I have Blood Test results - any thoughts, anyone?

[marram]

I have bee trying to find out why my conversion rate is so poor, and why I am still tired on 150 T4 and 12.5 T3.

I have not had the T3 done this time but that will be done Mon morning - I already have the pack for the home test. I'll add thhose when I get them, meanwhile, I wondered what your thoughts might be.

WBC 6.0 (4.0-11.0)

RBC 4.95 (3.8-5.8)

Haemoglobin 135 (120-150)

HCT 0.41 (0.36-0.46

MCV 82.0 (83.0-99.0) *****

MCH 27.2 (27.0-32.0)

MCHC 333 (315-345)

Platelets 357 (150-400)

RDW 12.9 (11.0-14.0)

MPV 9.9

Neutrophils (Abs) 3.3 (2.0-7.0)

Lymphocytes (Abs) 1.8 (1.0-3.0)

Monocytes (Abs) 0.6 (0.16-1.0)

Eosinophils (Abs) 0.3 (0.00-0.80)

Basophils (Abs) 0.0 (0.00-0.80)

CRP 4.8 (0.00-5.0)

Sodium 139 (133-146)

Potassium 4.5 (3.5-5.3)

Urea 5.7 (2.8-7.8)

Creatinine 61 (45-84)

Total Bilirubin 8.0 (0-21)

ALK Phos 64 (30-130)

ALT 18 (1-33)

GGT 15 (5-40)

Total Protein 72 (60-80)

Albumin 43 (35-50)

Globulin 29 (24-37)

AST 15 (5-32)

Lactate Dehydrogenase 143 (135-214)

Serum Calcium 2.44 (2.2-2.6)

Albumin 43

Adjusted Calcium 2.37 (2.1-2.6)

Uric Acid 375 (140-360) *****

Glucose 5.9 (3.8-6.0)

Cholesterol 7.26 (3.0-5.2) *****

Triglycerides 2.64 (0.6-2.0) *****

HDL Cholesterol 1.44 (0-1.68)

Cholesterol/HDL ratio 5.0

LDL 4.6 (2.5-4.9)

%HDL/Total Cholesterol 19.8%

B12 1169 (191-663) *****

Folate (serum) 5.9 (4.6-18.7)

UIBC 50 Umol/l

Iron 11.0 (6.6-30.4)

Total Iron Binding Capacity 61 umol/l

Transferritin Saturation 18%

Ferritin 14.9 (5-148)

TSH <1.010 (0.271-4.200) ****

FT4 29.1 (12-22) ****

Vitamin D 26.0

They were concerned about my TSH and FT4, of course.

I was most shocked at my Vit D and Ferritin.

[editfmrt]

Yes Marram - spotted those two right away. Iron is not too good either and anaemia may explain why you are feeling tired. I'm not too good at interpreting the iron tests linked with the blood cell results to determine the type of anaemia (macrocytic??) so perhaps someone with more knowledge will post.

Folate is low too so it might help to add that to your B12 which i assume you are supplementing given your results.

[Hidden in reply to editfmrt]

Totally agree, you could use some iron, folic acid (as long as you are taking B12 as well), and vit D.

Try and convince your doctor to prescribe the 5mg folic acid, strongest you can get OTC (I believe) is 800mcg from Holland and Barrett. I'm not sure what iron supplement is best, depends what you can stomach. I use Spatone but it takes longer to get levels up, and yours is very low. What did the doctor say?

Vit D supplement needs to be D3. Vit D guidance I posted the other day is here:

icms.qmul.ac.uk/chs/Docs/42...

H x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Just to add, your MCV of 82 is below the range, this indicates microcytic anaemia, i.e. iron anaemia. And combined with your low range levels of ferritin and iron you might be able to convince your doctor to prescribe for this. You might find this useful when looking at your results:

labtestsonline.org.uk/under...

[PinkNinja in reply to Hidden]

And this anaemia might be why your TSH is low and your T4 is high yet you still feel hypo. It could be that your thyroid hormones are pooling in your blood because they are not getting into your cells. You might need to decrease your dose temporarily and maybe switch to T3.

Uric acid is a little high. I believe that can be caused by too much T4. It causes pseudo-gout. This doesn't mean you are over medicated, just that you have too much T4 for your body to handle, possibly as a result of the anaemia.

