Hello,
After having symptoms of hypothyroidism, but tests a year ago falling within normal range, the kind people on here suggested I get a print-out of the results.
Serum free T4 12.4
Serum TSH 1.4
Serum total 25-hydroxy vitamin D 30 nmol/L
B12 576 ng/L
Folate 3.9
Ferritin 24.4
Insight and advise gratefully received,
May
Your folate is very low I think. Well mine is 19. Ferritin is also very low. Mine was 15 and is now up to 31 but still low, the range here is 50-150 so getting to about 100 would make us feel better.
Your TSH is fine. I won't comment on T4 as mine was low at 10 and 11 but each lab has their own ranges. Do you have the lab ranges that would be in brackets next to your results?
There are no ranges and it's helpful if they are given - the reason being (just to make things more difficult) that labs throughout the country use different machines which result in different ranges.
At a guess it looks as if your T4 is lowish so might not be converting to sufficient T3, so you'd need to know your Free T3. Explanation on the following link. You will also be surprised by the interpretation of blood tests.
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno...
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
This information is so useful, what a difference a day makes to find it out. I won't put all my hopes into it being treatable, but I am going to follow this line through. Thanks again!
Shaws can I ask, if they use different machines therefore there are different ranges per lab, does this mean the actual result differs per lab or just the range? if that makes sense.
My TSH was 5.35 on the NHS but recently a BH test has shown it to be 6.54 and someone replied to me on here yesterday saying that results do differ per lab which i found concerning if I am trying to get my GP to treat me.
Thank you.
I believe it is the ranges which differ. I think the results are close as not to make much difference. Also the time when we get the test the results might differ slightly as well particularly the TSH without fasting.
If you've not already read the Thyroiduk.org's site, start with this link and there are other topics on the left-hand side such as About the Thyroid. Click on this and pick your interest.
Have you ever worked out what percentage through each reference range each of your results is?
Think of some imaginary substance with a reference range of :
60 - 70 and you get a result of 61
On a different machine you get a reference range of 65 - 75 and you get a result of 66.
The results are different and the ranges are different, but in each case the result is 10% of the way through the reference range. I would consider the results to be equivalent.
My TSH on the NHS test was 5.35 range (0.35-5.5) and T4 10.2 (7-17) but on blue horizon the results were TSH 6.54 (0.27-4.20) and T4 14 (12-22).
Very confusing.
The NHS tests showed better thyroid health than the private tests. Assuming the private tests were done later than the NHS tests it shows that your thyroid function is getting worse.
The NHS results (according to NHS dogma) show someone who is "normal" but who may develop sub-clinical hypothyroidism.
The BH results (according to NHS dogma) show someone who has sub-clinical hypothyroidism.
But, as patients, we would say you were hypothyroid on both sets of results. Many people start getting hypothyroid symptoms once TSH gets close to 2.
If you had positive antibodies then some NHS doctors would treat you on the basis of the second results. But of course they wouldn't believe a private blood test, they would do their own testing.
Getting the NHS to test antibodies is difficult, and if antibodies were positive your results could swing around all over the place. You would have to keep your fingers crossed that the NHS results came out in your favour.
Just do what you can whenever you are tested - fast overnight before the blood draw, drink water only, and get the earliest blood draw you can, preferably before 9am. After that it is in the lap of the gods.
Or, you could treat yourself. We all have to decide for ourselves when we've reached desperation point.
Thank you.
Yes the private results were last week and NHS results a couple of months ago. I was told a TSH of 5.35 was fine despite me suffering from sheer exhaustion daily, unable to exercise, cold feet and always cold, vertigo and balance issues and told they were anxiety...
My results in August were TSH 5.35 (0.35-5.5) annd FT4 11 (7-17) and they were taken 9am after breakfast. Then in December tests at 1pm after 2 meals TSH 2.96 and FT4 10.2. I was told Iwas fine but then I read they wouldn't be accurate not fasted so I went with Blue Horizon last week.
