Many results - opinions would be much appreciated

[diamondial]

I've been treated for hypothyroidism for about 20 years and am on 75mcg of thyroxine daily. My levels are:

Serum TSH level 0.88 mu/L (0.35 - 5.00mu/L)

Serum free T4 level 18.9 pmol/L (9.00 - 24.00pmol/L)

Serum free T3 level 4.4 pmol/L (3.50 - 6.50pmol/L)

At a suggestion from this forum, I asked for my Vit D, B12, Ferritin and folate levels to be tested. The doctor decided to do more and I give the results below (although it appears Vit D wasn't checked unless it's under some obscure name). Sorry, it's an extremely long list!

Haemoglobin A1c level 35

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate 2mm/h (0.00 - 30.00mm/h)

Serum ferritin 137ug/L (15.00 - 250.00ug/L

Neutrophil count 3.2 10*9/L (2.00 - 7.50 10*9/L)

Lymphocyte count 2.5 10*9/L (1.00 - 4.00 10*9/L)

Monocyte count 0.3 10*9/L (0.20 - 0.80 10*9/L)

Eosinophil count 0.1 10*9/L (0.00 - 0.40 10*9/L)

Basophil count 0.1 10*9/L (0.00 - 0.10 10*9/L)

Total white cell count 6.3 10*9/L (4.00 - 11.00 10*9/L)

Red blood cell count 3.98 10*12/L (3.50 - 5.50 10*12/L)

Haemoglobin estimation 126 g/L (115.00 - 165.00g/L)

Haematocrit 0.41 ratio (0.37 - 0.47 ratio)

Mean corpuscular volume 102.5 fL (75.00 - 105.00fL)

Red blood cell distribut width 13.3 (11 - 15)

Mean corpusc haemoglobin 31.5 pg (26.00 - 35.00pg)

MCHC 308 g/L (290.00 - 350.00g/L)

Platelet count 301 10*9/L (150.00 - 450.00 10*9/L)

HYPOCHROMIA % 12.4%

Plasma C reactive protein <4.0mg/L (0.00 - 10.00mg/L)

Serum ALT level 16 iu/L (0.00 - 49.00 iu/L)

Total alkaline phosphatase 74 iu/L (30.00 - 130.00 iu/L)

Serum total bilirubin level 8 umol/L (0.00 - 21.00umol/L)

Serum albumin 45 g/L (35.00 - 50.00g/L)

Serum sodium 140 mmol/L (133.00 - 146.00mmol/L)

Serum potassium 4.7 mmol/L (3.50 - 5.30mmol/L)

Serum creatinine 71 umol/L (49.00 - 90.00umol/L)

Serum urea level 6.7 mmol/L (2.50 - 7.80mmol/L)

GFR calculated abbreviatd MDRD >60 mL/min (60.00 - 99.00mL/min)

Serum folate 9.8 ug/L (2.00 - 17.00ug/L)

Plasma vitamin B12 level 408 ng/L (200.00 - 900.00ng/L)

It may be that most of these results are irrelevant - I simply don't know. They look to me all to be good levels although I've been told that the B12 is low. So I am going to get some B12 and B vitamin supplements tomorrow. Am I right in thinking that I should then wait to see if my tiredness levels decrease before I think about supplementing with T3? Apologies again for the long list.

[Heloise]

Hi Diamondial, Your thyroid results are not too bad but your FT3 could be better. Have you always been on that low dose or have you been unable to raise it? The only others I could comment on are your ferritin, folate, sed rate which seem normal and B12 which they usually recommend being at the high end of range. I'm in the U.S. and the A1C would be way over the 5-7 range, is yours within range?

You could check some of them here: drkaslow.com%2Fhtml%2Fblood...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/r...

[diamondial in reply to Heloise]

Thanks for your reply Heloise. I used to be on 100mcg of thyroxine but reduced it as my TSH went too low. I actually didn't feel any different on the higher dose and certainly not hyper. I checked the HbA1C result here - the ranges are: below 42 mmol/mol (6.0%): Non-diabetic, between 42 and 47 mmol/mol (6.0–6.4%): Impaired glucose regulation (IGR) or Prediabetes, 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) or over: Type 2 diabetes. So mine at 35 is fine. I am having quite considerable troubles with tiring when exercising and it's frustrating seeing my friend of the same age getting fitter and fitter (we started mountain biking in April) while I continue to struggle so I do hope I can get myself sorted out.

