Thoughts on blood test results

[HavellN]

My wife has been quite run down and tired fairly easily recently so she asked her GP to get a blood test done. She was diagnosed hyperthyroid many years ago and had most of her thyroid removed and is now on 125mcg of levothyroxine. The results came back indicating that her iron levels were low (and has now got iron tablets prescription), just wondering if any of the other results (mainly FT3) were ok..

FT4: 18, FT3: 4.6, TSH: 2.25, Vit D: 55.48

Thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Hi HavellN If Vit D units is nmol/L then she is quite low, it needs to be 100+ and supplementing with D3 will be needed. When taking D3 it's necessary also to take K2-MK7. Vit D aids absorption of calcium and K2 directs calcium to bones and teeth rather than arteries and soft tissues. Both need to be taken with dietary fat. Magnesium is also a cofactor so supplementing with that is also recommended.

For the thyroid results, can you also give the reference ranges please, they differ from lab to lab so are needed to give any helpful information.

Also, when supplementing iron, it's best to take each tablet with 1000mg Vit C to aid absorption and help prevent constipation. Take iron 4 hours away from Levo.

[galathea]

Usually when taking medication, people only feel better when the tsh is 1 or below. I have a tsh of 0.02 and once it climed to 0.2 and i felt and looked so terrible that the endocrinologist agreed i needed to take T3.'

If your wife has been hyperthyroid she may well be resistant to t3 and probably isnt making enough.

Without the reference ranges its hard to comment.... T3 needs to be at top end of the range and tsh below 1 for starters though....

X

[radd]

HavellN,

Welcome to our forum and sorry to hear your wife is not feeling well.

Her TSH looks high & thyroid hormones low, meaning she is under medicated, although it is difficult to confirm without test ranges ( numbers in brackets). Many members function best with TSH around 1.0 and T4 & T3 in upper third of range.

Iron deficiency is common in hypothyroidism as low thyroid hormone induces low stomach acid and malabsorbtion problems in the gut. Members supplement ferrous sulphate taken with 500-1000mg Vit C to aid absorbtion & prevent constipation.

Get your wife to ask her GP to test Vit B12 & folate & post results.

[HavellN]

Thanks all for your replies, reference ranges can be found here: thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

[Treepie in reply to HavellN]

These ranges are just examples. Every lab has its own ranges .They use different machines and different population samples .It is the ranges with your own results that matter.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to HavellN]

We need the reference range from your particular lab, they should be with the blood tests results, if you don't have them ask at the surgery. Those are 'approx' not specific to any particular lab.