Is testing enough to diagnose a hypothyroid?

[Parsifal]

Hi everyone!

Everything is in the title. Last years I have had a lot of coldness in the hands and a lot of symptoms that make me think about hypo but my blood tests are "perfect" (but high cortisol, didn't see other hormones) so I wondered if hypothyroidism can be misdiagnosed by blood tests?

Thanks .

 

[tara]

Did you see the thyroid test numbers, or did you just get the dr's interpretation that they were perfect?
Which tests did they do? There are several parameters they can measure, but they often just look at one or two of them (eg TSH), which does not give a full picture.
Monitoring body temps, pulse, and checking a list of typical hypothyroid symptoms also gives more information than just the thyroid lab tests.

My TSH has been a bit over 2. My dr more or less said: TSH is in the middle of the range, all good.
Peat has said few people with TSH over 2 have really good health. He prefers to see it under 1.

 

[aguilaroja]

Did you see the thyroid test numbers, or did you just get the dr's interpretation that they were perfect?
Which tests did they do? There are several parameters they can measure, but they often just look at one or two of them (eg TSH), which does not give a full picture.
Monitoring body temps, pulse, and checking a list of typical hypothyroid symptoms also gives more information than just the thyroid lab tests.

What Tara said.

The general answer is no, blood tests are not the best full story. Symptoms (such as cold/heat intolerance, fatigue, many others), signs (resting temperature & pulse, reflexes, tissue states, etc), together with lab testing and, when indicated, response to thyroid supplementing, give a better diagnosis and way to track improvement.