Blood Results - your advice would be really appreciated please

[Suesews]

I have just received my latest results from Medichecks and I would very much appreciate your thoughts and advice.

Short background - Had a TT 15 years ago and now self medicate. I changed from Levo almost a year ago and I am taking 25mcg T3 + 60mg of Metavive per day. I also take all the vits and minerals as advised by the lovely people on here. I also take 2mg of alphacalcidiol + 3000 mcg of D3 day as I have low parathyoid hormone (removed at the time of TT). I have had a Dexa scan this year and all is normal.

The advice from Medichecks is -

Your thyroid stimulating hormone is very low, as is your free thyroxine. Your T3 is normal. These results should be discussed with your GP as you may need to alter your doses or change your medication.

Your thyroglobulin antibodies are normal.

Your thyroid peroxidase antibodies are normal.

You have high levels of vitamin B12, if you are taking a B12 supplement then I recommend decreasing your dose. If you are not taking a supplement then I recommend checking your full blood count and liver function to assess whether this is significant.

Your levels of folate and vitamin D are normal.

Your CRP level is normal, indicating normal levels of inflammation in the body.

Your ferritin level is normal.

Thyroid Function

THYROID STIMULATING HORMONE *<0.005 mIU/L 0.27 - 4.20

FREE THYROXINE *10.300 pmol/L 12.00 - 22.00

FREE T3 5.93 pmol/L 3.10 - 6.80

THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODY <10 IU/mL 0.00 - 115.00

THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES <9.0 IU/mL 0.00 – 34.00

HAEMATOLOGY

Vitamins

ACTIVE B12 *>300 pmol/L 25.10 - 165.00

FOLATE (SERUM) 14.48 ug/L 2.91 - 50.00

25 OH VITAMIN D 97.3 nmol/L 50.00 - 200.00

BIOCHEMISTRY

Inflammation Marker CRP - HIGH SENSITIVITY 3.73 mg/l 0.00 - 5.00

Iron Status FERRITIN 92.1 ug/L 13.00 - 150.00

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Suesews

Most important - how do you feel?

Your thyroid results reflect that you are taking Metavive plus T3, so no surprises there.

Active B12 is high - as the comments suggest, if you are supplementing then stop for now, you don't need to with that level. My NHS test has a note that says normal B12 store is good for 2 years, although I don't know if that applies when supplementing.

Folate is a bit low, recommended is at least half way through range.

Ferritin is good.

Vit D is recommended to be 100-150nmol/L according to the Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health so you're almost there. Do you take D3's important cofactors recommended by the Vt D Council - K2-MK7 and magnesium vitamindcouncil.org/about-v...

[Suesews in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you,

I will stop taking my B12 for now.

Did you mean my folate is a bit low? how can I get this to increase?

I do take K2-MK7 and magnesium but I seem to have difficulty in raising my vit D

To be honest I am not feeling 100%, I am still tired, although not as tired as I was on the Levo. I also have low parathyroid hormone and low calcium and am wondering if my tiredness is due to this. I have a GP appt on Wednesday to discuss this but wanted to prove that my self medicating is not the cause.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Suesews]

Suesews

Did you mean my folate is a bit low?

Yes, sorry, don't you just love autocorrect or whatever it's called on a tablet! Note to self - double check before submitting! I've edited it so there's no confusion for anyone else reading it.

Have you been taking a B Complex? It's needed when supplementing with B12 to balance all the B vitamins. A good B Complex will contain 400mcg methyfolate and that will help raise folate level. Have a look at Thorne Basic B or Igennus Super B.

Is your D3 prescribed or do you buy your own? I would look at softgels containing extra virgin olive oil (eg Doctors Best) or an oral spray (eg BetterYou). The oral spray bypasses the stomach so gives best absorption.

[Suesews in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes, I have been taking Swanson Super stress B complex and I do take D3 softgels but never tried the oral spray. Would you suggest upping my dose of B complex?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Suesews]

Would you suggest upping my dose of B complex?

Personally I would change it. I've just looked at the ingredients and it's not one that I would consider. It contains too much B6 at 25mg, recommended is 10mg. It contains cyanocobalamin form of B12 rather than methylcobalamin. And for folate it says:

340 mcg DFE (200 mcg folic acid)

Methyfolate is the best form rather than folic acid.

I suggest using Thorne Basic B - 1 capsule or Igennus Super B - 2 tablets. Both contain the bioavailable forms of all active ingredients and 400mcg methylfolate. I raised my bottom of range folate to top of range in 2.5 months by taking 1 x Thorne Basic B daily.

[Suesews in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you very much for your advice, I will order some today x

[spacecadet]

Hope you don’t mind me crashing your post, noticed you’ve just had your results back from Medichecks & I received mine yesterday. My active B12 was also >300 but my range weirdly was 37.5-188. The ranges I’ve seen for active B12 have all been the same as yours so not sure why mine differs? Does anyone have any idea why that could be.

I have been (stupidly) supplementing my B12 thinking due to autoimmune conditions I might be deficient (won’t be doing that again without testing levels first). So I’ve sporadically been taking 5,000 mcg sublingually over a period of time & the note from the doctor stated if I’ve been supplementing to stop & if not, to get liver & blood checks.

Thankfully, I just had a CBC & LFT last week which were normal, so I’m really hoping the high b12 is due to the supplementation.

Does anyone know how long I should wait until I have another B12 test to make sure the levels are decreasing or could they stay high for months? (I obviously won’t be supplementing any more!)

[Suesews in reply to spacecadet]

I have stopped taking B12 as advised, if you read the reply above from SeasideSusie, B12 stores should be good for 2 years. I will get my B12 tested again in 6 months to see how it is. You could contact Medichecks re your ranges they may be able to tell you why their ranges vary.

[spacecadet in reply to Suesews]

Thanks for the reply, will contact them & ask about the range & when they recommend testing again to check of the levels have lowered.

[Suesews in reply to spacecadet]

I would be interested to hear what they have to say if you wouldn't mind letting me know?

[spacecadet in reply to Suesews]

I’ve emailed them so just waiting for a response so I’ll let you know if they help.

[spacecadet in reply to spacecadet]

I’ve had a customer service reply to say they’ve passed the queries over to the medical team & could take 5 days to reply. I’ll update you when I hear back.

[Suesews in reply to spacecadet]

Thanks

[spacecadet in reply to Suesews]

Hi, I’ve had my reply from medichecks

thanks for getting in touch with your queries. Let me to try to answer them for you:

You're right that your Jarrow supplement has likely increased your B12 level. As your liver and full blood count results are normal I am reassured and, as you say, it is likely due to the supplement rather than anything else.

I'd certainly look to reduce your Jarrow intake and if you're not vegetarian you should be getting your B12 through your diet easily enough. Although having a thyroid disorder makes other autoimmune conditions (such as B12 deficiency) slightly more likely, it doesn't appear this is the case for you (again, reassured by your normal full blood count).

I'd recommend retesting in a year's time or sooner if you begin to feel unwell or tired. A full thyroid screen or an ultravit test will do this for you.

In terms of reference ranges, different labs have slightly different ranges to which their instruments are calibrated - again depending which manufacturer they're using. The ranges are standardised and approved for those particular machines - hence the slight difference in ranges.

I hope this has been helpful.

[Suesews in reply to spacecadet]

Thank you for letting me know. I too will get another B12 check in 12 months x

[spacecadet in reply to Suesews]

No worries