Blood test help appreciated: So 1waited 15 yrs... - Thyroid UK

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Blood test help appreciated

annemarie1066 profile image
15 Replies

So 1waited 15 yrs for just my TSH level from my GP and 2 days for the results below

CRP 8.80. >5.0

Ferreitin 62.9 20-150

TSH 3.50. 0.27-4.20

T4 total 111.2. 64.5-142.0

Free T4. 16.59. 12-22

Free T3. 4.46. 3.1-6.8

Antithyroidperoxidaise abs. 9.6. <34

Antithyroglobulin. Abs. 17.3. <115

B12. L180 deficient<140

Insufficient 140-250

Serum Folate. 14.62. 10.4-42.4

I have been considering T3 to make me feel better. Would appreciate any or all comments

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annemarie1066
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15 Replies
Clutter profile image
Clutter

Annemarie1066,

Good news is that antibodies are negative for autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's).

TSH 3.5 is a little high for someone taking Levothyroxine. Most will feel well when TSH is 1.0 or lower with FT4 in the upper quadrant and FT3 near, or in, the upper third of range. Read Treatment Options in thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_... Email louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org.uk for a copy of the Pulse article if you would like to show it to your GP when you request a dose increase.

CRP is an inflammation marker. Yours is a bit high. It may be due to high TSH or could be due to other reasons.

Ferritin is optimal half way through range. You could eat more iron rich food or supplement a little iron with vitamin C to aid absorption and minimise constipation.

B12 180 is very low. Unless you are vegan or vegetarian, in which case B12 is low because of your diet, I would ask your GP to rule out pernicious anaemia with an intrinsic factor and gastric parietal cell antibody test before supplementing. If GP declines to test supplement 5,000mcg methylcobalamin with a B Complex vitamin.

Folate is adequate.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.

annemarie1066 profile image
annemarie1066 in reply toClutter

Thanks for the advice. I like liver so will give that a go. I think my CRP levels have been high before judging by some questioning a year or so ago. My GP guards results like state secrets so our next conversation should be fun. I wish they would realise that we actually want to be well.

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply toannemarie1066

Then he is breaking the law. You have a legal right, under the Data Protection Act, to have copies of your lab results. The are YOUR results. :)

HASHISmom34 profile image
HASHISmom34 in reply toannemarie1066

you might want to look at your liver enzymes with A C reactive protein high like that. Since you do not have hashi's or Graves! A TSh that level without auto immune cause would not give you those results. That number (CRP) means there is inflammation in your body somewhere. Just a thought. I have had hashi's for many yrs and went undiagnosed. I now have hypothyroidism because of it. They just tested mine a few months ago and mine was 0.03 which dr said they hardly ever see someone with auto immune thyroid disease less than 3 never mind that low.

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

annemarie1066 Your B12 is very low. I don't know what the limit is for doctors to consider Pernicious Anaemia or to start you on B12 injections, has your GP said anything? If not then supplement with Solgar or Jarrows sublingual methylcobalamin lozenges 5000mcg. You need to get your level up to around 1000.

Your folate is also low, it should be half way through the range. Leafy green veggies can help, also folate. When taking B12 you need to take a B Complex to balance the B Vits. Thorne Basic B is a good one and contains 400mcg folate.

Ferritin could do with a bit of a nudge to get it over 70, 100+ would be good. If you like liver that would help or you could take an iron supplement like Solgar Gentle Iron which has 20mg of elemental iron, take with 1000mg Vit C to aid absorption and help prevent constipation.

Your antibodies are well below the range so no need to worry about autoimmune thyroid disease.

CRP is raised, I believe that indicates inflammation somewhere but I don't know enough about that.

TSH 3.50. 0.27-4.20

Free T4. 16.59. 12-22

Free T3. 4.46. 3.1-6.8

All in range so your GP is unlikely to do anything about raising your dose of Levo unless he is very enlightened. However, with a TSH at 3.5 it indicates that your thyroid is struggling and for a treated hypo patient it should be around 1 or below, or wherever it is needed to get your Free Ts into the upper part of their ranges. You do need an increase in your meds. However, your T4 is converting to T3 reasonably well and I don't think at the moment you need to consider T3.

How are your vits and mins? Have you had Vit D, B12, ferritin and folate tested? Are they all at their optimal levels? Is ferritin at least 70 which is the minimum it needs to be for thyroid hormone to work properly. Do you take selenium which helps with conversion of T4 to T3? I think all those need to be looked at first, along with an increase in your levo.

annemarie1066 profile image
annemarie1066 in reply toSeasideSusie

Thank you for your response. I feel far more armed now to go back to the GP and get some help

bluebug profile image
bluebug in reply toannemarie1066

Be aware that GPs if they actually know what ferritin is and does, think that a level over 30 is fine. So as this result is not out of range and your folate is also in range concentrate on getting help from the GP to raise your vitamin B12 level.

annemarie1066 profile image
annemarie1066 in reply tobluebug

Thank you. Will do that

HASHISmom34 profile image
HASHISmom34 in reply toSeasideSusie

yes i agree! why didn't they look at the D? That could be causing a lot of issues too. Strive for close to 100.

Marz profile image
Marz

B12 below 500 can present with neurological symptoms. I would be interested to know what your GP suggested as treatment ....

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

Scroll down for the neurological ones ....

The above link will tell you everything you will need to know about additional testing to try and get to the bottom of your Low B12. Are you on any meds that could be affecting your stomach acid ? Eating liver will not help if you are unable to absorb nutrients - which it would seem you cannot.

annemarie1066 profile image
annemarie1066 in reply toMarz

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a year ago. Although I have pain in all the tender spot s I am not convinced I have it I have just reduced my amitriptyline to 10mg per day and I don't seem much worse. I also have episodic cluster headaches but only take medication when I have a cluster. It will take a few days for me to get a GPS appt but at least I have a clue why I feel off

Marz profile image
Marz in reply toannemarie1066

Then I would suspect your VitD is VERY low too - if you have been diagnosed with Fibro. If your GP will not test then you can do it privately through City Assays Birmingham - website by the same name.

Do you have any gut issues that are preventing the uptake of nutrients ? Did you look at the B12 link I posted for you ? Good to get feedback.

Doesn't Amitripyline and thyroid meds work against each other - not sure !

annemarie1066 profile image
annemarie1066 in reply toMarz

Hi Mars

Only just spotted your response. No specific gut issues except ever worsening constipation. The links were really helpful, I have had numbness in my feet and pins and needles in my hands for a while now. I can't book a appointment with the GP till end of next week so I am going to try and queue for an emergency appointment tomorrow. I did ask if there were conflicts with amitriptyline and thyroxine and they said no. I sleep really badly, went to work after 3 hours sleep this morning. Hopefully someone will see me tomorrow

Marz profile image
Marz in reply toannemarie1066

Hope all goes well. I think when your dose if good for YOU then I am sure everything will improve.

HASHISmom34 profile image
HASHISmom34 in reply toannemarie1066

AS Marz has said I would definitely look into the Vit D3. especially now after you say bad insomnia and headaches!!!! I suffered and i was not deficient, but insufficient! It will help once you get all of those numbers up and you will absorb thyroid replacement better so maybe your TSH will drop. I would definitely do all of the nutritional stuff first and stabilize that before requesting an increase on meds. Also, joint pains can be signs of low levels or you have inflammation somewhere as i stated before.

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