Newbie on the edge trying to interpret results.

[Sal101005]

Sorry for the dramatic title, I just need some help and after reading some threads on here you guys seems to make a lot of sense.

I've just got some blood results back from a private lab,

TSH - 2.37 Free T4 - 16.43 Free T3 - 4.87 Total T4 - 113.1 TGAB - 11.64 TPOAB - 19.64 Ferritin - 76.75 Folate serum - 3.19 Vit B12 - 281.

I've had two recent blood test at my (NHS) GP that said my calcium was low but apparently there is a problem with the calcium tests at our local lab as 90% of tests are coming back a low so the Dr didn't think it was significant. They also did Vit D which was low at 32 and TSH at 0.8 ( 2 weeks prior to the private results above).

I feel totally rubbish, no energy, have had a headache continually for 4 weeks, emotionally all over the place, aches and pains, etc, etc. My mum is hypothyroid and on levothyroxine, my son has congenital hypothyroidism also on levothyroxine.

Any suggestions as to what I should be focusing on other than the Vit D? Nothing appear totally out but all I've read says that does not always matter and symptoms can be just as important. I'm thinking perhaps I should take an adrenal saliva test or look at the reverse t3? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thankyou .

[Learner1]

Lots of B12. And a high quality multivitamin (something like the Thorne Research one with selenium and iodine - look at the forms, dose and proportions to compare.)

[Gillybabe48]

It seems everyone on this forum are experts. All tests depend on the reference range of a particular pathology department. Your tsh t4 and t3 are all in range. Definitely wrong to take iodine as suggested as an endocrinologist told me to avoid all foods with iodine in because it has the reverse effect from helping the thyroid. Your ferritin seems ok but I am not an expert but there are all sorts of ferritin tests like serum ferritin etc. I would go with what your doctor says as they have the training or ask to see an endocrinologist. It may be something entirely different. Forums are good to support each other but we are not experts. If you still feel unwell go back to your doctor.

[silverfox7]

Just a little surprised at the difference in the TSH from different labs but so close together. Different labs have different ranges so it would be helpful if you always post them with your results. TSH does change throughout the day but I'm not sure how much different that actually makes throughout the day but I do know that it's at it's highest in the morning so a good thing to always do is to book your blood tests as soon as possible in the day as medics seem to freak when we have a low TSH and lower our meds when in actual fact once you are taking thyroid hormones the TSH isnt that accurate! TSH also drops after food so another good reason to stop your doctor wanting to lower your meds is to be fasting. So good rule is tests as early as possible, starve but can and should have water and of of course leave your medication until after the test. So anyone if those may have caused the huge variation.

Getting everything right in your body is a huge learning curve but don't try and change everything at first! Build up slowly but keep reading about them until you have taken all in the information on board. There is lots of info on the Thyroid Uk site, does and donts but I would start by making sure you are taking the medication in the right way and then move on from there. There is also a list of possible side effects but thankfully we don't get them all but as the thyroid medication is needed by every cell in our bodies then it makes sense that you may get very different symptoms from someone else. So you may find things you wouldn't have thought were anything to do with the thyroid but print then out, tick the ones you have, put your current dose on and date it. That way if you keep doing this with every dose change or when you feel things are improving you have a history you can refer to an hopefully see your progress. Shout out if anything you don't understand. We have all been where you are now so happy to try and help.

Some glad you have found us and welcome!

[Justliloldme]

Do not take anything with iodine in without first finding out if your body needs it - it could make you much worse!

Also, for future reference include ranges is brackets when posting blood results as the ranges can vary from lab to lab & it helps us to help you more.

My B12 was slightly lower than yours & I took Jarrow Methylcobalamin B12, 5000mcg along with Jarrow B Complex for 60 days to increase my B12 & then reduced down to 1000mcg which didn't really work for me so I'm now on 2500mcg & I feel fine on that dosage. There are other B12 supplements but make sure you get one that has methylocbalamin and make sure you take a b complex to help level all the other b vits out.

I'm afraid I can't help you much on the others as my levels were ok so I've not researched these at all.

