Had Full Thyroid Blood Tests, do these results suggest i have Hypothyroid problems?

[Kevybob]

Hi i am new to this forum, and am looking for some advice about my blood test results.

I am male aged 49, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2003 and take insulin to control this.

Have suffered with anxiety/ depression since i was a teenager and been on various meds for this throughout the years, not taking anything at the moment

In recent years i been struggling to control my blood pressure and taking a number of medications to do this. Had some side effects taking Doxasosin and am seeing a cardiologist to try and change to something else. i get BP spikes.

Have recently been diagnosed with Barrets Esophagus due to Acid reflux problems

I have been experiencing Erectile Dysfunction and loss of libido in the last 10 years

I have also (without changing my diet) put on at least 2 stone in weight in the last 3 years, am constantly fatigued and suffer with insomnia. My head is foggy and have a problem with concentration most of the time.

i have blood tests every 3 months for my diabetes, which usually includes a TSH test, which always shows as being in the normal range, so my GP never flags up a Thyroid problem.

After a bit of google research, i decided to have a Full Thyroid Blood test privately, to rule out any other problems, as i discovered that a TSH test alone doesn't give the full picture.

My results are:

TSH 2.62 mIU/L

Free Thyroxine 17.2 pmol/L

Total Thyroxine (T4) 82.5 nmol/L

Free T3 4.59 pmol/L

Reverse T3 21 ng/dL

Reverse T3 Ratio 14.23

Thyroglobulin Antibody 14.8 IU/mL

Thyroid Perioxidase Antibodies 33.3 IU/mL

Active B12 68.6 pmol/L

Folate (serum) 0.8 ug/L

25 OH Vitamin D 19.3 nmol/L

CRP - High Sensitivity 1.9 mg/L

Ferritin 134 ug/L

Now i am told that my rT3 is high and my ratio is out of range, my vitiamin D is low and my folate is also low. i am starting to take supplements for the Vitamin D and folate

Do the other results suggest i am suffering with an underactive Thyroid? If so, what is the best possible course for action? do i see my GP and get referred to an Endo or do i see a Holistic physician to try to remedy this?

Thanks for reading my incredibly long post, and hope somebody can give me some good advice

kindest regards

Kevin

[waveylines]

Welcome Kevin.

Can you pop the lab ranges on please -numbers in brackets next to result. The ranges vary according to the lab that does them.

Based on my lab ranges your thyroid hormone levels look ok but your TSH in some countries would be deemed too high or suspicious. Sort of implies that your thyrood is starting to struggle a little. No GP or endo in the uk will treat with those results.

Your vitamin D is very low. Low vitamin D is characterised by fatigue, non restorative sleep, poor energy, poor concentration, increased infections which take longer to go, aches & pains. Glad youve started taking D3. How much? You should be on a course to restore vitamin D levels to over 80 followed by a maintenance dose. If its a high dose are you taking k2 too? K2 ensures the calcium uptake that comes with taking vit D goes to your bones not organs. K2 is also present in dark green vegs. So if you eat plenty of those you may have enough in your body.

Am no expert on low folate so will leave others toadvise.

If it were me I would go to a Holistic physician.

And ask your GP to do periodic re testing of thyroid including the antibodies. .

[Kevybob in reply to waveylines]

Thanks for replying waveylines

The lab ranges are:

TSH 2.62 mIU/L

(0.27 - 4.20)

Free Thyroxine 17.2 pmol/L

(12.00 - 22.00)

Total Thyroxine (T4) 82.5 nmol/L

(59.00 - 154.00)

Free T3 4.59 pmol/L

(3.10 - 6.80)

Reverse T3 21 ng/dL

(10.00 -24.00)

Reverse T3 Ratio 14.23

(15.01 - 75.00)

Thyroglobulin Antibody 14.8 IU/mL

(0.00 - 115.00)

Thyroid Perioxidase Antibodies 33.3 IU/mL

(0.00 - 34.00)

