Is my partners doctor missing the obvious

[marco69]

Hi all and firstly I must say what an informative heaven this is.

So I've been reading a lot lately as my partner exhibits all the signs of hypothyroidism. . With the only exception being the skin and hair conditions yet he is losing hair ..age.38 and I'm wondering if this is down to ferritin and other levels.all other boxes I could tick.

Now his mother sister and brother all have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism so it beats me why the same doctor would fail to see why a fit man sits in front of him and he doesn't see the connection.

Now I'm no doctor but an engineer and I read a lot and like problem solving anything and I'm not the type to let things go just because the doc didn't see anything wrong with a fit man who is displaying near all the signs and sitting in front of him with fatigue. And in my opinion done a basic screen of the thyroid.

So not one to give up I asked for his blood results from last summer and this winter and this is where I'm hoping someone can tell me I'm not imagining that something is wrong here. So I'll post below some results and limits in brackets.

5/6/2016

B12 246 (197-771) pg/ml

Folate not measured. haemolysed unsuitable for analysis

Ferretin 57.5 (30-400) ug/l

Lipdid screen

Cholesterol 5.3 (《5.2).....ldl 2.67 (0-2.59)

Free t4 12.3 (12-22) pmol /l

Tsh 1.18 (0.27-4.2) uiu/ml

10/01/2017

B12 unsuitable haemolysed

Folate unsuitable haemolysed

Ferretin 80.4 (30-400)

Lipidid

Cholesterol 5.9 (《5.2) ldl 3.28 (0-2.59)

Free t4 16.2 (12-22)

Tsh 1.72 (0.27-4.2)

My partner always felt he had the winter blues and the depression that comes with it.. I'm linking it all together and blaming the thyroid or I'm going mad one or the other.

Now with cholesterol his sister also is high and mother. . And very healthy eaters .. I've read about the connection with the thyroid and cholestsrol levels

I'm surprised the doctor doesn't see this and I've advised he come to my doctor later in the year for bloods and to discuss this

Am I going mad or is there an issue here

Many thanks

Marc

[Angel_of_the_North]

Were both tests done fasting at the same time of day? Did he have any sort of infection or cold when the first test was done/

First test show B12 was really low - needs to aim for 1000 (over top of range), folate might well be low too, but the GP or lab don't seem to be very good at getting good samples to test. Both tests show ferrtin too low for a man. Some men do go bald early without being hypo.

[marco69 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Many thanks for the reply. The tests were done at 12:00 (2016) and 14:10*2017)

With fasting from the previous evening.

No colds or flu

It was the lethargy and low energy that led to the visits to the doc.. and I only pushed this due to family history and symptoms . . When the doctor was questioned on the thyroid results we were told they were fine and only 'arguably low' nothing mentioned about b12 folate or ferratin levels. No more in depth thyroid testing despite mother sister and brother all diagnosed and on levothyroxine.

The doctor actually put him on medication to lower cholesterol which in under a week he had to come off them due to the side effects..

[marco69 in reply to marco69]

The reasons I was wanting to challenge this was I could see these symptoms

Fatigue (in a fit person for no reason)

Feeling cold when Its actually warm and I'd be wearing less clothing

Constipation that could last up to 4 days

High cholesterol

Muscle aches n pains in the upper armand tingling in the fingers

Deppression

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to marco69]

the first test suggested possble secondary hypothyroidiam (low TSH, low FT4) but the second test FT4 was a bit high for that. I'd look at the awful B12 and low ferritin first - many of the symptoms you list are low B12. And not worry about the cholesterol; it's a symptom, not a cause of anything as far as we know. Might be a good idea to get private thyroid tests done by Blue Horizon or Medichecks - first thing in morning - fasting. Also get D3 checked.

[Gambit62]

please take a look at the PASoc Forum in relation to B12

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

The serum B12 test is a difficult one to interpret as a single measure - people vary a lot in the amounts of B12 they need and the test is going to miss about 25% of those who do have a B12 deficiency (but also pick up 5-10% of those who do not have a deficiency). Evaluation of B12 status means looking at a range of other markers and an evaluation of symptoms.

Please don't supplement until you have done everything you can to get a diagnosis. supplementing screws test results for more or less every marker so can make getting an absorption problem diagnosed very difficult/almost impossible.

[marco69]

Just back from holidays ..thank you for getting back to us on this and we shall look at new results ..but with my own doctor who seams a bit more speedy in getting things tested

B12 ...thanks all ..surprising what this vitamin deficiency does