Help interpreting blood test results please - Thyroid UK

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Help interpreting blood test results please

puncturedbicycle profile image
21 Replies

Serum b12 332ng/L (180-914)

Serum ferritin 19ug/L (11-336)

Serum folate 18.7ug/L (3.1-19.9)

Serum d 86 nmol/L (76-220)

I can't find anything else indicating iron, but maybe it's called something different? They also did a full blood count, so maybe it's there - ?

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puncturedbicycle
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21 Replies

remember that nhs ranges are often useless. i was within their b12 range but still had pernicious anaemia - which they missed. Suggest you start b12 asap but also get tested for the antibodies because if you have them, you cannot absorb b12 and need to inject

Ferritin is v low, suggest you start on iron. You can buy ferrous suplhate online

puncturedbicycle profile image
puncturedbicycle in reply to

Thanks. Do you mean Hashi's antibodies or something else? I know I have Hashi's and I can't seem to make a dent in the antibodies. I have some b12 patches which I might start now. What's the consensus on those?

Funny thing is that my last b12 test was pretty high (may have even been over the top of range, can't remember) because every supplement I take seems to have b12 in it, but I stopped taking supplements a couple of weeks before these last tests so I wouldn't skew the results.

Feeling like pants. :-(

Marz profile image
Marz in reply topuncturedbicycle

..think Bluedaffodil may been the anti-bodies for the Parietal Cells - and Intrinsic Factor.

I am using patches and feel them adequate - but difficult to tell as I was taking B12 before. Just happier with the patches as they have lots of B's and of course Folic Acid. Don't have a terminal ileum - where most of the B12 is absorbed. Am considering injections too....

Bear in mind that the B12 showing up in the blood is not all available at a cellular level where it is needed - only about 20%. That's why it needs to be at the TOP of the range or high at the very least....

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply toMarz

Marz, I've just read about a new type of B12. This website pertains more to chronic fatigue than thyroid but this product looks to be very interesting. Have you heard of it?

prohealth.com/shop/product....

Marz profile image
Marz in reply toHeloise

No not this particular one. Is it a new type because it's 5000 mcg per tablet ? Thank you for sharing...

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply toMarz

This is the page I should have sent since it describes the fact that it was limited to injection only previously and now there is a tablet. The research looks good.

prohealth.com/shop/product....

Marz profile image
Marz in reply toHeloise

Just clicked Heloise - thank you ! Had overlooked the fact that it was Hydroxycobalamin and not the Methylcobalamin I was taking in the Jarrow Formula. It certainly looks a good possibility. My problem is the lack of a Terminal Ileum so absorption could be poor. Have been without one for over 40 years and have not slipped into dementia or too many neurological issues :-) Of course others may disagree.... :-)

Thank you for the link. It was my bedtime when I read it - and had just been to the vet with my poorly dog - just not concentrating.....she's much better this morning....

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply toMarz

I read the reviews and only one felt it was too potent but since B12 is often falsely assessed I'm going to try it and report back to the Board. So many suffering from brain fog. And, yes, you have always sounded perfectly coherent:)

Oh, dear, I am now worried about your pet. I still cry when I think of mine, especially Okie who died from the tainted food from China. There were over 20,000 pets in the U.S. that succumbed to that as there was a website that kept a running total and investigation. And, yet, NOTHING was really made of it. I hope your doggy does okay.

Marz profile image
Marz in reply toHeloise

Thank you ! Demelza is 10 this year - an abandoned Greek dog and we have had her since a small pup. She has several soft lipomas - but the one on her ankle is under a tendon and appeared hard. She has some very expensive pills for pain and inflammation. Vet will assess in 10 days and says it may be worth an op to improve her quality of life. She's also Hypo :-) She is not limping so much today and will still chase cats out of HER olive grove !!

Sorry to hear about Okie - are you in the US ?

Keep well :-)

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply toMarz

Yes, I'm in upstate NY.

I hope you can keep Demenlza going. I understand some Greek but don't recognize demeniza.

