Vitamins and minerals

[Jkg55]

Hi does GP need to do anything about these thanks

Ferritin 11 (30 - 400)

Folate 3.2 (4.6 - 18.7)

Vitamin B12 187 (180 - 900)

Vitamin D 22.6 (<25 severe vitamin D deficiency. Patient may need pharmacological preparations)

[Emyloulou]

Hi, you have no expert here but from my experience the answer is a huge YES to all of them however you’ll be lucky with the B12 as it is just in side the range x

[ITYFIALMCTT]

Ferritin 11 (30 - 400) Below reference range

Folate 3.2 (4.6 - 18.7) Below reference range

Vitamin B12 187 (180 - 900) Barely inside reference range

Vitamin D 22.6 Below reference range

Your results indicate deficiency below the reference range for 3 results, and there's an argument to be made that your 4th result is just at the bottom of a reference range and, depending on other results in your CBC/FBC, that might need some investigation and supplementation.

You need urgent action on these and have a case for iron infusions and loading dosages of vitamin D.

For the folate, your GP might need to rule out B12 deficiency before addressing that as there are crossovers with iron, folate, and B12 deficiency and your B12 result is definitely in the grey zone.

If SeasideSusie doesn't see this, I'll dig up some of her replies to people with similar results. E.g., healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Jkg55

Ferritin 11 (30 - 400)

For thyroid hormone to work (that's our own as well as replacement hormone) ferritin needs to be at least 70, preferably half way through range.

You need an iron supplement and as your level is so low you should ask for an iron infusion which will raise your level within 24-48 hours, tablets will take many months.

You can help 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...

As your ferritin is so far below range, you need to ask for an iron panel and full blood count to be carried out to see if you have iron deficiency anaemia. If so, the treatment should be 2 or 3 x ferrous fumarate daily and you should take each iron tablet 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.

**

Folate 3.2 (4.6 - 18.7) Vitamin B12 187 (180 - 900)

You are folate deficient with very low B12. Check here for signs of B12 deficiency b12deficiency.info/signs-an... then pop over to the Pernicious Anaemia Society forum for further advice healthunlocked.com/pasoc Quote your folate/B12 results and mention any signs of B12 deficiency that you may be experiencing. Also quote your ferritin result (and say if you have been diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia) and if you have had a full blood count and iron panel carried out quote those results as well.

The PA forum will advise how to go forward with this with your GP. It's quite possible that you have Pernicious Anaemia and you may need B12 injections.

I have read (but not researched so don't have links) that BCSH, UKNEQAS and NICE guidelines recommend:

"In the presence of discordance between test results and strong clinical features of deficiency, treatment should not be delayed to avoid neurological impairment."

And 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."

**

Vitamin D 22.6 (<25 severe vitamin D deficiency)

Point out to your GP that you have severe Vit D deficiency and that you wish to be prescribed loading doses according to NICE treatment summary for Vit D deficiency:

cks.nice.org.uk/vitamin-d-d...

"Treat for Vitamin D deficiency if serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels are less than 30 nmol/L.

For the treatment of vitamin D deficiency, the recommended treatment is based on fixed loading doses of vitamin D (up to a total of about 300,000 international units [IU] given either as weekly or daily split doses, followed by lifelong maintenace treatment of about 800 IU a day. Higher doses of up to 2000IU a day, occasionally up to 4000 IU a day, may be used for certain groups of people, for example those with malabsorption disorders. Several treatment regims are available, including 50,000 IU once a week for 6 weeks (300,000 IU in total), 20,000 IU twice a week for 7 weeks (280,000 IU in total), or 4000 IU daily for 10 weeks (280,000 IU in total)."

Each Health Authority has their own guidelines but they will be very similar. Go and see your GP and ask that he treats you according to the guidelines and prescribes the loading doses, don't accept 800iu that is an extremely small maintenance dose and will never raise your level. Once these have been completed you will need a reduced amount (more than 800iu so post your new result as the time for members to suggest a dose) to bring your level up to what's recommended by the Vit D Council - which is 100-150nmol/L - and then you'll need a maintenance dose which may be 2000iu daily, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. You can do this with a private fingerprick blood spot test with City Assays vitamindtest.org.uk/

There are important cofactors needed when taking D3

vitamindcouncil.org/about-v...

D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems.

D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds.

Magnesium helps D3 to work and comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

Check out the other cofactors too.