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TSH Wars: The Unreliable Thyroid Lab Test
TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is the gold standard for measuring thyroid function in mainstream medicine. Unfortunately this one thyroid lab test does not provide a complete picture. Many doctors don't run a full thyroid blood panel which should include at minimum Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies.
I was fortunate to find a great thyroid doctor who treats "me" the person and not strictly my lab numbers. I personally take a natural desiccated thyroid called Nature-throid plus a time-release T3 medication created by a compounding pharmacy. My TSH is suppressed below the "normal" reference range. I feel great without symptoms of over-medication. My doctor focuses on my symptoms and testing that includes Free T4, Free T3, and Reverse T3 at every blood testing. If I was being treated by a doctor who focused solely on TSH and T4-only Levothyroxine drugs, I would be a very ill woman today.
I invited thyroid expert Dr. Jeffrey Dach to share his clinical experience with the TSH lab test.
Written by Jeffrey Dach MD, Founder of TrueMedMD in Davie, Florida
The Low Thyroid Condition – Case Report
Mary is a 57 year old female with chronic fatigue, dry, brittle hair, dry skin, muscle aches and pains, and depression, all obvious symptoms of a low thyroid condition. Mary has been to a number of endocrinologists, primary care doctors and even sought advice from her hair stylist. Her latest doctor prescribed a thyroid pill called Levothyroxine (50 mcg) which has done little to relieve her symptoms. In addition, she has depression, and her psychiatrist prescribed an SSRI antidepressant, called Zuloft. She also takes Xanax for bouts of anxiety and insomnia. Mary came into the office frustrated with her conventional medical treatment which was not helping her.
Routine Thyroid Panel
Our routine evaluation includes a full medical history, physical examination and lab panel. Mary's baseline lab panel showed a TSH of 5.2, a Free T3 of 260 and a Free T4 of 1.4. TPO antibodies were very elevated (1,100) indicating Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Her spot urinary Iodine level was 47 mg/dl indicating iodine deficiency (based on World Health Organization Guidelines).(1)
Switching from Levothyroxine to Natural Thyroid
Mary was switched from Levothyroxine to Nature-throid and within a week reported improvement in clinical symptoms. Six weeks, after Mary's Naturethroid dosage was gradually increased to Two and a Half Tablets every day (Using one grain tablets of 65 mg each) . Mary reports improvement. She has tapered off her antidepressants, as she no longer needs them.
Going to the OB/GYN
Ten weeks later, Mary goes to see her OB/GYN doctor for her annual Pap smear and pelvic exam which included a TSH blood test, with a low result (0.1 which is below the TSH reference range).
Her OB/GYN doctor looks at the TSH test result and tells Mary she is taking too much thyroid medicine and needs to cut back. Mary then calls me at my office to relay this information. Two doctors are telling her different things and Mary doesn't know who to believe. This scenario plays out in my office with a different patient each week.
The reality is that Mary is on the proper dosage of thyroid medication, and we expect to see a low or suppressed TSH result when this occurs.
My article Why Natural Thyroid is Better than Synthetic explains how treatment of the low thyroid condition with natural thyroid is superior to Levothyroxine (a T4 only medication).
In our office we use Nature-throid from RLC labs. (Disclosure: NONE, I have no financial relationship with RLC labs, the manufacturer of Nature-Throid NDT – natural dessicated thyroid pills).
Natural Thyroid which contains both T3 and T4 is a more robust and safer thyroid medication when compared to T4 only medications such as levothyroxine and Synthroid. This is my assessment, based on 10 years of clinical experience prescribing Nature-throid. In addition, we have found that patients who have converted from Synthroid to Natural Thyroid are much happier with their treatment program. The mainstream medical literature is also in agreement.
The TSH test is not a reliable indicator of adequacy of treatment.(2) When the patient is taking the proper dosage of natural thyroid medication with complete relief of symptoms, the TSH will typically fall below the lab reference range, also called a suppressed TSH.
In other words, the TSH will be quite low, and this will disturb the mainstream clinician who mistakenly believes the patient is taking too much thyroid medication. The issue can be settled simply by running a Free T3 test which will show that the Free T3 is in the normal range, thus excluding any possibility of a "hyperthyroid state". Unfortunately, most conventional docs do not have the knowledge to order a free T3 test, and have limited understanding of the thyroid patient.
Suppressive Dose Needed – The TSH Test is Not a Reliable Monitor
Many patients do quite well on Synthroid. However about 20% (one fifth) of patients on T4 only medications like Synthroid do not do well, and have continued symptoms of a low thyroid condition.(3) Why is that? A miniscule amount of T4 medication such as 50-88 mcg of Levothyroxine may be sufficient to drive down the TSH, and the endocrinologist will then consider treatment dosage adequate. It is not adequate. This is explained by Dr D.S. Oreilly in his articles (4-5), and by Dr. Henry Lindner in his detailed article highlighting why TSH suppression below the lab reference range is needed for adequate treatment for the low thyroid condition.(6)
Japan in Agreement
In agreement is another article, this time from the Center for Excellence in Thyroid Care, Kuma Hospital, Japan in which the authors state that:
"TSH-suppressive doses of levothyroxine are required to achieve preoperative native serum triiodothyronine levels in patients who have undergone total thyroidectomy "(9)
Again, knowledgeable physicians are finding that TSH suppression below the lab reference range is required for adequate treatment of the low thyroid condition. In this Kuma Hospital study, they found that TSH-suppressive doses of Synthroid were needed in post thyroidectomy patients to achieve the same normal Serum T3 levels which were present on pre-op labs.
Natural Thyroid
When Natural thyroid medication is used, and the dosage gradually adjusted upwards from 1/2 tab daily to the maintainance dose of two to three of the One Grain (65mg) Tabs daily (usually done over 6 weeks), the lab panel at this time will typically show a TSH which is below the normal reference range, and a free T3 which is in the upper end of the normal range 350-420. The low TSH is to be expected, is not disturbing, and is not indicative of a hyperthyroid state.
Why Has Endocrinology Mismanaged the Low Thyroid Condition for Fifty Years?
The answer is obvious. Follow the money trail. Synthroid is the fourth most prescribed drug in America with 70 million prescriptions. Abbot labs, the makers of Synthroid, uses the massive profits to finance and fund Endocrinology Groups and Societies, their meetings, and clinical research grants. They also fund the key opinion leaders to give lectures at meetings in support of Synthroid and the TSH test. This is all done in spite of the obvious clinical inferiority of T4 only medications such as levothyroxine, and the unreliability of the TSH test to monitor adequacy of treatment. For many decades now, mainstream endocrinology has been completely corrupted by huge cash infusions from Big Pharma.
About Jeffrey Dach MD
Dr. Jeffrey Dach is the founder and Medical Director of a clinic in Davie, Florida specializing in bioidentical hormones, natural thyroid, and natural medicine called TrueMedMD. His website Jeffrey Dach MD offers articles on bioidentical hormones and natural thyroid. Dr. Dach is Specialty Board Certified in Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology. Dr. Dach is a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, as well as the American Academy for the Advancement of Medicine.
Dr. Dach and thirteen other healthcare providers co-authored a new book on hypothyroidism with thyroid advocate Janie Bowthorpe entitled Stop the Thyroid Madness II: How Thyroid Experts Are Challenging Ineffective Treatments and Improving the Lives of Patients just released the fall of 2014.
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