I am missing having a pet for the first time but the expense involved, as you say, would cause me to spend my last cent if need be.

Marz profile image
Marz in reply toHeloise

It's Demelza - a Cornish name. There was a TV series back in the 70's called Poldark. Angharad Rees played the part of Demelza - and I once interviewed a real live Demelza Pascoe - just because of her name !! I just like the name :-)

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply toMarz

I do, too.

puncturedbicycle profile image
puncturedbicycle in reply toMarz

Marz, anything I can do to avoid having to take more pills! :-)

in reply topuncturedbicycle

no the antibodies for p anaemia

puncturedbicycle profile image
puncturedbicycle in reply to

Thanks. I don't think I realised there was such a thing. I imagine this will be a private test if I'm within range.

Heloise profile image
Heloise

Hi pb, do you mean other than your ferritin?

FERRITIN test: Measures your levels of storage iron, which can be chronically low in hypothyroid patients. If your Ferritin result is less than 50, your levels are too low and can be causing problems…as well as leading you into anemia as you fall lower, which will give you symptoms similar to hypo, such as depression, achiness, fatigue. If you are lower than the 50′s, you are scooting by. Optimally, females shoot for 70-90 at the minimum (Janie’s is 80 when her iron is good); men tend to be above 100 and optimally close to the 130′s. If your ferritin is much higher, you have INFLAMMATION–the latter causes iron to be thrust into storage and inflammation is common with thyroid patients for a variety of reasons. In less common cases, higher ferritin can be from liver disease, alcoholism, diabetes, asthma, or some types of cancer. Men are generally higher than women without having the above problems. If ferritin is high along with a high % Sat and Serum iron, you may have hemachromatosis or a MTHFR defect. You should be off all iron for at least 12 hours before testing to see what your body is hanging onto, and 5 days to see your true iron levels.

There is also serum iron and saturation, both found on this page. stopthethyroidmadness.com/l...

puncturedbicycle profile image
puncturedbicycle in reply toHeloise

Hi. I know people here usually say to have a test for iron, ferritin, folate, b12 and d, so I thought that iron would be here is some guise or other, aside from the ferritin. No serum iron or iron saturation in my test results. So my ferritin should be around 90? Or should it be higher in the range?

Will have a look at the link.

Who is Janie? :-)

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply topuncturedbicycle

Janie is part of the Stop the Thyroid Madness website. Her experiences have been part of the input. They have a book but what they have online is very helpful. They give answers that defy the conventional thinking which is why they title it "Madness".

My ferritin is over the top of range but my lab range is topped at 150, yours is 336 which makes your result even worse and 90 would still not be very high.

puncturedbicycle profile image
puncturedbicycle in reply toHeloise

Many thanks.

What is confusing is that I've been on supplements for a few years on the advice of a private doctor and I stopped taking them (about a month? few weeks?) before the blood draw so I wouldn't skew the results, so my levels were either not improving with supplements or they dropped like a stone as soon as I stopped supplementing. Either way it isn't ideal.

My diet is good, we get an organic veg box every week so I eat plenty of fresh seasonal veg, I eat some organic/wild meat and fish, I've even started using milk (I was dairy free for a while because of sinus issues).

It's good to get these results though because it was perplexing why my thyroid meds just seemed to stop working.

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply topuncturedbicycle

Well, the supplementation hasn't been effective. I know it is very difficult to raise levels. My mother in law needed 17 daily injections to build hers up but she had part of her stomach removed due to ulcers in which the area that digested iron was involved. I know you need acid and that's why they recommend orange juice to take your pill on otherwise empty stomach. We tend toward low acid anyway so another roadblock perhaps. I hope you can find out why you are so low because I would assume you can't be as well as you should be.

Heloise profile image
Heloise in reply topuncturedbicycle

PB, do you know how to use the search engines when they have those horizontal lines up in the corner. The STTM has lots of articles to look up. This page hopefully has the one where Janie expresses who very low iron levels.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

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