To ask for thyroid medication with borderline results?

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My TSH is 3.9, my T4 is at the very bottom of the lab range, it’s been like this for several years. I’ve been told I’m not overtly hypothyroid but it’s something to keep an eye on. I don’t feel that I’m in extreme difficulty but I do struggle in terms of fatigue, lack of stamina and a lot of joint pain. I’m not overweight.

A friend recently started on thyroid medication and told me that overnight she no longer felt tired and her body no longer hurt all over! It really got me thinking. I don’t know what her levels are but I think more pronounced than mine. Would I be unreasonable to pursue treatment? Or at this level just wait and see?

I was borderline, but am overweight. No medicine. My husband gets everything, thyroxine, statins etc.
His levels for thyroid were the same as mine

That’s astonishing with the very same levels!

You could try but I really wouldn't do it on the back of what your friend said.

If she felt better overnight, it would've been placebo as the tablets just don't work that fast.

I'm pretty sure the average time they take to work (as they have a build up effect) is around 2-3 weeks.

I think I started to lose the joint pain and fatigue after about a month.

DH was borderline but they decided to treat the symptoms not the numbers, which really is the way it should be.

Actually this is me. My TSH lab range goes to 4.94 and my result is 3.85. FT4 for me is 11.1, range 8-19.1. Before Graves disease(no radioiodine - just went into remission after PTU) my FT4 was always mid range.

Am a bit creaky and over weight but not at the bottom of the FT4 just yet. Gone through menopause and don't want to take thyroxine unnecessarily because worried about bone density.

How low is your FT4 and are you near menopause?

Agree that an overnight improvement would be odd, but it’s definitely worth asking to try a low dose of T4 and see if it helps. As long as your doctor isn’t Jade’s - that’s outrageous.

Oh that’s interesting! I don’t know of she meant literally overnight though, or just a dramatic difference, I must check.

I don't think there would've been any difference that soon.

But placebo is a very strong thing and she may have felt better in herself, due to the doctor taking her seriously and prescribing the thyroid hormone tablets.

Either way she felt better which is the main thing.

A TSH of 3.9 should not be considered normal.. I would feel awful at that number - like I was walking through treacle. Most thyroid patients find they feel better with a TSH around 1-2. I would definitely definitely be seeking to have thyroxine at this level. Hope you manage to get it.

FWIW I now buy mine from Spain when on holiday as I can always get the same brand. If I feel it's a bit out of whack I will get a blood test here and analysing the results myself and change my dosage accordingly. Here the NHS kept changing my brand and it was only when I spoke to the charity Thyroid UK about my levels being out that they said that changing brands can have this affect. I feel for you, I truly would feel awful with that TSH. Look up Mary Shaman for more info on the falsity of 'normal' levels and also Thyroid UK here.

I paid privately to see an endocrinologist who I knew prescribed a 3 month course of low dose thyroxine to those who were borderline hypothyroid with symptoms.

If symptoms improve, then he'd continue the prescription (although by this point my GP was happy to prescribe it for me)

With t3 and t4 just under the NHS "normal" parameters I felt like I was walking through custard, had brain fog, fatigue and was severely depressed. I saw symptoms ease after a week and progressively felt more like a person again.

My T4 was 12, the test before it was 11.4. I have read that ideally TSH should be lower. I'm in perimenopause and on HRT. I mainly went on it because of terrible sleep problems (my cycle had also become irregular) and it has massively helped with that.

That's interesting. Do you just buy it over the counter in Spain or bring your prescription? I'm not going to start self-medicating but it would be interesting to see how I would feel if I took it.

😁 I don't feel that bad on 3.85. I am losing weight on purpose and don't feel exhausted or anything.

But I know it's different strokes for different folks...

I also don't feel absolutely awful but I could do with more energy and a body that doesn't feel like I've fallen down the stairs when I get up every morning. Based on my friend's experience it got me thinking whether it could make a difference for me but I feel like the GP won't think anything of it unless it is overtly out of range.

The same GP said my vitamin D level of 23 a few years ago was "a bit low" 🙄

I’m on thyroid meds - have been for over 20 years - and still feel like I’ve fallen down the stairs every day! I’d definitely struggle with a TSH of over 2 .

I'm sorry to hear! It might just be middle age but then I always remind myself that my DH doesn't have the fallen downstairs feeling when he gets up so there must be something else in it 🤔

I've just checked and my TSH is 3.2 which is well within the normal range and I feel fine.

Last February it was over 8 and truth be told I didn't feel that bad then either.

Maybe the HRT is what's making the difference in how I feel energy-wise?

I don't feel any different. Have hashimotos

They started me on levo with TSH 7 and T4 of 11
Now on 100mcg and my TSH is 2 and T4 13.5

My TSH was 4.3 and my GP said he wouldn't treat me. A blood test 3 months later showed it had gone up to 5.8 and luckily the next GP said she'd treat me when I said my memory and cognitive function is awful. Been on it 6 days and already feeling some recovery.

When I was first diagnosed just over 2.5 years ago, I joined a FB group for hypothyroid sufferers and it was the worst thing I ever did!

I left after two weeks because the people on there were obsessed with their numbers, rather than their symptoms.

The amount of aggression shown to people who felt fine with higher/lower numbers than others was something to marvel at 🤣

I'd get my blood results and feel fine about them, then I'd look at the group and actually start to feel tired and groggy based on what I was reading!

It just goes to show that everyone's an individual, so if you feel you need treating at the numbers you're on OP, I think it would be wise to speak to your GP again.

I get what you’re saying, but there’s so much going on under the surface being affected by thyroid that you can’t see/feel from the outside, so I guess people just wanted to know that everything was in balance , not just ‘feeling better’ but actually being better.