Advice on recent blood tests please

[Helena12]

Hi.

Please could anyone interpret my results. Have been on 50mg Levothyroxine for 8 weeks and dosage has been increased to 75mg plus given a Vit D supplement.

TSH 9.84

Free T4 16.4

Ferritin 24.9

Folate 3.6

Vit D 25

B12 247

Thanks in advance .

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Helena12 Your GP was right to increase your Levo, and 25mcg increments is the correct amount. The aim of a treated hypo patient is for TSH to be 1 or below or wherever is needed for FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their respective reference ranges if that is where you feel best. So you still have a way to go and can expect further increases.

Make sure you are re-tested 6-8 weeks after each increase. Make the appointment for the blood draw at the earliest possible time, ideally the first appointment of the day, fast overnight (water only, breakfast when you get home) and leave off Levo for 24 hours (take after the blood draw). That way you get the highest TSH which is what is needed for an increase in dose or to avoid a dose reduction.

Always take your Levo on an empty stomach, one hour before or two hours after food, with water only.

What Vit D supplement have you been given and what dose?

When taking D3 we also need it's important co-factors K2-MK7 and magnesium. Vit D aids absorption of calcium from food and K2 directs the calcium to bones and teeth rather than arteries and soft tissues. D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day. Magnesium is calming so is best taken in the evening. Different forms of magnesium here, you can see which one suits you best naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

B12 is also deficient. What is the range? If you are at the bottom of the range ask your GP to test for Pernicious Anaemia. B12 should be at the very top of its range, even 900-1000 so you need to supplement.

What is the range for folate? That could also be very low and need supplementing. When supplementing with B12 we also need a B Complex that contains methylfolate.

What is the range for ferritin? That also looks very low and you probably need to supplement with iron. Ferritin needs to be at least 70 for thyroid hormone to work properly, our own or replacement hormone.

[Helena12 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for your response and advice SeasideSusie.

I omitted to say I obviously have Hashimoto's as I have Peroxiodase antibodies of 1158, but not yet diagnosed.

Vit D supplement I have been prescribed is 500mcg.

B12 - 247 (range 246-911) so clearly at risk of Pernicious anaemia, although the GP said my level was "normal".I will go back and ask for B12 injections.

Ferritin - 249 (range 20 - 300) What should I be supplementing?

Thanks again for your advice.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Helena12]

Helena12 As you know you have Hashimoto's, are you heard of the ways to help reduce the antibody attacks? Gluten free diet, supplementing with selenium, L-selenomethionine 200mcg daily and the need to keep TSH very low or suppressed. Some people also need to be dairy free.

I'm not sure how much 500mcg Vit D is in iu. With your level that low I agree with Silverfox7 that you need a loading dose for a couple of weeks (I started with 40,000iu but not everyone can manage that so 20,000iu might be better) then reduce to 5000iu daily until level reaches 100-150nmol/L then maintain that by taking 5000iu alternate days.

With B12 only being 1 point within the lower end of the range you really must get serious help with that. This is the link to the PA forum here on Health Unlocked which is a good place to start healthunlocked.com/pasoc

Can you please clarify your ferritin level. Is it 24.9 or 249? If it's 24.9 you need to supplement, if it's 249 it's too high.

[silverfox7]

With D3 that low, mine was the same, you need a booster dose to get you up quickly and then a maintenance dose to keep it there. I would join a group for the vitamin D for good advice on that. Folate is also very low and I suspect barely in range. You should be aiming to get that near to the top. B12 needs to be at least 900 so again help from PA group as you might need to be checked on that.

Those are the three main supplements to help conversion of T4, the storage hormone into the active T3 so by working on those 3 areas you will also be helping your thyroid.