Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read all this & respond with any information, I really appreciate it & I'm at a dead end now with everyone thinking I'm imagining it all.
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Black789
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These results show a TSH higher than one would normally see in a healthy person, it would generally be no more than 2. However, your actual hormone levels are good. Your antibodies are low so don't indicate autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) but apparently you can have Hashi's without raised antibodies.
Looking at your other results:
Your full blood count results are all in range, but your white blood cell count is quite low in range. Have you recently had an infection?
Vitamin D: 107 nmol/L
This is OK, the Vit D Council recommends 125nmol/L and the Vit D Society recommends 100-150nmol/L so there's no real worries here but as you have joint/muscle pain you could take a D3 supplement during the winter, retest in 3 months, and see how things are then. Maybe 2000iu daily.
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 if taking tablets/capsules/softgels, no necessity if using an oral spray.
You can get combined D3/K2 supplements so that might be worth looking at. No more than 90-100mcg K2 daily, that's enough for up to 10,000iu D3.
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 if taking tablets/capsules, no necessity if using topical forms of magnesium.
Check out the other cofactors too (some of which can be obtained from food).
Vitamin B12: 535.0 ng/L (211-900ng/L)
According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:
"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".
"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."
So this isn't too bad but you might want to boost it up a bit. Or go for an Active B12 test (Medichecks do one for £39) which tells you what's reaching the cells.
Serum folate: 8.3 (2.4-20.0)
Not too bad, recommended is half way through range so that would be 11.2+ with that range. You could take a good B Complex containing methylfolate (rather than folic acid). Thorne Basic B and Igennus Super B are both good quality ones with bioactive ingredients. And the methylcobalamin (B12) they contain should give your B12 that bit of a boost.
Ferritin: 17.5 (12-300)
Now, this is a problem.
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.
Looking at your FBC, as your MCV/MCH are within range, then iron deficiency anaemia is not suggested. However, as your ferritin is so low I'd ask your GP to do a full iron panel (or do an iron deficiency check with Medichecks - £39). We shouldn't supplement with iron unless we know the other levels within the panel. If serum iron is high then taking an iron supplement for low ferritin would make your serum iron even higher.
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...
Thank you so much SeasideSusie you are a wealth of knowledge on these subjects & I am very grateful!
I had been supplementing with a liquid Vitamin D & a magnesium spray for muscle pains & restless legs but no K2 so will purchase that asap.
Great idea suggesting the active vitamin b12 test as b12 deficiency did pop up a lot when searching my symptoms (along with thyroid issues) so I was surprised at the reading.
The article about low ferritin was super informative & it does piece together my worries about it being thyroid related. I will order the iron check as well as b12 & see how I get on from there. Let's hope I do better on the fingerprick tests lol.
I really can't thank you enough for your replies to all my posts this week, you have been nothing short of amazing. I feel like I have some options left to explore now other than antidepressants. Take care x
If you're going to order the 2 tests from Medichecks then just a little tip. Make 2 separate orders. This is because if you put 2 tests on the same order you will get them sent in one parcel and probably only get one return envelope. I find it difficult to fill 2 x microtainers but can manage one, so I do one test then wait a week to do the other one.
Well thank god I seen this as I just had 2 tests ready to checkout! I struggled filling the one tube for the thyroid test & who knows how many these will have. Thanks again, off to use the discount 😁
Oh, and for future reference ('cos I always forget this!), when taking a B Complex containing Biotin, or any supplement with Biotin in it, leave it off for 3-5 days before any blood test. This is because if Biotin is used in the testing process then it can give false results if supplementing with Biotin. I'm 99% sure that I asked Medichecks about this once and they confirmed they do use Biotin in the testing process.
TSH is not a thyroid hormone. It is produced by the pituitary gland and travels in the blood to the thyroid gland where it signals to the thyroid gland to produce more thyroid hormones.
T3 is the active thyroid hormone which controls the metabolism and therefore the symptoms. Your Free T3 is near the top of the normal range, which for most people would be good and means that you are not hypothyroid.
Your TSH is very unusual for your high in range Free T3. This with your hypothyroid symptoms could indicator of a genetic condition: Impaired Sensitivity to Thyroid Hormone (more often known as Thyroid Hormone Resistance). It causes hypothyroid symptoms and requires very high T3 levels (often above the top of the normal range) in the body to overcome the resistance.
As it is genetic if there are other family members with thyroid problems, fibromyalgia, CFS, ME, Coeliac Disease, MS, Heart Disease or depression this would further support this possibility. Even if you cannot identify any family history of this it is still possible that you have this condition.
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