Help interpreting blood test results please....... - Thyroid UK

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Help interpreting blood test results please...........

Jules_Essex profile image
4 Replies

A brief history is that I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 21 and have been on 125mg of levothyroxine every since. I'm now 38 and symptoms have worsened over the last couple of years leading me to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia.

I saw the endocrinologist for the first time last week and yesterday saw him again to get my blood results back which are as follows and I've put lab ranges in brackets:

Free T4 15.9 (11-26)

TSH 1.11 (0.35-4.5)

Free T3 5.1 (3.1-6.8)

Cortisol (serum) 310 for a morning sample it says range is 138-690

Sodium 140 (133-146)

Potassium 4.7 (3.5-5.3)

Urea 2.3 (2.5-7.8) this is the only result that is out of the lab ranges and highlighted in red

Creatinine 66 (45-84)

Glucose 6.7 (3.3-7.9)

Magnesium 0.85 (0.7-1.0)

Vitamin B12 in excess of 2000 (180-917) (I am on B12 injections so no surprise)

Serum Folate 7.2 (more than 3.0)

25 OH Vitamin D 84.56 (50-200)

Iron 19 (10-30)

Iron binding capacity 66 (45-72)

Transferrin saturation 29 (20-50)

I did ask for ferritin to be tested but it doesn't appear to be there. The consultant has prescribed me 10mg of T3 to try for 3 months and see what happens. My levo will stay at 125mg each day. So I think I'm quite pleased with that result as I really wanted to try T3.

I'd really appreciate any feedback on any areas that I look 'low' in, even though I'm in the 'normal' range for everything. I'm really surprised my Vit D is so low in the range as I'm supplementing with 1600iu on prescription every day so I'm wondering if I should increase that?

At the moment I'm adding some vitamins to support my adrenals as I recently did a saliva test via Genova Diagnostics which came back that my afternoon and bed time cortisol ranges were below the normal range. I've added Vit C, a Solgar B vit complex, pantothenic acid, a Lamberts trace minerals tablet and some Ginseng each day but I haven't added anything like NAX as yet for my adrenals. I'm not really sure if I should go straight on to the T3 or try and sort out my adrenals first? I did show the consultant my saliva test results from Genova but he was pretty dismissive of them really.

Any advice much appreciated :)

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Jules_Essex
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PinkNinja profile image
PinkNinja

Ok. You definitely seem to need more thyroid hormone. Your results look like you are slightly hypothyroid on your current dose (although your results are in range). Many people on Thyroxine-only seem to need their t4 quite high in range and their TSH quite low ( below 1), although some are fine with other levels. So I think the addition of t3 is a good start. You seem to have a better consultant than most :) You may need a further increase of either t3 or t4 though but see how it goes.

As the weather is getting better, I would hold off increasing your vitamin D and try to get some sun exposure instead, especially as you are not deficient at the moment. You might want to look into vitamin k2 which helps your body use the vitamin D and calcium properly.

It is very annoying that ferritin had been missed off. It's probably not wise to take iron without knowing this result but eating an iron rich diet might help.

Your morning cortisol really needs to be higher but you seem to know that already as you are taking steps to support your adrenals (the vitamin c and ginseng). You seem to be doing all the right things.

T3 can help your adrenals so, unless you experience problems, starting the t3 should be fine. 10mcg is quite a small dose. NAX will probably help too.

I hope you start to see some improvement soon!

Carolyn x

Jules_Essex profile image
Jules_Essex

Thanks Carolyn for the reply :) I did have my ferritin levels checked by my GP back in Dec 2012 and the result was:

Ferritin: Serum ferritin level (XE24r) 81 ug/L (11.0-307.0)

I can't see that it would have changed since then as I've not been doing anything to supplement it (apart from having B12 injections but not sure that would impact ferritin levels?)

I also had my T4 and TSH tested by my GP last month and my T4 was at the top end of the range - it was 13.8 and the range was 6.3-14 and my TSH was 1.26 with the range being 0.3-5.6. I did forget to take my thyroid meds the day before my most recent blood test and then didn't take them until after I'd had my blood taken (as it was an early morning appointment) so I'd not had my meds for nearly 48 hours which may have affected the most recent result?

PinkNinja profile image
PinkNinja in reply to Jules_Essex

I don't think it would have affected your results too much but may have had a small effect. It does sound like the T3 and adrenal support may be the missing links.

I'm also not sure about your ferritin. It is a different range from what I'm used to. I think it should be higher but I would have to research this. I think 150 is optimal for this test. 70-90 if it's in nmol/L (I think!) I'll see what I can find out.

Hopefully you will start to feel better as the T3 gets into your system and you start the NAX :)

Marz profile image
Marz

If you would like to learn more about T3 and Adrenals I wonder if you have read the website of Paul Robinson who is on this forum and has written books about recovering with T3. Adrenals are mentioned :-)

rwt3.com

Good Luck...

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