Help on test results

[donni]

Hi everyone am a newbie on here and would really appreciate some advice, to cut a very long story short i have been Hypothyroid for about 15 years.

Never did that great on Levo and have never felt really well since i started on thyroid meds, the only time i felt ok was on Eltroxin which is no longer available.

Have spent a fortune on private docs and alternative treatment the list is endless, have battled with the medical establishment for years to no avail. I tried Henning tablets from Germany but i didnt do well on those either.

I am now taking Wockhart 75mcgs have been taking them for about 6 months, i had some bloods done at the Neurologists as i have now developed chronic migraine, that started in June last year the headaches are always there but not as severe at the moment.

Below are my results any help/ advice on supplementing would be great.

Vit D Result 40.1 NMO1/L------ Range 25-50 ( I dont quite understand this result and range, the doc said i had vit d insufficiency)

Vitb12 Result 360---- Range 180-1130

Folate Result 10.5 ----- Range anything under 3 is classed as insufficiency

Iron Result 136---- Range 120-160

T.s.h Result 0.95----- Range 0.35-4.7

T 4 Result 12 ------- Range 7.8-21

T3 Result 3.6-------Range3.8-6

I have been seeing an Endo for about 2yrs very nice man but a complete waste of my bloody time, he said that because my T3 has gone up from 3.2 to 3.6 in the last 5 months i do not have a conversion problem, and that because i have an irregular heart rythmn that plays up now and again he didnt want to top me up with T3.

My heart rythmn started when i first began Thyroid meds.

Apologies for the long post just wanted to give you as much info as i could.

Thanks in advance Donni

[Hennerton]

I think you would be better on a higher dose of Levo. You do appear to be convertimg on the tiny dose you are managing on but why does your Endo think it is fine for your T3 to be under the reference range? Your T4 is also low in range and could do to be higher. Of course he is really just looking at your TSH, which is strangely low, given your other two results. Have you ever had a higher dose of Levo? If so, how did you feel? If no better, then adding T3 is probably the answer and may help your headaches. Is that your only symptom?

[donni in reply to Hennerton]

Hi Hennerton thanks for reply

Yes they have upped my Levo a couple of times to 100 mcgs but it gave me terrible palpitations and anxiety ended up in A and E a couple of times, so doc dropped it down to my usual dosage of 75 mcgs.

Yes i did wonder about my T.S.H been low when the other two are not that good.

[Hennerton in reply to donni]

It is often low serum iron and ferritin that cause palps and anxiety when raising a dose. Also cortisol and poor adrenals can be involved and I am not familiar with that, so cannot give you a good answer, except to say that you could check it out with a private cortisol saliva test from Genova. See Thyroid UK site for a discount.

I am puzzled by your TSH. Hope somebody else has some ideas.

I might be inclined to do 100/75 alternate days and see what happens, plus ask for a ferritin test. It should be at least 70 to ensure you can deal with thyroid hormone well. Sorry not to be more helpful!

[humanbean]

Vitamin D ranges are not usually quoted in the same way as other reference ranges. I don't know why. These are the ranges quoted to me when I've been tested by the NHS and Blue Horizon :

NHS :

Less than 15 nmol/L : Deficiency

15 – 50 nmol/L : Insufficiency (consider supplementation)

50 – 140 nmol/L : Adequate

Blue Horizon :

<25 nmol/L : Severe Vitamin D deficiency

25 – 75 nmol/L : Borderline ranging to insufficiency

75 – 200 nmol/L : Optimally replete

>250 nmol/L : Possible toxicity, if sustained

Many people on this forum supplement to get their vitamin D up to, and sometimes over, 100 nmol/L. I am aiming to get my own levels up to 100 - 120 nmol/L. I was never terribly low in vitamin D, but raising it into the replete range has made me feel so much better and has reduced muscle and joint aches and pains a lot.

I'm not sure how much you need to supplement with to raise your levels. But vitamin D3 supplements are not expensive and it is easier to treat yourself than rely on low-dose GP-prescribed ones.

[humanbean]

Your vitamin B12 is not drastically low, but hypo people really need their result near the top of the range. Being over the range is not a problem for vitamin B12 either. The best supplements are sublingual methylcobalamin. You would probably do okay on the 1000mcg ones, but 5000mcg supplements are also available. Jarrow brand is a reputable one. Find them on amazon, and then shop around for the best price.

With respect to folate - I hate it when I don't get a reference range. Here are the ranges I got from the NHS and Blue Horizon, just for comparison - they both had the same range which is rare! I know you can't make direct comparisons but some info is better than none.

Reference range 4.6 - 18.7 ug/L

Again, your folate level is not bad. But if you wanted to raise your level to higher in range then methylfolate is a better choice than folic acid. I don't think it is a good idea to raise folate above the top of the range - certainly I've never seen anyone advocating it as a good idea, anyway.

[humanbean in reply to humanbean]

I forgot to mention that it is a good idea to take B Complex if you supplement with B12 and/or folate - it is needed to help keep the levels of all the B Vitamins in balance.

[donni]

Thanks for replies i am puzzled also by T.sh results hope someone can give me some answers, at the moment by bank balance is broke at this stage i cannot afford to pay privately for tests , my G.p is reluctant to test thats why in the past i paid private.

