Normal Thyroid Level

what is a normal thyroid level?Normal level of thyroid?Normal thyroid levels in the body keep the metabolism functioning at just the right speed, not too fast so that it causes stress on the heart and other parts of the body but not too slowly so that you can barely move due to exhaustion and weight sticks to you when other people eat.

Two types of normal hormones come from the thyroid. They are T3 and T4. If your glands under produces the T3 and T4 you have hypothyroidism but if you have a higher production of the hormone then you have hyperthyroidism. While it might seem more attractive to many people to have too much T3 and T4 and watch weight simply drop off, the racing heartbeat, sweats and other symptoms of accelerated thyroid levels aren't any fun.

Thyroid level tests may start with measuring the TSH level in your body. TSH comes not from the thyroid but the pituitary gland. It's the hormone, which tells your thyroid to produce more T3 and T4. If your thyroid is under producing T3 and T4, the body increases its production of TSH and it's a strong indicator there's a problem. If there's lower amounts produced, it's because you already have too much T3 and T4 hormone in your body. Again, this is an indicator that there's a problem.

Because there are constant fluctuations in the amount of T3 and T4 levels, there's also a huge fluctuation in the amount of TSH levels in the body. Six in the morning and six in the evening tend to be the same, however, noon and midnight tend to be the opposite ends of the spectrum. While your body rests, often the T3 and T4 levels drop so the highest amount of TSH is around midnight with the lowest being at noon. The normal range is between 0.5 and 5.5 but some doctors and labs still use an older standard of 0.3 to 3.3 as their reference.

Two tests for T3 levels give different numerical results. If you have a "Total T3" test, the normal range is some point between 80 and 220. If your score happens to fall below the 80 range, your thyroid is under active. Anything higher than the 220 mark, of course, indicates a hyperactive thyroid.

The other test for the T3 level is the "free T3" test. Here the range for the test is between a 2.3 and a 4.2. Again, if you score higher your thyroid exhibits hyperactive tendencies and lower is a hypoactive thyroid.

Just like T3 tests, there are also T4 tests for "Total T4" and "Free T4." The total T4 test score's thyroid level normal range is between 4.5 and 12.5 while the "Free T4" range is 0.7 to 2.0. Also, like the T3 levels, anything above the range indicates a problem with a hyperactive thyroid and anything below suggests a hypoactive thyroid.

While these tests are or may be an indicators of normal thyroid Level, they don't tell the whole picture. First, all three levels need to be tested, TSH, T3 and T4 levels. If not, the potential for a wrong diagnosis is possible. Secondly, not every one has the same "normal" thyroid levels, so while the tests may suggest you're healthy or ill, they may be wrong because your normal level is different from the general population. If you feel there's something wrong and have many of the symptoms of a thyroid problem you need to look closely at the condition and discuss the results carefully with your physician.

Return to amour thyroid page from Normal Thyroid Level