What does "pooling" mean?

Hi Ruth Ann...

Pooling means your free T3 isn’t making it well to your cells, and instead, is hanging out in your blood, going higher and higher as you raise your T3-containing medication like Cytomel or a desicated thyroid med. 

You should have your cortisol levels checked as well. And ask to have a Reversed T3 test. 

you need to have your free T 3 and free T 4 tested along with the TSH AND the TPO to check for an autoimmune disease like Hashimoto's thyroiditis. 

ThanksMindy and Carla for your feedback.

 

i do have Hashimoto's. My Cortisol level is ok.

my ferritin level is on the low normal but my doc was not concerned.

the Cytomel has helped somewhat with energy but no luck at all losing weight.

 

i guess what I really want is help with losing weight, like everyone else

If my doctor refused me further testing, I'd order the labs for myself - which you can do in every state except RI, NJ, and NY. Your TSH actually looks well regulated by lab level, but keep in mind that labs do not tell the entire story. The lab reference ranges are NOT diagnostic in nature and physicians cannot use them solely to dose meds without the patients' symptoms being considered. I always recommend people hire another doctor if they are receiving this kind of limited care - because it shows limited understanding on the doctor's part and you need someone who listens to your symptoms and who will order the proper testing in order to resolve the kinds of issues you are experiencing. I am not a physician and I can't diagnose or treat anything - but I would encourage you to advocate for yourself (so that you don't chase your tail in treating your thyroid problem) and get a full thyroid panel run. This includes TSH (which is only a measure of how the pituitary is functioning, says nothing about the thyroid itself - so you technically have no information on how your thyroid is reacting to these meds!), but it primarily includes the thyroid hormones themselves: Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, TPO antibodies, anti-Thyroglobulin antibodies. These are necessary to see how the body is managing. You can't know if you are pooling unless you have all those values from the same lab visit. Pooling is actually pretty UNcommon and it's more often that people have auto-immune activity going on that is causing low T3 uptake - but both situations can cause the same symptoms. Once you get the lab results, you will be able to figure out what's going on with more clarity. Here's a link where you can buy the panel at a discount in case you need it - it includes all of the different things I've referenced, so you can see how your actual thyroid is functioning (use discount code JULY4TH15% to save 15% off if you use the code soon) and this can be used at any Quest labs: https://www.ultalabtests.com/napro/Item/Item/Thyroid-Health-Advanced