[Heloise in reply to diamondial]

Please do not use the TSH level for any type of measure AFTER you have been placed on hormone replacement. It is the biggest mistake that doctors, even Endocrinologists are making for their patients. There is no reason for TSH to rise when you have adequate hormone in your system. Yours is actually spot on but your FT3 is NOT.

It's so unfortunate that hypothyroidism puts such a damper on energy. I, too hated the fact I didn't have the stamina others did. I think mitochondria is the energy factor but your T3 needs to be higher. Naturally any exercise you attempt is going to use up your FT3 and that's why it is recommended not to over indulge until your body is up to speed.

[diamondial in reply to Heloise]

I did reply Heloise but maybe I didn't click 'submit reply' as it's disappeared. It's rather unfortunate but certainly my doctors have only really seemed to be interested in the TSH. There was one who took a different view but she left the practice. It would be a wonderful day when exercise wasn't so very difficult!

[Heloise in reply to diamondial]

Have you thought of adding some T3 to your levo?

It's really all about inflammation but usual markers like C-RP and I think I saw your sedimentation rate up there somewhere and it was also excellent. I don't know if you've seen my posts on the vagus nerve but that nerve is connected somehow to inflammation. I'm still trying to figure that out but healthy nerve function has been a target of mine for a long time.

[diamondial in reply to Heloise]

Yes I think that if I feel no different with the addition of the B vitamins I will try adding a little T3. We do have an issue of obtaining it here in the UK but I believe it's not too difficult to obtain it from overseas.

[Heloise in reply to diamondial]

From the Betrayal series by Dr. O'Bryan it emphasized that you need certain bacteria to extract B vitamins from the digestive tract. This was rather new to me but bacteria have a huge part in getting nutrients. But this is how serious B vitamins are to you: his father had a heart attack and he had no known cause later they found that the lack of b vitamins caused spasms which killed him. I wonder how common this is because many people who die do not have symptoms of heart disease.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

diamondial

Plasma vitamin B12 level 408 ng/L (200.00 - 900.00ng/L)

I mentioned this in your other thread and personally I would want it at the top of the range.You could check to see if you have any signs of B12 deficiency which may be contributing to how you current feel b12deficiency.info/signs-an... If not then supplement with sublingual methylcobalamin lozenges plus a B Complex to balance all the B vitamins.

There doesn't appear to be any signs of anaemia as far as I can see from the relevant tests, your liver tests look OK, similar to mine for which I had the results today, nothing else is out of range.

You can always check labtestsonline.org.uk/under... for test results.

Personally I would complete the picture with a Vit D test, there isn't one there so you could do a home fingerprick bloodspot test with City Assays vitamindtest.org.uk/

for £28. If that comes back OK, and you don't have signs of B12 deficiency then I would consider the addition of T3 unless you'd rather raise your B12 level first and see if that makes a difference.

[diamondial in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for all your help SeasideSusie. I checked the B12 deficiency symptoms and I only seem to have a few: Forgetfulness, memory loss (not severe), Sleep disturbances, Postural hypotension, fatigue. I found a few previous blood test results and the best results were when I was on 100mcg daily - with the exception of the TSH. They were:

Free T3 4.9 pmol/L (3.5-6.5)

Free T4 20.6 pmol/L (9-24)

TSH 0.06 mu/L (0.35-5.0)

I've always had my blood taken after I've taken my thyroxine and after eating as I hadn't known it was inadvisable. I wasn't exercising hard when taking 100mcg daily so don't know how I would be. I do know though that I was still tired and lacked stamina on that dose.

I have bought B12 lozenges and B complex vitamins today and started them. I will also get a Vit D test. I think that maybe I would like to add a small amount of T3 and see if it would help but maybe I should be patient and give the B vitamins a chance.