[Clutter]

Donni, get some vitD3 softgel capsules or spray and supplement 5,000iu daily for 6 weeks to raise your levels and then maintain with 5,000iu alternate days or 2,000iu daily.

HumanBean has advised about B12. I think your folate is fine being half way in most ranges which go up to 20.

Your TSH is in the area most people are comfortable with but your FT4 and FT3 are low. 100/75mcg alternate days could be helpful and shouldn't lower your TSH too much.

[donni in reply to Clutter]

Thank you everyone is there anything i should be supplementing with

[Clutter in reply to donni]

Donni, Do you mean brands? Jarrows B12 is good. Pretty much any vitD3 softgel capsules will do. I've used Doctor's Best and Now. BetterYou Boost Sprays are good if you don't like lozenges/capsules. I use supermarket brand B Complex. Try Amazon and please use the TUK affiliate link for all Amazon purchases thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/go_sho...

[donni]

Sorry meant to say is there any thing else i should be supplementing with aside from vit d

[PinkNinja]

I had an irregular heart beat. It seemed to be related to two things. When I was on Thyroxine with no t3 I had a very irregular heart beat that three different cardiologists couldn't get to the bottom of. Switching to t3 sorted that out and my heart rate became really good and regular.

My heart beat is also affected by iron. I am anaemic at the moment and really struggling to get my iron up and one symptom I get with this is palpitations.

I guess what I'm saying is that t3 doesn't necessarily make heart rhythms worse and can make them better. Low t3 was the cause of my arrhythmia.

Your t4 and t3 are both too low. You will likely not feel well until t4 is in the upper part of the range and t3 is above half way up the range. Your TSH is low end of normal which may make your endo reluctant to try an increase but you should be fine as long as your t3 stays in range.

I hope you can get somewhere with your endo on this.

Carolyn x

[humanbean in reply to PinkNinja]

I would second everything CarolynB has said. I had problems with tachycardia (fast heart rate for which there is no obvious cause - it would happen in bed, making a cup of tea, things like that). I also had palpitations and irregular heart beat. Iron and T3 both helped improve my heart function enormously. I also had constant aching chest pain. Sometimes it became so severe that I thought I was having a heart attack and called an ambulance (I never was and nobody could ever explain the pain.) T3 and iron made the pain go away too, and now it very rarely happens.

[donni]

Thanks my endo wont do a damn thing its like ploughing through mud. infact to be honest it seems a waste of time seeing him. will definately get vit d capsules.

Thanks again

donni

[donni]

If i was to up my iron a bit whats the best supplement or tonic to take. thanks guys x

[silverfox7]

Welcome to the forum donni. Lots of good suggestions but we are all different and react differently do a lot of its a try it and see. We are usually low in minerals and vitamins though so I went down that route when my doctor hadn't a clue! My D3 was very low, think about 25 so I started there and then slowly introduced others. I'd been on Zinc and Selenium for many years and had stopped to see if that made a difference so then brought those back into play. The B12, magnesium and folate was then included one at a time. Folate testing had shown me under the lower limit and so was put of folic acid which after 3 months brought me just into range so ive continue a bit long this time and have now dropped to every other day. My FT4 and FT 3 readings have improved but there is still a large gap between them within in their ranges so something to discuss with the Endo at my next appointment. I decided to give the supplements ago as my diet isn't particularly good-have an allergy to brassicas and anything green goes straight through me! Then I had a food intolerance test so was struggling on a lot of fronts so being a bit more careful with what I eat as well. I've lost a little weight over the last year but the plus point is my body seems better defined so I dont feel like a blob anymore. Still feel I need my dose to be fine tuned with May be a little T3 introduced but feel so much better overall. Yes I know my diet is rubbish and I need the supplements but often we need these anyway to help conversion and getting our medication into the cells

[greygoose]

Well, I would say you are not converting! Your FT4 is Under mid-range and should be at least over it so you definately need an increase in T4, but your fT3 isn't even in range! How can anyone think you're converting?!?

Your B12 is dangerously low. When mine was that low I was having all sorts of neurological problems and had nearly lost the use of my right arm. The Japanese supplement anything Under 800, so they're obviously a lot more intelligent than we are.

Others have talked about your vit D and iron etc so I won't add anything to that, but I would say you desperately need more T3 - how can you function with T3 that low??? - don't worry about the TSH, it's the FT3 that is important; and get that B12 supplemented quickly!

As to the heart arrythmia, it could be due to low magnesium - you're obviously low in everything else, so probably low in magnesium, too. But that's difficult to test for, just take some, it could make you feel a whole lot better.

articles.mercola.com/sites/...

Hugs, Grey

[donni in reply to greygoose]

Thanks grey i will be kicking some arse tomorrow. will be trotting along to the docs to give him an earful. my oh has coughed up some cash so will see a private endo but i know that sometimes means nothing. As for functioning i barely manage

thans donni

[greygoose in reply to donni]

Oh good! Hope it goes well!

For a private doc, contact Louise Warville for her list of good ones - there are some pretty awful ones out there, I believe. Louise keeps an updated list of ones that members have found helpful and sympathetic.

[donni in reply to greygoose]

Sorry to sound a bit dens but how do i contact louise

[helvella in reply to donni]

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/About_...

[donni in reply to helvella]

Thank you x