You may find you can't feel well on this dose of thyroxine until your iron is sorted out. I am a little concerned with your thyroid result so perhaps a very small decrease might be worth trying. Low iron can make you feel very unwell when you can't use the thyroid hormones you have in your system.

Sorry if that wasn't much help.

Carolyn x

[PinkNinja in reply to PinkNinja]

Sorry, I confused myself. Pseudo-gout and the increased uric acid aren't quite the same thing. Both can be caused by too much T4 though but also by too little. Ugh! This illness is giving my brain the runaround today, lol!

[marram in reply to PinkNinja]

Well spotted, Dr BDP is sure that the T4 is 'pooling' because of my poor conversion. XXX

[PinkNinja in reply to marram]

I have the same problem. I am going to have to replace some of my NDT with T3 because I can't get to a high enough dose without joint pain and returning hypo symptoms, including yellow palms and soles from carotene build-up.

[tegz in reply to PinkNinja]

High SUA leads to Gout if you're going to get it. Once you have it kicked in [by immune system- genetic predisposition] your levels need to be way below halfway.

I have it -and done the research

Psuedo gout is similar in pain level, harder to treat and caused by excess calcium- usually starting in the knees.

Gout usually starts in the feet -esp. large toe joint.

You will notice this when drinking alcohol before a first attack starts.

[marram in reply to tegz]

I think the gout is not a problem, then, thank goodness my big toes are OK. Pseudo-gout a bit of a worry as I do have knee pain, although not unbearable at the moment. thanks for the pointer.

[tegz in reply to marram]

Keep an eye on future CRP levels. Levels at yours and above show some level of inflammation present- though it could even be a virus you're getting over.

Anything connected to immune system in those vulnerable to auto- immune probs seems to cause knock on effects due to

a) Low resilience /energy &

b) Immune over-reactions causing inflamed responses.

Our bodies are trying help us but often get the wrong signals or target.

Frustrating that medics follow the same path often enough- esp. in Thyroid matters.

[spring13]

have you considered people with hyperthyroidism complain of tiredness and your TFT results show your current dose puts you in exactly that situation.

[marram in reply to spring13]

I am not sure I am in exactly that situation, because I do not convert T4 to T3 very well at the moment.

Dr Toft said the following in his book 'Understanding Thyroid Disorders':

"Typical results would be a fT4 of 24 pmol/l or TT4 of

140 nmol/l, and a TSHof 0.2 mUll. In some patients, a

sense of well-being is achieved only when fT4 or TT4 is

raised, for example 30 pmol/l or 170 nmol/l, and TSH

low or undetectable. In this circumstance, it is essential

that the T3 level in the blood is unequivocally normal in

order to avoid hyperthyroidism".

I have just got back my latest results which include T3, have posted above.

[marram]

I have my T3 result from Monday, and it is 6.5 in a range of 3.1-6.8. I believe that explains why I am feeling more positive, have less palpitations, and have started to lose weight. Obviously, I will still have to work on the iron and the Vit D, and if I start to convert better as a result, I may well be able to reduce the T4. The T3 I think I will carry on with anyway, because I firmly believe that it is helping me.

[Hidden in reply to marram]

Isn't your B12 way over the top (almost doube top range), or am I not reading it correctly

[marram in reply to Hidden]

Yes, you are right! I was supplementing but have stopped now, I also started eating a lot more fish because it agrees with my stomach better. Problem then is, my iron has gone down! can't win! >sigh<

[tegz]

Are ref. levels for Ferritin correct?

My lab uses the range 30-300.

Your level does look too low on this.

[marram in reply to tegz]

The reference levels are as on the results sheet, but I also feel it's too low to be quite honest. I'm starting Spatone today once I can get my head round what to take when! It is such a minefield, I will probably have to make a plan and set a load of alarms to remind me!

[tegz in reply to marram]

Actually, you've flagged this up for me. I may give Spatone a try.

My Ferrirtin level was 70 and I was quite pleased with that -as many men suffer from Fe excess and it can cause problems [autoimmune, again]. However in reading many posts on here and one comment to me- I started to wonder if 70 was low when having UAT probs -as it seems to be stressed all the time, along with B12 needing a close eye kept on it. Gentle supplementing via this water based route seems easy to try. [I'm demi veg 20+yrs]

Again, as with B12, D3 and Levo -blood testing is necessary before too long.

[marram in reply to tegz]

What an amazing place (cue for a song) this is, we try to help someone else and it helps us too. I love it.