Since milk production can be effected by a deficit in thyroid hormone, I
thought some clarification might be helpful on the recent thread on
thyroid tests and "highs" and "lows". (I only know this because I have
read up on my own thyroid situation.)

<I'm confused here.  Her thyroid levels were checked
twice and were within the range of normal, but then
finding pituitary damage led to *thyroid*
supplementation which has helped her?  Does that mean
she was low thyroid, wasn't utilising the thyroid that
she had, or was something else going on?>

<Just lately the range for "normal" thyroid has been changed to a lower
number so people that were considered "normal" are really low.  These
borderline people are the ones who are tired etc. and can't figure out
why -
after all their blood test was "normal.">

Although there certainly are tests available that are done on actual
levels of several forms of thyroid hormone (Free thyroid, T3, T4, and T7,
which I believe is simply a calculation based on the others) these are
not the most commonly done "thyrod tests". The most common "thyroid" test
is actually a test for the level of a pituitary hormone TSH (thyroid
stimulating hormone).

When the TSH result is higher than normal, it means the actual amount of
thyroid activity is lower than normal. (Pituitary is reacting to a low
level of thyroid hormones that reaches it by way of the bloodstream, and
so tries to stimulate the thyroid gland to put out more.)

And conversely, when the TSH result is low, it means the feedback to the
pituitary indicates the level of thyroid is within normal limits, and
therefore, no need to stimulate extra production.

Jean
************
K. Jean Cotterman RNC, IBCLC
Dayton, Ohio USA

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