Can anyone help me interpret my private blood results?

[Wannabewell]

Just had private bloods done and was wondering outside of the useless GP system, who could help me make sense of what it all means. Tx u! Xx

[Justiina]

Post your results and the reference ranges

[humanbean]

Your CRP being high indicates that you have inflammation or infection in your body, but it doesn't tell you where. Your high antibodies tell you that you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis) suggesting that your thyroid is inflamed, which could be the cause of the high CRP. Do you have any other possible sources of inflammation? Gut problems are common among hypo people - acid reflux, hiatus hernia, bloating, chronic indigestion, heartburn, diarrhoea, constipation.

Ferritin (iron stores) is often high with a high CRP result. The body shoves iron into ferritin to keep it away from bacteria and other nasties that might be causing the infection or inflammation (because bacteria and other nasties need iron to reproduce which you don't want). In order to work out why you have high CRP and normal ferritin you would need more information. The things that would be useful to know are things like a Full Blood Count, serum iron, transferrin saturation and total iron binding capacity (TIBC).

If you look at this page

irondisorders.org/Websites/...

particularly the table at the bottom of the page, you can see why I think that extra information would be useful. It can help to identify lots of problems. It gets very awkward though, if you have more than one problem - one pushing something one way, and another problem pushing it another way, so you end up with something looking normal and hiding two separate problems.

Your Vitamin D is lower than ideal but it isn't bad. Many people feel at their best with a level of about 100 nmol/L. If you wanted to supplement you could take about 3000 iU - 5000 iU per day, and re-test in 3 months. Hopefully you would then be able to stop supplementing for summer.

Your Vitamin B12 is pretty good. If you wanted to you could supplement to get it up to 1000 pmol/L but it is entirely up to you. If you do, use methylcobalamin which is easily sourced on Amazon, and take a methylated B Complex with it, such as Thorne Basic B Complex (it has methylfolate instead of folic acid in it, which is good).

Do you have a folate result?

I'm too tired to think about the thyroid results and the reverse T3. Hopefully someone else could discuss it.

[Wannabewell in reply to humanbean]

Thank you so much! So informative! I'm thinking about bringing the discussion to the doctors for support. Any pointers on how to go about that? I'm on Levo 50 and vit d, b boost and multi vitamin. Was taking spatone for iron but looks like that's fine for now so may ease off... Also kelp and bio kult. Trying to do GAPS... But could work on that.

I'm thinking ndt is the way to go??

Thanks again. So much! This is more help and knowledge than I've had to date. Fellow patient support is truely a life saver!

Xx

[humanbean in reply to Wannabewell]

I'm afraid I gave up on doctors for any thyroid related stuff. I learned what I could and I treat myself.

I had high reverse T3 and found that spending time on T3 only helped a lot. I'm still on this now, and have been for the last year or so, but am considering trying NDT again soon.

I forgot to mention - if you supplement vitamin D, it must be vitamin D3 you take, not vitamin D2. It should be taken with your fattiest meal of the day because it is a fat soluble vitamin. Also, vitamin D supplementing raises your calcium levels as a side effect. You want that calcium to go into your bones and teeth, not into your arteries. To do that, take vitamin K2 with the vitamin D3.

[Allyson1 in reply to humanbean]

Does high b12 feed the nasties as well?

[humanbean in reply to Allyson1]

Good question.

Answer : I don't know, sorry.

[humanbean in reply to Allyson1]

I've just thought...

The body shoving iron into ferritin to keep it away from bacteria and other nasties may lead to the body having too little iron for normal purposes. This is referred to as Anaemia of Chronic Disease.

irondisorders.org/anemia-of...

If the body wants to get rid of excess B12 it just gets rid of it in urine. So the body's way of handling B12 seems to be, on the surface at least, rather less sophisticated and far more direct than the way it handles iron. The body never evolved a way of getting rid of iron easily.