I have writen a letter to my GP to arrange a telephone conversation regarding my BH results and to ask about my fatigue and dizziness as I have just been left like this and told it's just my anxiety which I don't find a good enough answer. I have 3 children to take care of and I am absolutely exhausted, it's led to me rarely going out due to the high anxiety I now have which I never had before, I had anxiety but not to this extent, and the trampoline feeling when I walk like I am almost bouncing. I feel grim and it's every day making me anxious.
I do worry though he may say the private results show my TSH is 6.54 but my FT4 is 14 (12-22) and they are normal so I will look a fool suggesting I am hypothyroid in my letter haha!
Thank you for your help.
Julie
I forgot to say I had antibodies tested last week and both results normal.
At the time you were tested, your Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, folate and ferritin were all too low.
To have got all your levels so low I wonder if you regularly take meds for indigestion or high stomach acid e.g. Gaviscon, Zantac/Ranitidine, PPIs like Omeprazole or Lansoprazole?
The symptoms of low stomach acid and high stomach acid have lots in common. Many doctors don't believe stomach acid is ever low they think it is high if someone gets indigestion. People get treated with PPIs, which cuts stomach acid, and reduces absorption of nutrients from your food.
But the truth is that stomach acid production reduces as we get older, and by the time people are in their 80s they probably produce no stomach acid at all. Despite this, the older people are the more likely they are to be prescribed an acid-lowering medication.
Another problem is that people who are hypothyroid have less stomach acid than healthy people, so we get given PPIs or take antacids etc to deal with the problem, and all we are achieving is reducing our stomach acid even further. And our nutrient levels get lower and lower because we can't break down our food without stomach acid.
There are ways and means of getting round the problem, by taking products that either encourage the production of stomach acid, or by taking products which create a good substitute for stomach acid. The good news is that these products are available without prescription.
After writing all this you'll tell me your stomach is fine... Seriously though, do you suffer from indigestion, bloating, wind, heartburn, or anything else like that?
Edit : I didn't need to wait until I was old before having gut problems, I started suffering in my teens. I'm sure there are many other people who have thyroid problems who could say the same.
Thank you very much for your response and thoughts! I wouldn't say my stomach is absolutely fine, my digestion is sluggish, has been for years and I do get bloated and constipated even though I drink a lot of water, but I don't take anything for it. Medication wise, I take a beta-blocker, Nebivolol and a sleeping tablet, Zolpidem. I was taking Amitriptylin, but have recently changed to Pregabalin, because of the migraines and pain in my face, but I'm not getting on with it all that well.
I have to admit, I'm quite shocked how my nutrient levels have got so low. My diet used to be the perfect, for a year or so it hasn't been as good, but it isn't that bad either, porridge, lots of fruit and veg and healthy smoothies which I put seeds in (and was doing when I had the tests done). Any dietary advice greatly received, I want to be proactive when it comes to health. Thank you for thinking of the indegestion medications though - it was worth a mention - appreciated.
Some more links: It's as if we have to do a degree to pick our health up 
.
If you don't take anything to reduce stomach acid, then I suspect your problem is caused by hypothyroidism. A slow gut and constipation is often a symptom of being hypothyroid.
If you want to "move things along" a bit faster, you could take vitamin C in high doses. It acts as a laxative in high doses, doesn't cause any problems as far as I'm aware, and is good for the adrenal glands which are often working poorly in people with thyroid disorders.
I use a pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid) powder, mixed in water. It means I don't get lots of fillers and binders included. But it has the disadvantage of being bad for the teeth (because it is an acid). I drink it through a straw, and when I'm finished I rinse very thoroughly with plain water. I take about 5 grams a day.
Just for information, go to the date September 24, 2002 to read.
D just gets low in britain esp n the winter - it's difficult to get in food unless u mainline fish. just supplement, try 5000 iu a day.
h pylori could affect nutrition levels, and gastritis is v common in conjunction with hypothyroidism.
there,s a lot of possibilities to work through.
Thanks - I'm going to get the t3 test done privately via Thyroid UK for sure.
Hope you're feeling less fed up, it's rotten to feel so exhausted.
How would the FT3 results confirm this? If they are also low is it a definitive diagnosis of central hypothyroidism?
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