Results from Blue Horizon (help please)

[hilary77]

Hi

Can someone give me an interpretation of these results please. I didn't take my Thyroid meds for 24 hours previous, I have also been taking D3 & B12 supplements but did not take any for three weeks prior to the test.

As a recap I have had a total thyroidectomy for Graves/TED

many thanks

Hilary x

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

What thyroid meds do you take?

[hilary77 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for replying, I currently take

50 +25 mcg levothyroxine

20 mcg liothyronine

I don't understand my vitamin results, cant make head nor tail of them.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to hilary77]

You were right to leave off Levo for 24 hours but for T3 it's only 12 hours. You have a false low FT3.

TSH is low because you are taking T3.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

There was no need to leave off D3, you just take it after the blood draw. B12 needs to be left off for 4 to 5 months to get a baseline result so when supplementing you continue to take it and the result shows if you are taking too much or too little and you take it after the blood draw.

Vit D is good, the recommended level is 100-150nmol/L so you could drop your dose slightly, maybe leave off a couple of days a week.

B12 needs to be above 500, preferably top of range, even 900-1000.

Folate and Ferritin are good.

[hilary77 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank You! so much Susie, that is very helpful. What I didn't understand was Vit D result 158 consider reducing dose >175 ... B12 result 415 consider reducing dose >569, that doesn't make any sense to me.

So if I reduce D3 and increase B12 I should be okay. I have also been taking folate, so will carry on with that.

Thanks again Susie that was most helpful.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to hilary77]

Are you taking a stand alone Folate supplement or a B Complex containing Folate? When taking B12 we need a B Complex to balance all the B vitamins.

With your now decent Folate level, if you are taking a stand alone Folate supplement, you'd be better changing to a decent B Complex containing methylfolate. I use Thorne Basic B.

For Vit D I would continue with your current dose until April when we should have enough sun to make Vit D naturally - you might find that you can then reduce to a maintenance dose. I take more during the winter months than the rest of the year. When supplementing with D3 we should retest twice a year (April and November) to keep within the recommended range. I try to keep mine around the 150 level.

If all you need to test is Vit D then a fingerprick blood spot test can be done with City Assays for £28

vitamindtest.org.uk/index.html

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to hilary77]

It's just standard text. Your result for D is 158. The right column gives the explanations for different result ranges. If it was greater than 175 you should consider reducing dose (but it isn't and even if it was they couldn't force you to do it or know if there was a reason to keep it high - so it says "consider"). Same for B12. It gives your result and the explanations for the ranges. What's the problem?

[hilary77 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

The problem was I didn’t know what > or < meant I do now. I have never had a private test done before.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to hilary77]

Don't worry, I'm rubbish at maths too.

[silverfox7]

Looking at your Vit D and you being unsure that they are saying that your Vit D result is 158 which is good as we are hopefully coming to the end of winter

The next bit is explaining the results and > means greater than so

consider reducing dose if >175

This is saying consider reducing dose if greater than 175 which yours isn't though is a good result that you have hence SeasideSusie's comment. If the < the other way followed by a number it would mean less than that number.

[hilary77 in reply to silverfox7]

Thanks for enlightening me, it had me stumped & will know for future reference

[humanbean]

I currently take

50 +25 mcg levothyroxine

20 mcg liothyronine

I assume from what you've written that you split your dose of Levo and take two doses per day. There is no advantage to splitting your dose of Levo, and you may as well take it all at once. It is common for people to split dose T3 though.

[hilary77 in reply to humanbean]

hi humanbean I take it all at the same time it’s just that it comes in 25 & 50mcg total 75mcg sorry for confusion. That is interesting about T3 would you recommend halving the tablet & taking half T3 in morning & the remaining half at night?

[humanbean in reply to hilary77]

It may be worth trying. When I started taking T3 I experimented endlessly to find out how I got the most out of it. So I altered the number of doses, the size of each dose, the timing of each dose, all without necessarily changing the total amount I took per day. And these things didn't stay static either. I would settle into one dosing schedule, then raise my dose, then I would have to start experimenting again.

Of course, a single daily dose is by far the most convenient way of taking it. But it took me several years to achieve that. If you are happy with a single dose I wouldn't bother changing it.

[hilary77 in reply to humanbean]

Thanks humanbean think I will give it a try, can change back if need be.

[fitmom50 in reply to hilary77]

I wonder if you just took 1 pill of Levo at 75mcg if your script would be cheaper, then taking 2 different pills. It comes in a 75mcg. Dont worry too much if your TSH is a bit low, which I dont think you are, you dont have a "Thyroid" so it will always be low.