Normal TSH and Elevated TSH Means Absolutely Nothing

You read that title right...normal TSH and elevated TSH means absolutely nothing. Well, maybe I should put an * at the end of the title. That might be a little more appropriate.

TSH is a lab test that is used by many doctors to see if a person has a thyroid condition. An elevated TSH is suppose to mean that this person is not making enough thyroid hormone, while a normal TSH is suppose to mean that this person's thyroid is functioning as it should. This is not always the case.

Many doctor's use this lab test to make a diagnosis, one way or the other. All other factors are seen as insignificant and get ignored.

This is not the way to figure out if you have a thyroid condition. If it were, you could go and get the lab work done yourself and completely skip the middleman.

Your doctor was trained in how to figure out what is going on with you by collecting all the pertinent information and narrowing it down to the best fit by disproving all the other conditions. Reading a lab report that says normal TSH or elevated TSH is only one little step in this process.

An elevated TSH or normal TSH is only one piece of the puzzle and means absolutely nothing... on it's own. Have your doctor correlate this with family and personal history, past and present signs and symptoms and other pertinent diagnostic labs. You are paying him/her to correctly help you with your health, so make sure that it happens.

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