Help with bloods and symptoms

[Kruzgal]

My husband has been feeling unwell for several years. Severe fatigue has been the main symptom, along with bad headaches. 18 months ago he started to suffer from tingling in his hands, plus numbness. In time this progressed on to his feet and up his legs and he now has some pain in his heels when walking. He was diagnosed yesterday with carpal tunnel and plantar fasciitis but no attempt to find the cause of these.

We have long wondered about thyroid issues as there is a strong history in his family of hypothyroidism (3 generations back) and so some relevant bloods have been taken, but it has been the usual story 'TSH is normal so no problem". I have been getting help on the thyroid uk forum but they have suggested I bring some of the bloods here for your help and consideration:

Serum folate 4.3 ng/ml. Range 3.9 - 20.00

Ferritin 148 ug/L range 30 - 400

Vitamin B12 326 pg/ml range 197 - 771

No results for Vit D

He has other blood issues (presence of IGM paraprotein in low levels, high thyroid peroxidase, high rheumatoid factor) but these are probably not so relevant here.

Thanks in anticipation for your thoughts and help.

Serum TSH level1.78 mu/L0.27 - 4.2mu/L

Thyroid peroxidase 81 IU/ml range 0 - 34

Free T3 3.9 pmol/l Range 4.0 - 6.8

Rheumatoid factor 21.8 IU/ml range 0 - 14

Vitamin B12 326 pg/ml range 197 - 771

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Can't comment on the thyroid related results.

His B12 level is actually quite good but that doesn't mean that it is good for your husband. People vary a lot in how much B12 they need which means that the normal range generally misses about 25% of people who are B12 deficient. Things that can help clarify if his cells are getting enough B12 are testing for MMA and homocysteine which would be raised if his cells aren't getting enough B12 - however they can be raised by other things - notably low folate in the case of homocysteine and as folate is a bit on the low side MMA is likely to be more use in this instance.

supplementing will affect results so if you are looking for a diagnosis of B12 deficiency and/or absorption problems I'd recommend that you don't try supplementing B12 - certainly not in high doses - until you have had all the tests.

His folate is low - suggest that you look at diet and check it has plenty of folate rich foods - generally green leafy vegetables - as the best form of folate comes from food.

not sure what the rheumatoid factor being high indicates.