[Allyson1 in reply to humanbean]

Interesting. I know when I started high dose b12 I exploded with pus in all sorts of places..sorry gross I know.I think my iron has been low forever and my microbiome's all messed up..

[humanbean in reply to Allyson1]

When I started taking high dose B12 I developed lots of spots, mouth ulcers and severe eczema. They were all things I had suffered from over the years but they were much, much worse than usual. It took 2 - 3 months for them all to die down again. I kept on taking high dose B12 through those months, and I still take it now. Eventually, all of them - spots, ulcers and eczema - were better than they had been for many years. So, for me, it may have been unpleasant and painful, but it was worth it all in the end.

[Allyson1 in reply to humanbean]

Same here, and I wouldn't have minded, except it left a ton of scarring that's affected me quite a bit.

[Allyson1 in reply to humanbean]

Thanks for the link...i think I have always had iron problems - pallor, pica, restless leg, etc. When I was a teen I took iron supplements until I got stomach cramps, then I stopped. Wonder if it did damage.

[humanbean]

Your high reverse T3 means that your body is not making much use of the thyroid hormones you do have (the Free T4 and Free T3). Your levels actually look not too bad if you ignore the reverse T3. But you will be suffering from the effects of thyroid hormone resistance with the reverse T3.

Some suggestions :

1) You need to reduce your inflammation, and a good way of trying to achieve that is to try and reduce your thyroid antibodies. Diet helps a lot of people. Going gluten-free is useful for many people. It isn't possible to go almost gluten-free, it has to be done 100%, no cheating. Give it several months before deciding whether it helps or not.

2) Some people achieve a reduction in antibodies by eliminating dairy from their diet.

3) Get all your nutrients to optimal levels.

For more authoritative information on reducing your antibodies, take a look at these sites :

thyroidpharmacist.com/

facebook.com/ThyroidLifestyle

The author/owner of the sites above has Hashimoto's herself, and has improved her health massively. And she has written a book which gets good reviews.

You also might need to investigate treating yourself with T3 only, either temporarily while you reduce your reverse T3, or permanently. But do lots of reading on the subject. Don't jump in without knowing what you are doing.

Some other sites you may find useful :

thyroidrt3.com/

rt3-adrenals.org/

recoveringwitht3.com/ and recoveringwitht3.com/blog

[Wannabewell]

Wow! Thank you! I have some reading to do!

I'm so scared to go out on my own with meds! I wish there was a doc that could tell us how to start t3 only and on what dose and monitor us properly!! One can dream hey

I'm trying so hard to get pregnant as I'm 40 already and this thyroid body of mine is having none of it. That's where my fear comes in fighting the docs if I do get pregnant and I've gone 'behind their backs' and self medicated.

I guess it's about my own health first.

Tx u again!

[humanbean in reply to Wannabewell]

I told my doctor I didn't want to have thyroid function testing done by the NHS again. And I said I would treat my low thyroid condition myself.

When she asked why, I said I thought the NHS guidelines on treating hypothyroidism were inadequate and sadistic. She looked rather startled but made no comment. The subject has never been mentioned again in the 2+ years since. I was careful to make sure it didn't sound like I was blaming her personally. (Because I wasn't - she was just following guidelines that she has no choice but to follow.)

I don't fight my doctor about my thyroid. I just side-step the whole issue.

You will have to involve your doctor though, if/when you get pregnant. Read about the whole subject of guidelines for conception, pregnancy, and thyroid issues here :

cks.nice.org.uk/hypothyroidism

Read all the sections and tabs on the left hand side and get to know the subject thoroughly. Make sure you know the things your doctor should know (but might not). Know what your doctor should be doing for you, and what levels you should be aiming for.

The last thing you want to worry about is having too little thyroid hormone because it will increase your risk of miscarriage. Beyond that, I know nothing.

arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hb...

There must be loads of info on thyroid and pregnancy on the web, but it isn't something I've ever studied.