Advice Re Medichecks Thyroid and Vitamin Results

[Rhinogirl1959]

Hi

My son suffers from Hashimotos Hypothyroidism. He has just had blood results from Medichecks as follows:

TSH 4.07 (0.27-4.20)

Free Thyroxine 18.1 (12.00-22.00)

Total Thyroxine T4 94.1 (59.00-154.00)

Free T3 4.44 (3.10-6.80)

Active B12 256.0 (25.10-165.00)

Folate (Serum) 19.98 (2.91-50.00)

25 OH Vitamin D 135 (50.00-200)

Ferritin 96.1 (30.00-400.00)

I've not put antibodies as they are always high even though trying to address.

History - started off around12 months ago on 50 Levo, had private blood tests in May and as TSH was really low reduced to 25 (now know due to a Hashi flare). Increased Levo to 75 in July as TSH was really high.

With latest results we can see TSH has come down to within range but assume he might need an increase in Levo to get it nearer 1, or should he wait a while longer to see if it comes down a bit further?

GP appointment tomorrow to discuss "normal" TSH result so any advice welcome.

His symptoms at the moment are fatigue, dizziness and sligth hair loss. I'm thinking he should feel better with his TSH around 1 which should make his T3 and T4 higher and an increase in Levo might just do this.

Re vitamin levels - my son has been supplementing B12 D3 (and co factors) Folic Acid (Zinc and Selenium to try and reduce antibodies). Assume B12 result is high due to supplementing but unsure whether to stop or switch to a B complex.

Any advice welcome - many thanks.

[startagaingirl]

Hi - sorry you haven't had a reply yet. You are correct, he is undermedicated and needs a dose increase, provided it has been 6 weeks since his last one. Yes most of us need to have tsh around 1 or less, or whatever is required to have ft4 in top quarter and ft3 in top third with relief of symptoms. He should have a 25mcg increase with a re-test in 6-8 weeks and repeat this until numbers look better. Then settle for a while to see if symptoms improve, this can take a few months.

For the b12, drop it back to a maintenance level. I don't know what he has been taking but you could try 1000mcg every couple of days and test again in a few months to see if it is holding up. Do similar for d3 as too much is toxic.

All the nutrients look good, though ferritin could be pushed slightly higher.

Gillian

[Gambit62 in reply to startagaingirl]

you can get more input on B12 on the PAS forum

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

his active B12 is very high - high levels can cause other problems. It really looks as if he doens't have an absorption problem - but he may now have a problem with B12 getting from his blood into his cells - functional B12 deficiency - particularly if the symptoms have started since he has been supplementing.

1000mcg is an unnecessarily high dose for someone who doesn't have an absorption problem.

Please take a look at the pinned posts on the above forum

[Rhinogirl1959 in reply to Gambit62]

Thanks for your responses. I'm not sure whether he should stop B12 altogether for now and just take a B complex.

However I'm furious this morning after my son's GP appointment. As she said at the last appointment she has a specialism in thyroid we (probably stupidly) expected she would increase his levo to get his TSH nearer to 1.

She told him he was within range so wouldn't increase and also told him his levels had gone high before his last increase because he hadn't been taking his levo correctly. My son is meticulous about taking his medication - he was dropped to 25mg as his TSH had gone really low (now known to be because of a Hashi flare).

I've also just seen his online medical record and she's entered "Panic Disorder" in his records. Disgusted isn't strong enough.

Don't know where to go from here I've suggested he takes a 25 tablet (got some left from before) a couple of times a week but he's worried about doing this without the gp agreeing to it. I've read so many stories on here about people having the same issues but now we're here I would welcome advice.

Many thanks.