I know you have seen it. It is literally everywhere in the thyroid internet world. If I had a dollar for every time someone dropped “it” into the comments in a thyroid Facebook group, I’d be a freaking millionaire! It’s a bunch of nonsense and it makes my blood boil every time I see it. The “it” I am referring to is the optimal thyroid levels meme. It is simply not helpful, not even a little bit, zero, none, no help at all.
How it happens….
A seemingly innocent person posts their labs asking for insight in a thyroid Facebook group. Obviously they don’t feel well or they wouldn’t be asking for help in a FB group. Also, throw in some of the usual thyroid symptoms of brain fog, anxiety and insomnia and this person just wants some advice that will help them improve their situation. Instead, within seconds, someone immediately drops the “optimal thyroid levels” meme in the comments to this person’s post. Because THAT meme is going to save the day. It is the holy grail of all thyroid information. That meme is the answer to the posters current health issues. Really? (eye roll)
Maybe instead….
If you are the guilty party in this post, you know…. the one dropping this meme into every comment on the internet, please stop. My opinion is, that you better have your levels in those optimal ranges if you are going to promote the information on that meme. So unless you do, stop sharing it! I assure you that the poster is not asking for a meme. They would be better helped by your experiences or how you adjusted when you had labs similar to theirs. Or maybe, just a nice reassuring comment that you understand their struggle.
Are the results in the meme even possible?
Let’s take a closer look at the “meme of nonsense”. Is it even physiologically possible to have those “optimal levels”? Can someone have top of the range FT3, a greater than 50% FT4 AND have a TSH in the range that is highlighted in the meme? Why would you even want to have a high FT4 AND a high FT3? Sounds like a disaster for me! Not to mention that the natural levels in a person with a healthy thyroid are nothing like this meme. So I call bullshit on the unrealistic “optimal ranges” highlighted in that meme. I don’t think it’s humanly possible. But by all means, if you have your thyroid hormones optimized to those levels and you are feeling fantastic, please call me. I’d like to interview you for our website! You truly are a unicorn 🙂
The origin of the “optimal thyroid levels” meme
Where did that crazy meme even come from? Obviously not from an actual medical doctor. I think I know where it came from, but I refuse to name the group on our website. And guess what? They are NOT medical professionals either. They also don’t live in your body. The meme is thyroid propaganda that needs to stop. Why? Because people get hurt following bad advice from armchair MD’s. People look at that meme and think that’s what the end goal is. That’s where my lab values need to be in order to finally feel well. Because obviously all of the people who feel great have these optimal values. In desperation to feel human again people begin their journey to “optimal”. A goal that they will never achieve or if they do, will feel terrible.
I get it, I totally do. Been there, done that. I chased optimal ranges for a long time. I wasted years of my life trying to achieve the impossible, because I believed a stupid meme was my ticket to wellness. I assure you, it is not.
What we need to remember.
People find wellness at all levels within the ranges (TSH, FT4, FT3). My optimal levels are not going to be your optimal levels. And Margaret, the armchair expert on your thyroid Facebook group cannot tell you what your optimal range is. I’m sorry, but it is true. I think we all know it. We just try to find hope wherever we can and that makes me so sad and also mad.
Westin Childs has an excellent article ~ The Problem With Optimal Lab Values. You can read it here.
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