I was able to get my labs from my visit with MDA last week. I just emailed my dr about this, it's still within MDA's normal range but explains alot of my symptoms.

Normal Ranges for MDA (TSH 0.50-5.50)/(T4 0.9-1.8)

Date TSH/T4
4/13/09--1.87/1.1 (at diagnosis)
7/30/09--0.82/0.8 (prior to radiation)
2/21/10--2.06/1.0
6/2/10--5.34/0.9

They have been checking my husbands thyroid every 3 months. They are finally getting the levels to normal, but it took them some time to get there.

My understanding is that a lower TSH is better. Not that familiar with the T4 test.

I've been on synthroid for a few years. The highest my TSH was 5.28 -- now it is below 2.0. I started with 25 mcg, then 50 mcg, and have been at 75 mcg for a while.

I go every 3 to 6 months for a blood test. I was having some other issues with my thyroid so I went to an endocrinologist for a while.

That's within the normal range but it isn't YOUR normal. If you are having symptoms, I'd get the doc to put you on synthroid. When I hit 4.+, I start falling asleep at the wheel and freezing to death and my normal is around 2.5. Now you know why that baseline TSH is so important.

Take care,
Eileen

My husband started out with 8.6, the last time we went it was down to 4.0 and he thought that was a good number. Maybe we need to talk to him a little further.
Pat

I just heard back from my oncologists nurse, she said she would be happy to see me and draw labs again. She has been noticing my tsh level going up but attributes alot of my fatigue to the treatment and the fact that I keep losing weight, what??? So I will be back into Houston in July so I gonna swing by and have them redrawn, I hate to wait another 3 months.

Oh and she also said that the dr stated I eventually will probably need medicine for my thyroid, so why am I waiting???LOL

Good question. Why can't your GP prescribe the meds? Mine does.

Take care,
Eileen

I have only seen my GP once before diagnosis, I never got sick or I was having babies. They rather I'd be seen by the doctors at MDA until they release me to my primary again. They could see me but then it would be a hassle since they don't really know me other than by paper. Makes it easier for them and me!LOL

ESikon
I held off posting since I didn't want to start a THYROID WARS or trigger a recurrence like I keep doing with the PEG WARS. I'm just back from a vacation that even though it had major challenges, left me mellow enough to refrain from my usual bombastic rant about otherwise GREAT Cancer Centers like MDA or the one I used, Georgetown U's Lombardi Cancer Center are still stuck back in the 20th Century about oral cancer patients and thyroid issues. Instead, I will just share my personal experience.
Before the Cancer, I had a TSH level of 1.68 with boundless engergy and NEVER feeling cold ever. While my CCC doctors were top notch on Cancer, for related issues like Thyroid - "not so much". I was not only extremely tired but also froze for two years, even in summer, and kept a winter coat on in air conditioned places yet I was constantly told: "Your TSH levels are normal" and I did not ask for the actual numbers or test results. Turns out however there is MAJOR controversy over what is the right TSH level with labs having a 5.5, a 4.5 even though endocrinologists who went to Medical school in the 21st Century consider 3.0 as the highest acceptable level.
I couldn't get the CCC doctors to understand that if before TX, I had a TSH of 1.6 and after TX it shot up to 4.3, it was not NORMAL for me (as Eileen advised you also) Now that I am "on the pill", I am finally warm again. Plus my energy is back.
My MO finally admitted that he had no independent basis to support or believe the 20th Century Labratory values and encouraged me to find an endocrinologist who had gone to medical school in the 21st century. She immediately started me on 25 mg of Levoxyl which brought my TSH down to 3.04 and my T4 to 1.1 . A month later she upped it to 50 mg and my TSH went down to 2.17 and my T4 to 0.9. Now I am on 75 mg and finally feel like I did before the Cancer.
I know the RO's all try and avoid the thryoid with radiation but my new endocrinologist's approach has worked wonders. I guess a non medical analogy would be if Lance Armstrong's doctors had told him that it was "within normal ranges" for him never to bike competitively. Don't believe it. Just get Thryoid pills as soon as possible. Plus it helps MAJOR with depression which is a classic hallmark of too high TSH (too high for you, not some old 20th century outdated cohort)
Review the posts of many others here to see how thyroid medication has made a major difference in their recovery.
The lab ranges are as meaningless to you individually as the survival rates IMO

Charm

Elizabeth,

I see you are the mother of three -- perhaps your OBGYN did a TSH on you. Mine did and that is how I found out my pre-treatment normal level.