Looking for help about feratin and thyroid please.

Hello..ive been reading/ following the feed here and wondering if someone can please post again the proper levels of Feratin b12 vitamin d levels etc in order for the thyroid to work properly. I have auto imkune disease and keep gain big chunks of weight in spite of healtgy eating and walking at keast 8 thousand steps daily ..also my eyelashes keep falling out I've included most recent labs. I see my Dr this week and want to ask for some lab work any suggestions pls and thank you I appreciate the info on this board. I'm in Canada

tsh April 4/17 all tests taken fasting at 9 am:

3.57 range (0.32-5.04 pmol/L

Aug 8/17

Tsh 2.84 ( 0.32-5.04) I took my prednisone before this one as per Dr request

2013- tsh was 1.06. I felt my best here. Included it to show the rise in tsh

Aug 8/17

FT4 12.9 (10.6 - 19.7 ) pmol/L

FT3 4.40 (3.0-5.90) pmol/L

B12 May 15/17 I was supplementing here.

317 range 153 -655 pmol/L

Ferritin

aug 9/17

23 range 15- 247 ug/l

Ferritin April 4/17

54 range 15- 247 ug/l

Those are the most recent and only labs they've ordered.

Any suggested labs or advice greatly appreciated. The Dr all say I'm fine because the numbers are in range. Tia

[shaws Administrator]

Geraldine 20 welcome to our forum.

It is a big learning curve in order for us to recover our health. I believe it is a worldwide phenomenon the the Endocrinology seem to have identical ways of treating patients and that is according to the TSH alone and the prescribing of levothyroxine.

If you can choose the blood tests you want ask for TSH, T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and thyroid antibodies:-

Comments below on your above results.

Tsh April 4/17 all tests taken fasting at 9 am:

3.57 range (0.32-5.04 pmol/L - too high - the aim is a TSH of 1 or lower. Some of us need it below 1 or suppressed. (No we wont get a heart attack or osteo as Endos sometime tell us.

Aug 8/17j

Tsh 2.84 ( 0.32-5.04) I took my prednisone before this one as per Dr request.

This is still too high.

2013- tsh was 1.06. I felt my best here. Included it to show the rise in tsh

This result was good.

Aug 8/17

FT4 12.9 (10.6 - 19.7 ) pmol/L - too low - should be nearer upper part of range.

FT3 4.40 (3.0-5.90) pmol/L - too low - it should be nearer 5.

B12 May 15/17 I was supplementing here.

317 range 153 -655 pmol/L - range far too low. The new range recommended is around 1,000 in order to prevent dementia/alzeimers.

Ferritin

aug 9/17

23 range 15- 247 ug/l

Ferritin April 4/17

54 range 15- 247 ug/l

SeasideSusie will respond re your ferritin.

You should also have iron, Folate and Vitamin D tested.

[Hidden in reply to shaws]

Shaws...thank you so much for replying and the information. I'm relieved to not feel like I'm going crazy or overreacting to these results. I'm so frustrated with the Drs always saying nothing is wrong all is in range. I guess I'll have to try and treat it myself with supplements as it's been going on for years now and no help from any medical Dr. Are they restricted to prescribe only if things are out of range? I feel very unwell and desperate. I have taken iodine or kelp in the past and found I felt a bit better but stopped because I don't know what I'm doing and would not want to make things worse. I'll wait for seasidesusie reply as well before supplementing anything else. Btw is there something I can do to somehow persuade the Dr to help my thyroid? I'd like to prevent getting very sick before they act

[shaws Administrator in reply to Hidden]

If you have antibodies they should prescribe levothyroxine.

If you feel you want to self-medicate you can decide whether you want to source levothyroxine or NDT (natural Dessicated Thyroid Hormones). NDT contains all of the hormones a healthy gland would have produced, i.e. T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3 and calcitonin which is helpful for bones.

No information is permitted on the open forum but members can advise by Private Message.

I am not sure of the rules of Canada when sourcing your own meds. In the UK we can import for our own use.

Read the following:

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

One of our doctors, a virologist (deceased) stated that patients were in a Parlous Situation due to the method of diagnosing hypothyroidism and also giving us too low a dose to fit results into a range. That's not how it was done when we were on NDT only. We increased gradually about every 2 weeks until we felt well with relief of all symptoms.

This is a Chapter by one of our Advisers (deceased) which may be helpful;

web.archive.org/web/2010112...

[Hidden in reply to shaws]

Please do pm on me if you have suggestions/advice

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Hidden The recommended levels are below, low levels or deficiencies mean that thyroid hormone can't work.

Vit D - According to the Vit D Council they should be:

100-150nmol/L or

40-60ng/ml

I'm not sure which unit of measurement is used in Canada.

Ferritin - Minimum of 70 for thyroid hormone to work (our own or replacement), recommended is half way through range

Folate - at least half way through it's range.

B12 - An extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:

"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".

"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."

**

Ferritin Aug 9/17

23 (15- 247 ug/l)

This is very low. You should see your doctor about an iron supplement. You can also raise your level by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/in...

Any iron tablets should be taken with 1000mg Vitamin C to aid absorption and help prevent constipaton. Always take iron 4 hours away from thyroid meds and two hours away from other medication and supplements as it will affect absorption.

[Hidden]

Thank you both for the great info. My Dr is well aware of all these results as she ordered the labs and has copies. I asked about the ferritin tsh etc. because the Dr didn't say anything about them.Dr says as far as thyroid is concerned it's in the normal range and my ft4 to ft3 ratio is good, and I could take an iron tablet if I wanted. I think I'll have to try self medicating . I've picked up ferrous furamate iron 300 mg once a day. I'll get some b12 too. I take 4000 IU of d3 daily and 1000 mg of vitamin c.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Forgot to mention I also have a rheumatologist for RA and now an endocrinogist to investigate adrenal insufficiency from lo g term prednisone use. All 3 seem to be on the same page regarding my lab results.