I need help, please. I've suffered from extreme fatigue, depression, weight gain, joint pain, hair loss, anxiety and brain fog/memory issues for at least 20 years (I'm 47). Doctors like to prescribe anti depressants and / or hormones for me because my thyroid tests always come back in the "normal" range. NHS pay for the more extensive tests, so I recently used Blue Horizon Medical and did my own. According to their range, I do fall within normal. Hopefully, someone can take a look at my results and see if they read my results differently. I know there is a difference between normal and optimal. Also, do blood test results vary at different times of the year? Like if do the blood test again in a month or two, should I expect the results to be the same or do the levels fluctuate? Thanks! I should add that when I took the blood test, and currently, I am not taking any medication, hormones or vitamins/supplements. Another disturbing symptom is blurry vision, particularly with reading and writing....or anything up close.
Hi jenifern Yes, your thyroid results do fall within the normal range but they do show that your thyroid is struggling. Your TSH is too high and your FT4 is too low. Both of these show that your thyroid is struggling, as does the fact that your total T4 is quite low in it's range too. Your FT3 is actually not bad and shows that what T4 you have is being converted. Your antibodies are very low for both tests and do not indicate autoimmune thyroid disease.
The problem is that those results won't get you a diagnosis of hypothyroidism or even an acknowledgement from your GP that your thyroid is struggling.
As far as your vitamins and minerals are concerned, improvements can be made.
Ferritin is too low. For thyroid hormone to work properly, and that means our own as well as synthetic thyroid replacement, it needs to be half way through it's range with an absolute minimum of 70. If you are a meat eater then you can raise ferritin by eating liver once a week, it's an excellent way of doing it. You could look at Iron supplements, the cheapest would be Ferrous Fumarate (buy from Amazon) and you could use up one packet and retest. If you do use a supplement then take each tablet with 1000mg Vit C to aid absorption and help prevent constipation. If you do get constipated or have tummy problems then change to Iron Bisglycinate which is more gentle and has less elemental iron. Solgar Gentle Iron is one brand. Take iron supplements away from other supplements and medication by at least 2 hours (4 hours if you were on Levo) as it affects absorption.
Vit D isn't bad, recommended is 100-150nmol/L. As it is winter time you could supplement with a maintenance dose of 2000iu D3 daily. When taking D3 we also need K2-MK7. Vit D aids absorption of calcium from food and K2 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it's needed rather than arteries and soft tissues where it causes problems. Both D3 and K2 are fat soluble and should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day. It might be worth you considering a combo D3/K2 as you don't need big doses and this one is particularly good nutriadvanced.co.uk/d3-drop...
When taking D3 another important co-factor is magnesium as it helps the Vit D in the supplement convert to the active form the body needs. You can read about the different forms of magnesium here and see which might suit you best naturalnews.com/046401_magn...
Your B12 is excellent, it is recommended to be at the top of the range or 900-1000. Are you supplementing with that?
Folate should be at least half way through it's range and yours falls just a bit short (26+ is half way). You could use a B Complex containing methylfolate which will boost it, and is essential if supplementing with B12.
Don't start all supplements at the same time. Start with one, wait a week or two to see if there's any adverse reaction, if not add in the second one, wait a week or two, if no reaction then add the next one, etc. That way if there are any problems you will know what has caused it.
Optimising your vitamins and minerals may help but given your symptoms I don't think it's the complete answer. Do you have any of your thyroid results from when your GP has tested? If not then ask for them synthetic surgery, it's your legal right to have them under the Data Protection Act 1998. It would be interesting to see if your TSH has been rising over time, if it has that should alert your GP to your struggling thyroid bit he would probably still wait until it goes over range before he does anything.
If you can get your old results then post them, along with your BH ones, and members can comment further.
Be aware that some Vitamins can aggravate other medical conditions if you have them. My liver function - ALT's are high, although no definite diagnosis why - and although my Vitamin D level is low, the consultant will not prescribe it as it can cause elevated ALT. It's good to make sure you have covered all bases with regards to any other conditions. Hope you feel better - and get the treatment you need.
Thanks SAGirl123 for taking the time to respond to my plea for help. The problem is that I feel like crap but have never been diagnosed with anything. I don't know if that's a good thing or not! Anyway, I will be careful with which supplements I take....don't want to do more harm than good. Thanks for your good wishes. All the best to you, too.
Thanks so much, SeasideSusie. I will do some hunting for my past test results and post them once I find them. What really stood out to me is that my B12 level was so high. Yes, that's a good thing, but seems unusual for me. There was a time when I was prescribed weekly B12 injections (more than 10 years ago). I normally do take both Vitamin D3/K2 and a sublingual B12 but sometimes get so weary and fed up with everything that I stop taking all my supplements. I would say it's been a good 6-7 months since I've taken anything. I've never taken an iron supplement so I will look into that. I'm considering ordering NDT and giving it a try. Do you think this would be useful or just throwing money away? Thanks for taking the time to respond and for giving such a thorough answer...I appreciate it!
jenifern I really don't know if NDT will help. It's right for some people, not for others, it didn't help me. Your symptoms do indicate hypothyroidism, as does your high TSH, low FT4 and the fact that your total T4 is quite low. You could give it a trial and see how it goes.
My first thoughts are to get your vitamins and minerals to optimal levels. I would definitely be supplementing D3/K2 during the winter months, it is bound to fall because of the loss of sunshine and use up the stores you have. I would start taking a B Complex to get your folate up but I wouldn't bother with B12 as that is excellent. Definitely work on your ferritin, it is key. Unless your ferritin is at least 70 then even NDT isn't going to work properly.
These are just my thoughts and suggestions, I'm not medically trained.
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