Active B12 68.6 pmol/L

(25.10 - 165.00)

Folate (serum) 0.8 ug/L

(2.91 - 50.00)

25 OH Vitamin D 19.3 nmol/L

(50.00 - 200.00)

CRP - High Sensitivity 1.9 mg/L

(0.00 - 5.00)

Ferritin 134 ug/L

(30.00 - 400.00)

i have started taking 80 mcg of D3 & K2 a day. Have been told to do this for 12 weeks then reduce to10 mcg per day (and have another blood test in May 2018). Will also introduce more or the dark green stuff into my diet

i am planning on seeing a Holistic physician in the next week or so

thank you for your amazing advice

[waveylines in reply to Kevybob]

Thanks for the ranges 😊😊 its like I said before your thyroid is showing signs of starting to struggle. Holistic medicine may help to support.

Hmm whats the iu content of your vitamin D3 tablet? If its not in a capsule with oil take it with some fat like cheese or oily fish.....helps uptake. Look at the Vitamin D Council or Grassroots website. They both have excellant advice and info on vitamin D. My vitamin D level was 3 -I felt absolutley dreadful and a bone broke! So you might be surprised at how much better you feel once this is properly addressed.

[Kevybob in reply to waveylines]

i am taking 3 drops of Epigenar vitimin D3 & K2 oil (approx 1000 iu per drop) which will reduce to 400 iu maintenance

will check out those websites

thanks once again

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Kevybob]

I just want to comment on your Vit D.

Your level of 19.3nmol/L means you are severely deficient. I dare say the doctor's comments that came with your results recommended the dose of D3 to take. It isn't enough. If you went to your GP with those results you would be prescribed loading doses totalling 300,000iu over a number of weeks. You might want to see your GP or if you want to continue self supplementing then you would be better taking 10,000iu daily for 6-8 weeks then reduce to 5000iu daily. Retest after 3 months.

The Vit D Council recommends a level of 100-150nmol/L so when you reach that level you need to find your maintenance dose which may be 2000iu daily, maybe more, maybe less, it's trial and error, but very, very unlikely to be 400iu.

Besides K2-MK7, another important cofactor is magnesium which helps D3 to work vitamindcouncil.org/about-v...

[Kevybob in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for your comments SeasideSusie

those were the doses i was advised to take by the doctor who commented on my blood tests.

i will book an appointment with my GP

kindest regards

Kevin

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Kevybob]

I thought so. They contend to follow the same lines as NHS doctors with a lot of their comments, but I'm surprised at the level of D3 suggested to be honest.

When you see your GP about it, mention NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary for Vit D Deficiency

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

The part you need is

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

"Choose the most appropriate treatment regimen.

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 maintenance treatment of about 800 IU a day. Higher doses of up to 2000 IU 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 regimens 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)."

**

Another thing - your B12 is a bit on the low side and your folate is deficient with these results:

Folate (serum) 0.8 ug/L (2.91 - 50.00)

If it's definitely 0.8 that is beyond dire, you must point this out to your GP. Recommended level for folate is at least half way through range, although for doctors they just say anything in range is fine! Was this result mentioned in the doctor's comments?

**

I've just noticed your TPO antibody result, just 0.7 below the upper limit - too close for comfort and I imagine that at some time if retested you will be over which would confirm autoimmune thyroiditis aka Hashimoto's. Adopting a strict gluten free diet and supplementing with selenium L-selenomethionine 200mcg daily can help reduce antibodies.

**

Do you eat meat? Add liver once a week or so to bump up your ferritin level a bit, half way through range is recommended but about 150ish should be OK for males.

[Kevybob]

Thanks once again SeasideSusie for your valuable comments

i have been advised to increase my dark greens (broccoli, spinach etc) and take a supplement for the folate reading.

i will speak with my GP and also consult a Holistic physician to get on top of these problems.

kindest regards