Medichecks blood results - still unsure what's causing symptoms.

[pj16]

Hi everyone. I received my Medichecks results yesterday and am none the wiser about what the root cause of my symptoms might be. I now understand how some people feel disappointed when they get normal blood results as we are desperate to get a diagnosis. I'll list my results and would welcome any comments or advice. Blood was drawn after 13 hour fast. Also, for 3 days only from 8th September I took Jarrow's B12 methylcobalamin supplement (1000mcg) before I realised that this was probably the wrong thing to do before getting tested. I'm hoping this didn't affect any of my results.

Haemoglobin (G/L) 129g/L (115 - 155)

HCT 0.379 L/L (0.33 - 0.45)

Red cell count 4.11 x10^12/L (3.95 - 5.15)

MCV 92 fl (80.00 - 99.00)

MCH 31.4 pg (26.00 - 33.50)

MCHC (G/L) 342 g/L (300.00 - 350.00)

RDW 14.0 % (11.50 - 15.00)

Iron *27.07 umol/L (6.60 - 26.00)

TIBC 69.17 umol/L (41.00 - 77.00)

Transferrin saturation 39.14 % (20.00 - 55.00)

Ferritin 37 ug/L (13.00 - 150.00)

Thyroid stimulating hormone 3.34 mIU/L (0.27 - 4.20)

Free thyroxine 19.300 pmol/L (12.00 - 22.00)

Free T3 4.99 pmol/L (3.10 - 6.80)

Active B12 83.600 pmol/L (25.10 - 165.00)

Folate (serum) 6.56 ug/L (2.91 - 50.00)

25 OH Vitamin D 62.9 nmol/L (50.00 - 200.00)

I have other results of WBC, platelets etc but I'm not sure which, if any, are relevant. I am surprised by my Active B12 result as I fully expected it to be lower (considering recent total B12 was 177 ng/L. My folate level has not been as low as 6.56 ug/L since 2012. Since then it's been measured 3 times and is usually about 14 ug/L although I've no idea if this is important. I'm still waiting for results of ANA test to come back. I'm now trying to decide if I should order MMA, homocysteine and IFA tests. At the end of the day there has to be something causing my symptoms! Regards to you all.

[Hidden]

I'm also struggling understanding what's the cause of my symptoms, and I'm not an expert as well. The only thing I could say about your results is that vitamin D, even if it's in range, it can cause problems since it's near the bottom limit of the normal range. I had a vit D deficiency (not anymore) and I often read online that this vitamin should be higher than 100/125 to be in the optimal range. I don't know if this is the cause of your symptoms but you could give it a try. It is also important to get magnesium and vitamin k2 with vitamin D to have the best absorption. Hope this could help you!

[pj16 in reply to Hidden]

Many thanks for the reply. I'll do some research on vitamin D and consider supplementing.

[fbirder]

Your active B12 is nice and high. That could well be due to the supplements you took. If so it proves that you’re absorbing B12 from the GI tract and that you can keep your B12 levels up where they need to be with the pills.

Keep taking the tablets and see if your symptoms improve. If they don’t then they’re probably not caused b6 a B12 deficiency.

[Dvpk24 in reply to fbirder]

Does a test for Active B12after supplementing and injections correct. Does one need to stay away from supplements for active b12 tests. How can we know if we can absorb or not with supplements/ injections

[fbirder in reply to Dvpk24]

You can tell if you absorb oral supplements because your blood levels (either serum B12 or active B12) go up.

Being tested after an injection tells you very little. Your blood levels will definitely go up whether you have an absorption problem or not.

[pj16 in reply to fbirder]

Thanks fbirder. That's what I first thought until I realised that Serum B12 taken by my GP was also after taking the 3 days of B12 supplement. That result was 177 ng/L (145 - 910). Is it possible to have serum b12 at 177 ng/L (145 - 912), active B12 at 83.600 pmol/L (25.10 - 165.00) and still be deficient? I hope that makes sense. It's hard to phrase questions when I don't know what I'm talking about!

[fbirder in reply to pj16]

Well, it certainly looks as if you aren’t deficient, as in - your blood levels look good. The serum B12 test is notoriously inaccurate, so your borderline reading of 177 could be way lower than the real value. The active test is, we are always told, much more accurate - so that’s the one to concentrate on.

However, it is certainly possible to have the symptoms of a deficiency with high serum levels. I certainly do.

Some people have a functional deficiency, where the B12 doesn’t enter the cells efficiently. If you have an MMA test then a high result would indicate such a deficiency.

But I’m convinced there’s another way that B12 is used in the body. A way that the currently do t understand. That’s why some of us need very frequent injections.

[Marz]

Your TSH is higher than it would be in a healthy person - but not considered high enough for treatment in the UK. Also Thyroid anti-bodies were not tested - TPO & Tg.

Was your test a fasting one and done early in the morning ?

Speaking with my Thyroid UK hat on I would suggest your Ferritin would be better around 70

[pj16]

Thanks for that. Yes the test was 10.30am and I had fasted for 13 hours.

[pj16]

Also I'm looking into getting TPO and Tg tested.