reasons why doctors should not diagnose or treat a thyroid patient based on TSH levels.

Some people simply have a malfunctioning pituitary gland and this is why it is not producing TSH. Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this post to go into all of the reasons as to why TSH is not an effective marker.

You can read countless stories of hypothyroid patients who were not diagnosed for years and years because of doctors who simply tested TSH, didn’t consider other symptoms, and didn’t do further testing.

In theory, the TSH test tells a lot.

But, in reality it might not be all that you need.

What Thyroid Blood Work Do You Need?

So, if TSH isn’t the best lab test for diagnosing and treating thyroid disorders, what is?

First, I want to confirm—in case you haven’t already guessed—there is no test that can substitute for a doctor who will listen to how you feel.

You need to be seeing a doctor who will listen to you and will place great value in your symptoms when diagnosing and treating you.

Below are the tests that might be essential for anyone who is struggling with thyroid problems or believes they may be struggling with thyroid problems.

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Thyroid Blood Work Checklist

Following is a list of blood tests that you can ask your doctor to run. This list of thyroid blood tests will give your doctor and you more perspective of what exactly is going on with your body, and hopefully will put you on the road to better health.

Free T4

T4 and T3 are the two main thyroid hormones. But, T4 is the less active hormone. Your body converts much of your T4 into the more active T3 inside the cells of your body. With the T4 (and T3) test you can check both free and total levels.

You might want to ask your doctor to check your free levels. Why might this be important? Because free T4 is the T4 that is not bound to proteins in your blood. If you know that number, you will know the amount of T4 that is available to be used and converted to T3.

Free T3

This is the more active form of the thyroid hormone. If you don’t have enough of this you’re going to feel lousy. This is what should, in my opinion, be considered the gold-standard of thyroid function! Free T3 is primarily responsible for increasing your metabolism.

Anti-Thyroid Antibodies

The tests you specifically want to ask for here are TPO and TgAb. These tests will tell you if your body may be attacking your thyroid. The reason that doesn’t sound so good is because it isn’t good. If these levels are elevated, chances are you have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Hashimoto’s is a type of autoimmune thyroid disease, meaning your immune system is mounting an attack against your thyroid.

It is important to identify if your thyroid disorder is autoimmune in nature because if it is, there are a number of implications. One thing that’s important for individuals with autoimmune diseases is to be on a diet that is anti-inflammatory which often means at a minimum cutting out highly inflammatory foods like wheat and sugar. I know, total bummer. But nothing new from what you’ve read on this blog before?

Cholesterol Panel

Though not as important as the above tests, I believe a cholesterol panel is good to have when going in for your tests as well. Often times people who do not have optimal thyroid levels also have elevated cholesterol. Your body is not able to properly metabolize cholesterol without adequate thyroid hormone. If your levels are elevated, this is just another clue that will help you figure out what is going on.

Don’t worry too much about cholesterol levels until after you have your thyroid levels regulated. Figure out what your thyroid is doing and then check back to see what your cholesterol is doing. To get the most accurate idea of what is going on with your cholesterol be sure to request the NMR cholesterol panel.

Vitamin D

Though many people could benefit from other tests as well, the last test I believe is truly essential for anyone suspecting or treating thyroid disorders is Vitamin D. Vitamin D is a hormone that plays an important role in your immune system function.
Many individuals who struggle with hypothyroidism also have low levels of D. It is particularly important that those with autoimmune diseases have optimal D levels. If you do have low D levels, it’s important to begin to work on this right away.

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What to Do About Thyroid Problems

If you have thyroid problems, after getting proper testing here are a few more suggestions for getting your health on track. Please, of course, review all of these (after the first one) with your physician prior to making any changes.

Find a good doctor

Find one who will not only complete the appropriate tests, but will also medicate you appropriately and listen to you. Some people suggest finding a doctor who is comfortable using natural desiccated thyroid hormones (as opposed to synthroid or levothyroxine).
The doctor should be determining medication based off of the above tests as well as how you feel.

Cut out gluten

You might wish to talk with your doctor about removing gluten from your diet. Gluten is highly implicated in autoimmune thyroid disease.
Some sources that that 90% of thyroid disorders are autoimmune in nature.

Optimize Vitamin D levels

It has been said that apparently you need to have good adrenal health before increasing vitamin D so please be careful and don’t self-prescribe. Vitamin D also can reduce Mg so you need to be careful about that as well.

Change Your Diet

Read this list of 5 Foods that Can Wreck Your Thyroid.
Are you eating any of those?

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Testing Options

You can have tests ordered by your physician, but there are also some other options. UltaLabs is one option and Everlywell is another. You can get 12% off at Everlywell by entering the code EVERLY in the shopping cart.

{From Adrienne: This is a seriously important post.  I have been doing a lot of digging into thyroid research recently, for reasons which I will share soon.  So many people have issues with their thyroid and they don’t know where to go or what to do. If you haven’t already, please stay tuned to make sure you get this information.  It’s crucial.  You can subscribe to my site by grabbing this Essential Oils free book here.

In the meantime, I would highly recommend the following books.  I am not saying this is the advice you should follow (i.e. this isn’t medical advice), but it is very very interesting and was very helpful to me.  

 

Trisha Gilkerson is a homeschooling mom to four crazy boys. She blogs with her awesome hubby Luke at Intoxicated on Life where they talk about faith, homeschooling, and health. They’ve authored the Write Through the Bible curriculum and family Bible Studies and have recently released their first healthy living book – Weeding Out Wheat: A Simple Faith Based Guide. 

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