So i have this print out of some blood results...i also have others dated as far back as 2014 but this is the most recent, all levels seem to have dropped at every test since 2014...i don't know what to make of them...they continue to drop, my gp assures me these are all normal but i feel so ill i could literally never move again and just cry (if i had the energy) i was referred to an endo who turned out to be a general practitioner that specialised in diabetes..he was extremely rude and told me to 'man up' my gp has the same attitude, i am planning to see her again on monday and demand answers or further tests but i would like to have a general understanding or advise from others who may have been in a similar situation? Symptoms are extreme fatigue...racing heart...palpitations...breathlessness....always cold...horrific leg pain...joint pain....groggy disorientation...vertigo...ibs....constant nausea....irregular cycle....horrible skin issues....easy bruising...rubbish immune system....migraines...etc my gp would rather diagnose me with 100 different things than aknowledge my concerns or questions and prescribe me enough anti depressants to knock out a small village (i don't feel like my mental health is an issue at all and find this really insulting) according to her i have fibromyalgia...fnd.....cfs.....ibs....depression...i don't particularly agree with any of that, i don't eat gluten and haven't done for years as celiacs is a problem in our family...any advise/info appreciated i cannot take this lying down anymore...i'm desperate for some quality of life back X
Not sure what i am looking at, any advice would... - Thyroid UK
Not sure what i am looking at, any advice would be appreciated
Gemstone88 Your results aren't easy to read and it's not possible to see any dates where tests have been done more than once. From what I can see I can make out the following that are a cause for concern:
Iron - 5 (10-28) Low
Transferrin Sat % - 6 Low
You need your GP to investigate further. Your iron is under range. Ask what this means. Don't allow him to say it's normal. If he does ask why there are ranges if they're going to be ignored. I'm not an expert on iron and if bluebug is around hopefully she'll come along with more information.
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B12 - 463
Folate - 2.9 (2.8-20)
These work together. With B12, anything under 500 can cause neurological problems, best place is around 900-1000. Unfortunately your GP won't see a problem here.
However, your folate is barely in range.
Please pop over to the Pernicious Anaemia Society forum here on Health Unlocked with these results for further advice. Then speak to your GP to discuss what they say then come back and tell us.
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And where there are two results I can't see which are the most recent:
TSH - 2.3 and 1.8 (0.2-4.5)
FT4 - 11 and 10 (9-21)
Your TSH is nowhere near high enough to cause your GP any concern unfortunately. However, low TSH plus low FT4 can indicate central (secondary) Hypothyroidism which is where there is a problem with the pituitary rather than the thyroid.
From pituitarydisorder.net/centr...
"Central hypothyroidism is defined as a reduction in circulating thyroid hormone as a result of inadequate stimulation of a normal thyroid gland by TSH and may be secondary, due to pituitary disease, or tertiary, due to hypothalamic dysfunction."
Point this out to your GP and ask for further investigation and a referral to an endo who specialises in thyroid rather than diabetes. You can email louise.roberts@thyroiduk.org.uk for a list of thyroid friendly endos and if there is anyone in your area ask for feedback from forum members, replies would have to be by private message.
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Oestradiol - 133 and151 High (75-140)
I don't know too much about this but oestrogen dominance springs to mind. I can't help with any information or links, you may wish to do your own research.
PS - also ask your GP to test thyroid antibodies. There are two types, Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) and Thyroglobulin (TG). You may get TPO but unlikely to get TG antibodies tested, they rarely are with the NHS. You can be negative for one but positive for the other, so it's important to test for both. Positive antibodies confirm autoimmune thyroid disease.
Also ask for Vit D to be tested.
It would be a good idea to check your vitamin D
If you can't get a GP to test, then you can get postal test for £28 from vitamindtest.org.uk
It would be very good idea to check thyroid antibodies too. You can have high antibodies, but "normal" in range TSH and FT4, but can still feel very grim.
There are two sorts of thyroid antibodies- TPO Ab and TG Ab. (Thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin) Both need checking, if either, or both antibodies are high this means autoimmune thyroid - called Hashimoto's the most common cause in UK of being hypo.
Your ferritin, folate and B12 are all low, this suggests possible poor gut absorption. This is common with Hashimoto's. Obviously it could also be coeliac especially with your family history & and apparent IBS. Have you been diagnosed as coeliac?
can you get NHS referral to gastroenterologist, they would/should do endoscopy, checking for h Pylori, etc
(I had to do endoscopy privately - see my profile)
If you can not get GP to do these blood tests, then like many of us, you can get them done privately
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
Special offer at moment
Usual advice on ALL thyroid tests, is to do early in morning, ideally before 9am. No food or drink beforehand (other than water) This way your tests are always consistent, and it will show highest TSH, and as this is mainly all the medics decide dose on, best idea is to keep result as high as possible
As the others have said your results are hard to read.
