Here goes nothing!! Seriously, I'd appreciate a steer on understanding these results if anybody can spare the time to help a medically uneducated and glassy eyed 67 year geezer!
The good news is your ferritin is in a pretty good place, just over half way through range so no need to worry about supplementing.
Your Vit D is pretty good too, 100+ is good so no worries there.
The not so good news:
Your folate is low, it needs to be at least half way through range so 11.65 or above.
B12 is poor, the Pernicious Anaemia Society recommends 1000.
You should supplement with Solgar or Jarrows sublingual methylcobalamin lozenges 5000mcg, when level is optimal reduce to 1000mcg as a maintenance dose.
When supplementing with B12 you also need a B Complex to balance the B Vits. Thorne Basic B is a good one and contains 400mcg folate which will help your low folate level.
The other bad news is that you have positive TG antibodies which means you have autoimmune thyroiditis aka Hashimoto's disease. Hashi's isn't treated, it's the resulting hypothyroidism that is treated. Symptoms and test results will fluctuate with the antibody attacks. You can help reduce the attacks by going completely gluten free, some people also need to be dairy free. Supplementing with selenium can also help reduce the antibody attacks.
Unfortunately you still have a long way to go before your TSH is high enough for most GPs to diagnose hypothyroidism but some enlightened doctors will start treatment before the magic number 10 where there is a rising TSH.
If you do have a helpful and understanding GP (I think there are a few about) he may look at your Blue Horizon results and accept them or it may prompt him to order NHS antibody tests to confirm the findings of the BH test. On the other hand he may look at them and completely dismiss them, or may refuse to look at them at all. I hope he is the sort that will follow them up.
Your reverse T3 is high but I'm afraid I don't know enough about that to comment.
Thank you so much for going to so much trouble with your reply, it's going to be immensely helpful in the coming months. The vitamins and minerals are already ordered!
Hi 'Susie', the ordered pills duly arrived and I'm starting them today. The B12 and Selenium say to take 1 a day but the Basic B Complex says to take between 1 and 3 a day. What would you recommend? Also, how long do you think it will take before I should notice some improvement in things? Thanks a lot and I promise not to be one of those guys who asks when I should put my shoes on!!!
Hi sk17rob , ask away, members are always happy to help
First of all, don't start them all on the same day. Decide which one you want to start with first so, say, B12. Take that for 1-2 weeks. See if there are any adverse reactions. If not you know you have no sensitivities to it. If it's one of the sublingual ones, pop it under your tongue and just let it dissolve. Takes no more than a minute. Don't be tempted to crush or swallow.
Then add in the B Complex alongside the B12 and again give it 1-2 weeks, see if you are OK with it. As for how much, if it's the Thorne Basic B then I would take one. My folate was lower than yours last June. In less than 3 months I got it up to the very top of the range and I only took one a day. By the way, your pee will probably turn bright yellow, don't worry that is the Riboflavin (B2) and quite normal.
Finally add in the selenium and again look out for any adverse reactions. Most people are fine but it's best to add them in separately so if there are any problems you'll know what has caused them.
I hope you start to see some improvement soon
By the way, as you have Hashi's, have you given any thought to going gluten free. Many members have found this helps enormously in damping down the antibody attacks. You aren't that much over range in that test but it's a definite diagnosis of Hashi's and the antibodies fluctuate and cause symptoms and test results to fluctuate too.
So I've started the B12 and the B Complex and I've gone gluten free...ish (I'll get there! ;-)). How long do you think it takes to start feeling any positive effect?
Hi sk17rob I think it's hard to say how long, we're all different with varying levels of vits and mins, the lower we are in range it could take longer to bring the level up.
My folate was very low at 6.9 (4.6-18.7). In 2.5 months I got that up to top of the range at 42.32 (10.4-42.4) - different lab for second test so different range - and that was using Thorne Basic B.
B12 I wasn't deficient, it was top of range on first test at 651ng/L (191-663) and second test at a different lab 2.5 months later it was 991pmol/L so exactly where the Pernicious Anaemia Society says to aim for. That was with taking Solgar sublingual methylcobalamin lozenges 1000mcg. I just take a maintenance dose now a few days a week. You are probably a couple of weeks along with your supplements and I imagine it's going to be about 2-3 months before you see a difference in test results but hopefully you'll feel some benefit sooner.
Keep trying with the gluten free. I'm afraid it has to be 100% though because even a little bit of gluten can cause problems. Gluten contains gliadin which is a protein thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten completely is your best chance of reducing the attacks, along with supplementing selenium which is also said to help reduce them.
Did you look into your high reverse T3? I don't know much about that but from some reading it seems that it can be caused by a build up of unconverted T4 and increasing Levo can make it worse. For good conversion the FT4:FT3 ratio needs to be 4:1 or below. Yours is 3.8 : 1 so just scraping in there and could be better. Again, selenium helps with conversion. Maybe it would be worth making a new thread about your high reverse T3 and see if there is anyone who can give you some advice. As this thread is from a few weeks ago, it stays well down the list, making new replies doesn't bring the thread back to the top like most forums so unless people have elected to 'follow' or you reply directly to their posts they won't see them.
ETA - ah! Just seen that Shaw's gave you a link about rT3 in a post below.
I would have hoped you might see some slight improvement in 13 days, but perhaps that might have been too optimistic.
Just a couple of questions... How healthy is your gut and your general digestion? Do you have heartburn, acid reflux, or indigestion problems? If yes, how do you treat them?
It's a pity doctors don't know more about clinical symptoms and prescribe, particularly if TSH is beginning to rise.
"This is an excerpt from a Pulse Online article by Dr Toft who was head of the BTA and if you'd like a copy email louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org.uk on Monday:-
But if it persists then antibodies to thyroid peroxidase should be measured. If these are positive – indicative of underlying autoimmune thyroid disease – the patient should be considered to have the mildest form of hypothyroidism.
In the absence of symptoms some would simply recommend annual thyroid function tests until serum TSH is over 10mU/l or symptoms such as tiredness and weight gain develop. But a more pragmatic approach is to recognise that the thyroid failure is likely to become worse and try to nip things in the bud rather than risk loss to follow-up.
Treatment should be started with levothyroxine in a dose sufficient to restore serum TSH to the lower part of its reference range. Levothyroxine in a dose of 75-100µg daily will usually"
The man outlines the different reasons for low thyroid which you have. These two short videos have information about your antibodies although they really aren't too high. Your gland is still producing fair amounts of hormone it seems. If you watch all of them, you will get the idea of how important thyroid function is.
Crp indicating inflammation in body. Due to auto immune disease which is indicated by tpo. High level of reverse t3 leaves ft3 in lower range of normal. Be aware of food sensitivity including gluten. I'm sure other people have covered everything else!
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