Need help with my test results

[Prater]

Hi, I have been underactive thyroid for the last 8 years which has been well controlled. Recently I have been feeling really tired lost loads of hair and thinning and dizziness and a crawling sensation going through my body. My blood report I have attached a photo of. Been to my GP and his saying everything is the the range and that I am just depressed and he has give me antidepressants which I do not want to take. I am changing my GP so hopefully I can get a second opinion on my results.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Prater

You've cut off the reference ranges so it's difficult to comment on most of your results.

How much Levo are you taking? The aim of a treated hypo patient generally is for TSH to be 1 or lower with FT4 and FT3 in the upper part of their ranges if that is where you feel well. It looks as though you are undermedicated but I don't know where in range your FT4 is.

Your Ferritin is very low and as your MCV/MCH aren't flagged as out of range then it probably isn't iron deficiency anaemia. Low Ferritin causes problems. See restartmed.com/low-ferritin/

Your B12 is very high, are you supplementing?

[Prater in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi, I have updated my blood test reports can you please advice if I should take an iron supplement as I am feeling very weak.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Prater]

Prater

Iron is complicated. It's not just ferritin, the complete iron panel includes serum iron, transferrin saturation and TIBC as well. If you had a high serum iron and started taking an iron supplement for low ferritin, then it would raise your serum iron as well and that could cause problems.

It's for this reason that I can't advise on supplementing with iron, I am not medically trained and it would be irresponsible of me to tell someone to take iron tablets without the full picture, even then I'm not qualified to advise.

You could discuss this with your GP, say your ferritin is very low in range and you would like an iron panel done, then discuss the results with him/her.

Your HbA1c is fine.

Everything in your full blood count is within range.

Folate is good.

B12 is over range so you could be having B12 injections and this test done just after that, or you could be supplementing and don't need to. I can't say more than that because you didn't answer my question about whether you are taking B12 supplements. If you don't supplement and are not on B12 injections, you should discuss your high B12 level with your GP.

Your serum total protein is 1 point over range. I don't know if that is significant, you may wish to ask your GP, it may be worth keeping an eye on. You can read about this test here, click on the "Common Questions"

labtestsonline.org.uk/tests...

TSH: 3.33 (0.30-4.50)

FT4: 20.5 (10-22)

Your TSH is too high for a treated hypo patient. The aim of a treated hypo patient generally is for TSH to be 1 or below or wherever it needs to be for FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their respective reference ranges when on Levo if that is where you feel well. This would indicate the need for a dose increase.

However, your FT4 is already high in range (one wouldn't normally expect such a high FT4 with a high in range TSH) and increasing your Levo will raise your FT4 even higher.

You really need FT3 testing at the same time as FT4. It's possible that your T4 isn't converting to T3 properly.

You also need Thyroid Peroxidase and Thyroglobulin antibodies testing to see if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's).

Do you by any chance take a B Complex containing Biotin, or Biotin as a separate supplement or in a multi-vitamin? This can cause false results if biotin is used in the testing process, so we advise leaving off any supplement containing Biotin for 3-5 days before any blood test.

[Prater in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank u for your quick response am having my anti bodies test done this weeks. I took b12 supplements for 1 week then I stopped. And i do not take any vitamin supplement apart from vitamin D.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Prater]

In that case, I would discuss your B12 result with your GP to investigate why it is so high without supplementing

b12-vitamin.com/blood-levels/

If you come back with your antibody levels when you've received the results, members can comment. And as mentioned, FT3 is important to be tested at the same time as FT4 - GP may not be able to get this done as it's the lab that makes the decision to carry out FT3 testing, usually only when TSH is suppressed. You might want to consider private testing with one of ThyroidUK's recommended labs, which many of us have to do.

[Prater]

Hi thank you for your quick response I am taking 50mg Levo and am having my anti bodies test done this week private. So I will know what my T3 is. Can I repost my results to you again in a new post.

[Hidden in reply to Prater]

Yes post the new ones including the ranges.

[Prater in reply to Hidden]

Hi I have updates the new results. Thank u