Not sure if a thyroid problem or something else-can anyone help understand any concerns in my recent blood tests?

[igtgb]

Hello all, In need of help -I have a list of symptons (A few I have probably missed) and want to help myself get better-My Doctors have said recent blood results all okay- except vit D. Please excuse the v.long post. Can anyone point out any concers in my blood results. I am 35 year old female.

Test-Value-Unit-Range

1. Serum urea level 4.2 mmol/L (range 2.5-7.8)

2. Serum Vitamin D 47.3 nmol/l (70-150)

3. Serum total protein 75 g/l (60-80)

4. Serum Albumin 40 g/l (35-50)

5. Serum Globin 35 g/l (19-35

6. Plasma fasting glucose level 5.1 mmol/L (3-6)

7. Mean corpouscular volume (MCV) 90.6 fL (83.5-99.5)

8. Total white cell count 6.4 10*9/L (4.2-11.2)

9. Neutrophil count 3 10*9/L (2-7.1)

10. Eosinophil Count 0.3 10*9/L (<0.5)

11. Basophil count 0 10*9/L (<0.2)

12. Lymphocyte Count 2.7 10*9/L (1.1-3.6)

13. Monocyte Count 0.4 10*9/L (0.3-0.9)

14. Platelet count 274 10*9/L (135-400)

15.Serum Ferritin 34 ug/L (10-120)

16.Serum Iron Level 20 umol/L (7-27)

17.Serum folate 4.7 ug/L (>2.7)

18.Serum Vitamin B12 624 ng/L (160-800)

19.Mean Platelet volume 10.8 fl (7.4-11.5)

20.Red blood cell distribution width 13.5% (10-15.19)

21. Haemoglin estimation 139 g/L (114-150)

22.Haematocrit 0.432 l/l (0.35-0.45)

23. Red Blood Cell (RBC) Count 4.77 10*12/L (3.73-4.96)

24. Mean Corpusc haemoglin (MCH) 29.1 pg (27.5-33.1)

25.Mean Corpusc Hb.conc (MCHC) 322 g/L (315-350)

26. Serum Cortisol 378 nmol/L (no range) done at 9.30am

27.Serum free T4 Level 12.7 pmol/L (9-23)

28. Serum TSH Level 0.86 mu/L (0.3-4.2)

29. Serum LH Level (c) 3.5 iu/L (2-12)

30. Plasma FSH level (c) 1.9 iu/L (no range)

31. Serum transferrin 2.8 g/L (1.7-3.4)

32. Serum bilirubin level 10 umol/L (<21)

33. Serum alkaline phosphatase 59 iu/L (30-130)

34. Serum gamma GT level 12 iu/L (<40)

35. Serum ALT level 14 iu/L (<40)

36.AST serum level 16 iu/L (<40)

37.Serum Potassium 3.9 mmol/L (133-146)

38. Serum Creatinine 59 umol/L (55-110)

Symptoms for at least last 4 years

-Foggy head- memory issues, concentration

-Stiffness in fingers, and joints especially in the morning. But now throughout the day. Unable to do small movements in the morning and great difficulty during the day.

-Whole of Right side of body feels numb (I can feel, but definetely different from left side)- This has become more noticable/spread as time has gone by.

-Pins&Needles particular noticeable in feet and arms/hands

recurrent sinustitus- Have had surgery and advised to have further surgery.

Occasional symptoms

Uncontrolable Hand tremmor (4-6 times in last 3 years)

Several bouts of vertigo predomentantly when I turned to the left over the last 2 years- now daily)

New Issues in last 1 year

Possible- Menieres Disease

Cant stay warm

Known health problems

sever osteoarthritis of the right knee (hospital infection in the knee when i was 15)

Hyper mobility Syndrome

passed issue of POCS

Sinustitus

mild denergative change in C4/5, c5-6 and c6/7

I have for many years ignored the problems putting it down to overcompensating for my bad right knee due to having children, helping my mother and studying. Put I have come to a point where my health is signficantly affecting my ability to manage. In addition, having helped look after others I have neglected my self and now want to focus on my health.