All I can recommend is read as much as you can & make notes if you need to. I only started on this journey last July & I've picked most of what I know up on here. I came across this video the other day that I found really helpful youtube.com/watch?v=npl-3AE...(Not working as expected?), its brilliant for explaining how your thyroid works & what it needs to work properly. I think he has quite a few videos on youtube that I need to make time to watch.

Always post on here if you have any questions, I've learnt more from here than my GP - GPs mostly don't have a clue about the thyroid so its up to us to make sure we do!

[Doodeet]

Be sure that your Vitamin B complex does not have Biotin. My lab has a sign posted. Apparently it skews your TSH numbers.

[activelazy in reply to Doodeet]

Really?

[Doodeet in reply to activelazy]

That's what it said. I'll try to find it somewhere else.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to activelazy]

I remember seeing an article about that earlier this year. The link was on the forum here somewhere.

[Doodeet]

Yep. Here is the link. endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

[activelazy]

Do you think i should stop mine. my multi has 100 mcg. Can this low dose cause TSH to show lower than it actually is?

[Silver_Fairy in reply to activelazy]

I think you just need to stop the supplement a while before any tests. Would be worth researching how long.

[Angel_of_the_North]

Can't really tell a lot without ranges, but most people feel well with TSH under 1 and FT4 and FT3 in the top quarter of their ranges. B12 usually needs to be at the top of the range or over it (levels under 500 can cause permanent neurological damage) and ferritin at least 70, with folate in the middle of the range. Aim for D3 in the 90s or slightly higher. If the supporting vitamins and minerals aren't optimum, you won't make good use of the thyroid hormone you are taking.

[activelazy in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

If my TSH is 2.7 FT3 5.3 (3.1-6.8) AND FT4 18.4 (11-22), what would your opinion be? I have never been on thyroid medicine.

Lets say all other things are fine!

The only other fact is that my TSH was found to be 1.08 before I was unwell. dont know what FT3 or FT4 were.

So, I am not much different from the original post above. Am I?

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to activelazy]

No ranges in the original post, so you might be a lot better or not. But those results look decent - not that I have any medical training - so I'd tend to look at other things if you don't feel great - adrenals/cortisol, blood sugar, sex hormones and so on, if your vitamins and minerals are really very good. It could be that your thyroid is starting to struggle, but it still seems to be managing reasonable levels of FT4 and FT3 at present.

[activelazy in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Thank you

[Eddie83]

Please add the range and units for each test. The units used depend on which country you are in, and ranges vary from lab to lab.

[Sal101005]

Thank you all so much for commenting, it really is helpful and very comforting. The results with dates and ranges are as follows. Also, I should make it clear I am not on any thyroid medication, I just suspected something was out of kilter as I feel so rubbish and my mother and son both have thyroid issues. x

12 Sept 2016 - TSH - 0.84 (0.15-4)

12 Sept 2016 - Calcium - 2.04 (2.20-2.60)

29 Sept 2016 - Calcium - 2.12 (2.20-2.60)

18 Jan 2017 - TSH - 1.14 (0.15-4)

18 Jan 2107 - B12 - 407 (200-900)

18 Jan 2107 - Serum folate - 7.1 (3.1-20)

18 Jan 2107 - Serum Ferritin - 71 (15-200)

18 Jan 2107 - Parathyroid - 2.6 (1.6-7.5)

18 Jan 2107 - Vit D - 36 (<25 deficient 25-50 insufficient, >50 adequate)

31 Jan 2017 - TSH - 2.37 (0.27-4.2)

31 Jan 2017 - Free T4 - 16.43 (12-22)

31 Jan 2017 - Total T4 - 112.1(59-154)

31 Jan 2017 - Free T3 - 4.87 (3.1-6.8)

31 Jan 2017 - TGAB - 11.64 (0-115)

31 Jan 2017 - TPOAB - 19.64 (0-34)

31 Jan 2017 - B12 - 1.5 (0-5)

31 Jan 2017 - Serum Folate - 3.19 (3.89-26)

31 Jan 2017 - Ferritin - 76.75 (13-150)