Morning all, I've recently had a few blood tests to check levels as I gave birth nearly 3 months ago- I only started taking levothyroxine the month I got pregnant so I wasn't sure what my non-pregnant medication level should be. Fortunately Thyroid levels seem ok (if I've understood the results correctly). TPO is raised but it was 900+ when first detected so it has come down significantly. I included vit & minerals check as I've had really low vitamin D in the past, and it was all within range apart from serum folate which was a bit too low. What does this mean and do I take a specific supplement for improving this?
Results are:
TSH 0.957 mIU/L (0.27 - 4.20
pmol/L)
FREE THYROXINE
17.3 (12.00 - 22.00
pmol/ L)
FREE T3 4.98
(3.10 - 6.80
IU/mL)
THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODY
24.8 (0.00 - 115.00
IU/mL)
THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES*83.7 (0.00 - 34.00)
ACTIVE B12 88.8
(37.50 - 188.00)
FOLATE (SERUM)
* 3.01
(3.89 - 26.80)
25 OH VITAMIN D 78.1
(50.00 - 200.00)
FERRITIN 36.7 (13.00 - 150.00)
Many thanks for any feedback or advice on this!
Written by
Qwerty11
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With a below range folate result this is folate deficiency and you should be discussing this with your doctor rather than considering self supplementation. He should check for folate deficiency anaemia.
This is on the low side. The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L [50ng/ml] and the Vit D Society recommends a level between 100-150nmol/L [40-60ng/ml]
Retest after 3 months and when you've reached the recommended level then you'll need a maintenance dose which may be 2000iu daily, maybe more or less, maybe less in summer than winter, 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 as recommended by the Vit D Council -
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 such as hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, etc.
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. We need Magnesium so that the body utilises D3, it's required to convert Vit D into it's active form. So it's important we ensure we take magnesium when supplementing with D3.
Magnesium 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
Check out the other cofactors too (some of which can be obtained from food).
FERRITIN 36.7 (13.00 - 150.00)
For thyroid hormone to work (that's our own as well as replacement hormone) it's said that ferritin needs to be at least 70, preferably half way through range. You can help raise your level by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/in...
Thanks very much for a full answer, it's all really useful. Yes I have a GP appointment booked for Monday am so I can discuss it then- I always find it useful to know what to ask for as my GP tends to be if you don't ask for something specific, you get sent away... so I will ask for further blood test as a follow up. I'll discuss vit D too- it's hovered around low for a while and gp has prescribed vit d in the past so I'll request that again too. And buy some liver pate!
You're very unlikely to get any Vit D prescribed for a level of 78.1nmol, it usually has to be down to around 30-something for a prescription. 78.1 will be in the "sufficient category" and doctors don't have any training in nutrition so as far as they are concerned if it's in range it's absolutely fine, they have no concept of "optimal" nor that we Hypos need our levels to be so. Vit D is cheap, look at Doctor's Best D3 softgels which are an excellent supplement at a great price with only 2 ingredients - no nasties whatsoever. A good place to buy, probably the cheapest, is Dolphin Fitness.
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