In the last year I have seen a rheumatologist (added not carpet tunnel, I have hyper mobility and this along with bad knee likely cause of pain in joints etc. Neurogogist ---- various physical test in a 45-60min app- stated no finding but will do MRI of head and kneck (MRI showed mild degenerative chages at c4/5, c5/6 and c6/7 with no neural compression or cord lesion. Brain mri was normal but showed some sinonasal mucossal thickening as an incidental finding. I have a follow up appointment next month.

I also got tested for lymes disease this year (As a few years back I did have the circular/dart style rash but didn't see a doctor. The test came backack as IgG- Antibody Negative and IgM Equivocal , further report from PHE Porton few days later B.Burgordferi IgG/Igm (C6 EIA): Negative. No FA as lesion was 4 years ago.

I thought a B12 deficiency may be related to my symptons but the results suggest not- again apologies for the very long post- but any advice/help will be greatly appreciated. I got the bloods done due to a new bout of extreme tiredness (similar to the very early stages of pregnancy) I often have bouts of tiredness at present its extreme heavy headeness. The pain in my main joints at present are like the pain experienced in your jaw when you have blown up to many ballons. I dont know if that description helps.

Thank you for taking the time to read- I have posted this in another community group (FND Hope) as well- in case someone there can help.

[shaws Administrator]

Your Vitamin D is too low - should be at least 70. If you supplement it has to be D3 not D2. You GP may give you supplements.

If you also have symptoms of hypo (I know some other diseases also have similar symptoms) this is the intepretation of Blood Tests and you say you have clinical symptoms too.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

[igtgb in reply to shaws]

thank you for this- I have printed some info and will explore this further. I only hope a reason is found, as I am sick of being made to feel its all in my head.

[Hidden in reply to igtgb]

The ones off my GP are cholecalciferol 400 IU - I took one twice a day to get up from 11 to 80 then dropped to 1 to maintain.

[Heloise]

This is too complicated for lay people but generally speaking, many of us have very low magnesium levels due to adrenal problems. I would supplement with a chelated magnesium and also omega 3 is another essential fatty acid that your body cannot make and also keeps you from using other fats which is the fuel your body prefers. So along with your vitamin d3, I would supplement with those and even B12 since the test you took may not be accurate. I know it's hard to reduce stress but even some breathing exercise can help in that area.

See if anything here relates.

drlam.com/articles/adrenalf...

[igtgb in reply to Heloise]

The chart in the link was helpful. Sounds like I fit more in the adrenal side. I have been under a considerable amount of distress of late. I also suffer from Alopecia areata (bald patches on my head occure a few weeks after I have been through a very distressful situation. This first occured when my youngest brother died suddenly. I have now come to use this as a sign to recorgnise the stress I was under and move forward. - So does the Omega 3 (have been doing a lot of research on best supplement for the kids- so I will start taking myself) and Magnesium help with adrenal fatigue? Will my doctor laught me out the office if I mention adrenal fatigue?

[Heloise in reply to igtgb]

igtgb, death is very stressful, the worst I would think. People don't understand that stress comes in all varieties and another is chemical stress. The body has to detox and now that we have added so many more with additives or artificial flavors and coloring, sugars, etc. and also taking antibiotics compromises the gut flora. This all has an impact on our immune system. Yes, I would say magnesium will support your adrenals. Restful sleep is probably the best thing which is difficult when your cortisol is too high.

There are some wonderful relaxation techniques that will make you feel differently. Brainwave cd's can help achieve that. Brainsynch used to produce tapes with binaural beats you might look into. This could make a difference in your stress levels.

Doctors may laugh in their ignorance. Their occupation is disease control, keep that in mind. Prevention is what we are after.

[Hidden]

I'm no expert but I'd have said your ferritin was too low as well which may be contributing to your fatigue. I have hypermobility syndrome and chronic vit D deficiency, supplementing makes the world of difference to my pain, although the fatigue and fog etc that you mention, that I can relate to, in my case I believe is untreated hypo .

