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Recommended Labwork

Did you know that there were decades of successful treatment for hypothyroid that involved nothing more than dosing you by symptoms?  The TSH lab didn’t even come into existence until the mid-1970′s.

Today, the tables have completely turned. We now live in a lab-obsessed society, where most doctors completely ignore your thyroid symptoms and make your man-made lab results with the dubious “normal” ranges the holy grail of diagnosis. And diagnosis and treatment based solely on a “normal range” is a consistent failure, leaving millions of patient either undiagnosed, or undertreated.

But….lab tests are still very useful, IF you understand that it’s “where” the result falls in the normal range, which is explained here. Bottom line, symptoms are the conductor of the orchestra, and understanding how to read your lab results give even more clues. You may have to teach this to your doctor, or find a better doctor.

**These are also explained well in the revised STTM book, which you should have on hand and bookmarked at the doctors office.

  1. TSH: for diagnosis of hypopituitary, NOT to diagnose or dose your hypothyroidism. If you allow a doctor to diagnose or dose you by this lab test and range i.e. say you are normal…you’ll could still be hypothyroid.
  2. Free T4 and Free T3 (note the word “free”–important since it measures what is unbound and available.)
  3. Reverse T3:  to be done at the same time you do the Free T3. Then calculate your ratio with the results and measurements.
  4. Thyroid Antibodies: anti-TPO and TgAb will help discern Hashimotos. You can add TSI for the Graves antibodies–some have all three.
  5. Four iron labs:  Ferritin, % Saturation, TIBC and serum iron (sometimes the latter will just say Iron, or total iron). A high ferritin can also point to inflammation.
  6. Adrenal Cortisol levels: Saliva, NOT blood. Blood is measuring both bound and unbound cortisol and does NOT give results you can go by. See below, because you don’t need a prescription.
  7. B-12 and Folate
  8. Magnesium and Potassium, plus Calcium, Sodium, Glucose, etc (All the latter are part of the Comprehensive Metabolic Profile–CMP blood test–as well. You can also ask for the RBC (Red Blood Cell) versions of Mag. and Pot, which measures cellular levels.  For potassium, make sure the rubber tourniquet is not left on more than 60 seconds, says this study. Also note that the Buccal Mg lab test is finally available and seems to be more correlated to cardiac health than RBC Mg, but is expensive and not always easy to get.)
  9. Vitamin D3 (25-hydroxyvitamin D lab test…)
  10. Sex hormones: progesterone, estrogen, testosterone.
  11. MTHFR gene: if you have high levels of mercury, or iron, or B12 and family history of cancer, heart disease or stroke….
  12. …plus others your doctor may recommend, including Lyme disease, heavy metals, Candida, etc.

***Click HERE to read what patients have learned about interpreting lab results. 

Below are US lab facilities you can use without a prescription: saliva, blood, or both (other countries below that). The top three work with Stop the Thyroid Madness information.  Saliva is highly recommended to test cortisol, but blood for the others.  Many of us stopped using saliva for sex hormones, as we have found them to be strange. Some facilities require a prescription for RT3, sadly, so definitely talk to your doctor about it if you have reason to believe it may be a problem.

NOTE: if you want the lab page to open in a new tab, RIGHT CLICK the link and choose “Open Link in New Window or Tab”

  1. HealthchecklogoLAB WORK packages designed specifically for readers of Stop the Thyroid Madness.  STTM Thyroid and Adrenal Lab Packages  Discount code for May 2013 is 821533. You can choose just saliva for cortisol, or use LabCorp facilities around the US for blood draws. NOTE: STTM’ers can do the saliva test for $265 (instead of the higher price shown on the site) by placing a PHONE ORDER for the saliva at 1-800-929-2044. The customer will need to mention STTM.
  2.  LAB WORK packages designed specifically for readers of Stop the Thyroid Madness -STTM Thyroid and Adrenal Lab Packages You can choose just saliva for cortisol (which is six times in a 24 hour period), or use LabCorp facilities around the US for blood draws. You can also order a 4 times a day saliva cortisol for only $109!! My Med Lab designs a special area on the website just for YOUR lab results, making it all very personalized. I can highly recommend them.
  3. LAB WORK designed specifically for readers of Stop the Thyroid Madness. IMPORTANT NOTE about using this page: you will need to use scroll down bar just to the right of the red “Add to Cart” to view all labs they offer. No saliva for cortisol. http://www.directlabs.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.directlabs.com/sttm

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Australia: http://www.healthscopepathology.com.au/ in Melbourne , Victoria Phone, 1300 453 688 to find a Doctor or Naturopath who uses their Tests. Also http://nutripath.com.au–they will send you the tests!!

Canada: MyMedLab ships saliva cortisol test kit to Canadians! Or, approach your pharmacist and ask him to order a saliva cortisol test kit from Rocky Mountain Labs.

Finland: Test kits from Genova diagnostics via MDD Terveyspalvelut: http://www.mdd.fi/

Germany: Saliva testing and helpful facility http://www.hormonselbsthilfe.de/

Sweden: http://hormonharmoni.se/bestall-hormontest/kortisol-test/

United Kingdom: http://www.lab21.com/healthcare/index.php# and www.redappleclinic.co.uk

*Click HERE to see OPTIMAL LAB VALUES…i.e. what your lab results mean and where you want to be. Also see ADDENDUM C in the revised STTM book.