Do you have a recent ( in the last 12 months), full blood count also called a complete blood count? This has numbers and sizes of red blood cells, numbers of white blood cells and numbers of platelets on it. If so can you post them up. This is different from what you have posted. (If you have a test which a test for "MCHC" and "neutrophils" then you have a full blood count)
It is likely that you have issues there due to your low iron and transferrin saturation. GPs often ignore blood disorders simply because they don't know what they are looking at and are too ignorant to ask. They can often tell patients to go away and that there is nothing wrong for decades, when other health professionals or even laymen like us can often see things they have missed if we have the full range of tests in front of us.
If you don't then as SeasideSusie said go back to your GP and point out the two results are not normal indicating you may have a red blood cell problem and you want a full blood count done. This test is the cheapest to do so I would be surprised if you haven't already had one done.
Hi everyone thanks for your replies i really appreciate it, yes i was told that i was celiac so have since stopped having anything gluten but haven't felt any benefit from this still really nauseous etc stopped gluten about 2 years ago now, have known i was vit d deficient for about 4 years after a stint in the hospital, was previously on high d3 but my gp didn't feel i should be on it any more and stopped it about a year and a half ago,to my knowledge i have never been retested, i have asked for full blood panels but they have told me they do not feel it is necessary...the last print out i have that may be a full panel is dated 2014 and results are....hemoglobin 115-160...122
Red cellcount 3.8-5.8...4.31
Haematocrit 0.37-0.47...0.36
Mean cell volume 78-98...87
Mean cell hb 27.0-32.0...28.3
White cell count 4.0-11.0...4.3
Neutrophil 2.0-7.5...2.28
Lymphocyte 1.5-4.0...1.54
Monocyte 0.2-0.8...0.31
Eosinophol 0.04-0.4...0.11
Basophil 0.01-0.1...0.02
Platelet count 150-400...215
D dimer 0-230...81
My t4 (9-21) from 2014 has dropped at every test from 14...to 12..then 11 last test in 2016 was 10
I know from looking that by b12 is low and my iron levels don't seem to be picking up i have previously been on iron and folic acid to try and rectify this but it doesn't seem to have made a difference and my gp again doesn't feel it is necessary to retest, i am determined to get to the bottom of this, being humiliated and ridiculed by people who are in charge of your care is the worst feeling, especially qhen you feel so ill, it has had such a massive impact on my life and stopped me doing so much, cost me my job & social life not to mention having a family with my husband so to be told to get on with it and have no support or interest is a hard pill to swallow, my gp is reluctant to test at all or aknowledge any of my symptoms or the fact that i am barely functioning, very frustrating, i am trying very hard to make sense of the blood work and all the replies have been really helpful i cant thank everyone enough, if only my gp was as helpful! Thanks again everyone X
bluebug won't have received notification of your reply because you haven't put it directly under her response in her message box. You need to reply directly in their message box or tag them by putting @ in front of their name (no space) and click on their name when it comes up, it then highlights it blue and a notification is automatically sent. I have tagged Bluebug at the beginning of this message, hopefully she will come along and comment on your results.
Would strongly suspect your vitamin D is terrible again. Get GP to retest this, plus B12, folate & ferritin
You can get vit D tested as I said in previous reply for £28. Or all these plus, full Thyroid, plus both antibodies for around £99 via Blue Horizon or Medichecks
You might make more progress seeing a functional nutritionist.
Getting tested privately is something i have recently been looking into SlowDragon i wasn't 100% sure which tests to go for or with whom as there was a few that had been mentioned previously, i will look intl these ones and hopefully get further forward, i have previously had allergy testing and seen a gastro but never a nutritionalist, i am very strict with my diet...don't have gluten, minimal sugar and eat as healthily and balanced as i can so being deficient and low in so many different things is strange to me, very frustrating, thanks again for your advise and replies x
The astonishing thing is, that Dr's don't learn about nutrition.....see this link - not directly about thyroid or gluten, but Michael Mosely puts the nutrition point over very well
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
If you say to most medics that Hashimoto's is closely connected to leaky gut/gluten/low stomach acid ....they look at you like you have entirely "lost the plot"
The new medicine of the future is functional medicine....looking at the causes not just medication as "sticking plaster"
At my wits end! Any advice would be much appreciated.
Not sure what I should be asking
Iron Overload - Any Advice Please - Really Appreciated
I'm new here: What should I be asking/telling my Dr? I am at my wits end.
ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED...I'LL
KEEP IT BRIEF
