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Hormones · Marker 02

TSH · Thyroid Stimulating Hormone

TSH is the signal your brain sends to your thyroid. It rises when the thyroid needs to work harder.

Educational, never diagnosticReviewed Apr 07, 2026

Common reference range

0.5–2 mIU/L

Worth watching
Above 3 mIU/L
Population median
1.6 mIU/L
Units
mIU/L

Your record always keeps the range printed on the report the result came from, which can differ from the range above.

Why it matters

What TSH tells you.

A rising TSH is the earliest sign your thyroid is slowing down, often years before you'd be diagnosed. Symptoms (fatigue, cold, weight) often start near 3.0.

TSH inversely tracks thyroid hormone availability. A rising TSH is the earliest signal of incipient hypothyroidism, often years before free T4 falls.

We hold members in the lower half of the laboratory reference range. Symptoms commonly emerge as TSH approaches 3.0, well before flagged disease.

What the record reads

The direction, not one number.

Whether your TSH stays in the lower half of the normal range, year over year.

TSH · mIU/L · six results

Illustrative series

Once you file two results, the record compares them to each other rather than to a population average, and names the report each value came from.

What can influence it

The things that move TSH.

In rough order of effect, and read alongside your own history rather than on their own.

  1. 01

    Iodine sufficiency

    Both deficiency and excess perturb the axis.

  2. 02

    Selenium status

    Cofactor for deiodinase enzymes.

  3. 03

    Stress / cortisol load

    Elevated cortisol suppresses TSH and T4 conversion.

  4. 04

    Body composition

    Significant caloric restriction lowers T3 and elevates TSH.

Daily things that show up here

  • Eat enough iodine and selenium (seafood, brazil nuts)
  • Avoid extreme caloric restriction
  • Manage chronic stress

In your record

What happens when a TSH result arrives.

The same four steps for every result, whether you upload a report or type a value in by hand.

  1. 01

    Filed to its date

    The value is stored against the day it was drawn, with the report it came from kept alongside it.

  2. 02

    Named and normalized

    Thyroid Stimulating Hormone is recognised as one measure, so the same marker from two labs joins one series.

  3. 03

    Read in plain language

    You see what it measures, whether it sits in the printed range, and what usually moves it.

  4. 04

    Shared only if you say so

    A clinician sees this result when you grant scoped, expiring access, and the view is logged.

This page is educational. It does not diagnose, and it does not replace a conversation with a clinician who can see your history.

Where to go next

  • Start with one report

    Upload a single lab report and TSH is filed to its date, named and read back in plain language.

    Create my free record

  • Find someone to read it with

    The directory opens filtered to clinicians who work with hormones markers.

    Verified clinicians

  • Read the evidence

    The reading list opens searched for TSH, with every study linked back to its source.

    Studies on TSH

Read alongside

Other hormones markers.

References

Where this comes from.

  1. Garber JR, et al. Clinical practice guidelines for hypothyroidism in adults. Endocr Pract. 2012;18(6):988-1028. DOI

Reviewed by Dr. Marcus Pereira, DO · Endocrinology · Last reviewed Apr 07, 2026