Blood test advice please.

[Jen1980]

Hi guys, some advice please. I have just been diagnosed with hashi's. Started gluten free daily and thyroxine 25mg. I had been supplementing pre-blood test with gentle iron supplement but stopped a week before blood test. As you recommended I got a few blood tests which look quite good other than iron profile. Could some kind people give me some advice?

Current symptoms: fatigue, muscle/joint pains.

HGB 132 (115-165)

HCT 0.37 (0.37-0.47)

MCV 85 (76-100)

Serum iron 7 (5.83-34.5)

Transferrin 2.10 (2.0-3.6)

Ferritin 47 (13-150)

Transferrin saturation 13%

B12 798 (197-771)

Folate 12.4 (4.6-18.7)

Vitamin D 98.

[Learner1]

Looks like you have an iron problem to discuss further with your doctor. How's your B6 level? It could have an impact as well.

How long have the muscle and joint pains been going on? Any correlation with starting the gluten free diet? How long have you been on the gluten free diet? Could be more food allergies, not enough time on the GF diet, something else autoimmune going on, or other nutrient deficiencies.

Have you had thyroid antibodies checked and are medicated appropriately?

Fatigue can be caused by many things, in addition to thyroid and anemia. How are your adrenals? Sex hormones? Do you have sleep apnea? Do you have some sort of chronic viral (Epstein Barr, herpes family, parvovirus, etc.) or bacterial (c. or m. pneumoniae, Lyme, Bartonella, etc.) infection? Mitochondrial dysfunction?

Be persistent and get to the bottom of it - hope you feel better soon!

[Jen1980 in reply to Learner1]

Thank you for your words of encouragement. I have only started new diet and thyroid medication a few weeks. I know I have to give it time to work. I have had shingles twice this year, so fatigue could be related to viral cause. I'm just trying my best to break this cycle of ill health I'm having. I sleep very well, no sleep apnea, take Pilates classes and eat healthy. Muscle/joint pain is not new, it has been on going for 10 years but getting worse.

I think iron profile is suggesting a chronic inflammation picture. Perhaps longer on gluten free diet will help everything. I'm not sure my Gp is going to help much! It's good to share, so thank you for your response!

[Learner1 in reply to Jen1980]

Shingles surface when the body is very stressed. Could be gluten plus nutrient deficiencies plus daily stress but could be more.

If gluten is your problem, it may have damaged your gut, which will take a long time to heal, especially with the longevity of your symptoms.

So, stick with the GF diet, don't just go it for a couple of months and quit if symptoms don't resolve. You might try an autoimmune Paleo Diet, gluten could be one food allergy, while another to milk or other goods may have developed.

The Food Intolerance Bible by Anthony Hayne can help you troubleshoot other gut issues as well.

Then do look at nutrient deficiencies which could have developed from poor gut absorption. A Genova Diagnostics NutrEval might tell you a lot. Their website has a sample test so you see what it looks at.

I suspect your problems have snowballed into several, so work with your doctor to look further as time goes on.

Best of luck to you.