I stopped supplementing after a long time as I wasn't told any differently, but a different rheumatologist told me that once deficient, you will always be prone to it, particularly if symptomatic so supplement for life. 400 units a day should suffice, even in winter your levels to help with HMS pain need to be around 80. It's worth getting your GP to check your parathyroids as this can be linked to vitamin D deficiency

[marmaris in reply to Hidden]

This is interesting with regard to parathyroids as my sister had this and had to have two removed (I believe there are 4), My father is Hypo and so am I now for 19 years. Taking Levo and T3 but recently found I was very low on Vit D 23 and supplementing 800 twice daily from doctor. What is the link with Vit D and parathyroid?

[Hidden in reply to marmaris]

I'm not sure which way round it works, as in which causes the other - but I was found to have acute hyperparathyroidism with rock bottom vit D level. They didn't do anything to my parathyroid a but I did have to load on vit D - what happened to the hyperpth I really don't know, I'm guessing the vit D helped? I don't think I've been tested since as had to stop seeing that specialist!

[Hidden]

Oops, sorry Shaws, I should have read your reply first! I was just quoting my rheumy but we weren't far off each other. Sorry to butt in

[waveylines]

I agree with Shaws.

being low in vit D can really affect you severely -I was so so tired and in so much pain, weakness and leg cramps that I could barely walk. Interestingly enough I also suffer with leg/head tremors which are much improved by taking a complex vit B with a healthy dose of ferritin in it, and a high dose of sub-lingual B12...I couldn't believe it when my tremors stopped -they come back if I stop taking B12. My GP doesn't know what to make of it as he did a B12 test after i had been supplementing -pointless of course! Lol

What did your neurologist say about the tremors & numbness?

[igtgb in reply to waveylines]

that sometimes doctors cant explain the reason why something is happening but it doesn't mean it isn't happening lol- I am glad for his honestly but would have been better to have a reason- I am due to see him next month with my MRI scan, so depending on what he says may ask for a second opinion or a referral to other specialist.

[sazzyb]

Re your B12 results, I've recently learned that only about 15% of the serum B12 level in your body

is Active B12, the rest just sits there so that's something to consider. Also, have a read:

Functional vitamin B12 deficiency

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/191...

[igtgb in reply to sazzyb]

Wish I could read the full article- thank you though- I will pursue B12 with my doctors armed with this

b12d.org/sites/default/file...

[Luna]

Please also remember that if you supplement B12 you will need to watch your folate levels. These do not seem overly high to me anyway but when supplementing B12 you need a good level of folate for it to do its job. B12 uses folate.

[igtgb in reply to Luna]

Thank you.

[igtgb]

Thank you Shaws, Leamo and reallyfedup123. Will explore Hypothyroid with doctor and ask for blood tests 1) Thyroid antibodies and (2) free T3. May also see if I can get an active B12 test done at my surgery.

[igtgb]

Thank you all for your input, you have given me a few avenues to pursue and its greatly appreciated.

[marmaris]

I have the same degenerative changes like you in my neck. Had a root nerve injection procedure done but did not help a lot pain came back. Vit D has helped.

[igtgb]

Small update- my doctor was very supportive but doesn't thinks its thyroid related but is going to consider all facotrs and symptons and work out the next option to explore- she is I think going to arrange test for active b12 i think but she it gave it another name (Cant remember what she said- but will check my notes with reception) said it was available at St Thomas (london).

[Hidden in reply to igtgb]

sounds like the Active B12 test then - holotranscobalamin - a supportive GP!

- don't supplement before testing - I made that mistake, then B12 needs B complex for optimal effect, Iron with Vit C. Vit D with fat (e.g. with milk) perhaps also look into Biotin for hair loss (I think).

As others have said VitD supplements helped ease pain for me too (investigations into my neck /shoulder /bicep /elbow /wrist /finger pain found extra C-ribs at C7 - so everything blamed on them)

If supplementing Vit D best have regular tests and also test calcium, I have seen Parathyroid tests recommended a few times lately too. Another thing to consider is coeliac/gluten intolerance. Best wishes

J

please sign the TUK petition here!

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/pe...

[igtgb]

Thank you sparerib (now interesting)! will not supplement.

Actually the test she arranged is Methlymalonic Acid but I have requested Active B12 as well-not sure if doctor will agree.

Others elsewhere have suggested coeliac/gluten so will add this to the list. Doctor wouldnt agree to T3 as said not needed due to my blood levels being at the wrong end of the scale (cant remember which one)

Thank you.