Hi I finally have had my first private Blue Horizon Thyroid Plus Eleven blood tests done and I am posting the results here in the hope that advice can be given to me about what they mean please?
I am on 100 umg of Levothyroxine and 12.5 umg of T3 (which I source privately) and was feeling great up until about six weeks ago but now I feel a lot more tired, my weight is increasing and my eyes are starting to bulge again. I wonder if my results can indicate what might (if anything) be the cause for this please?
I had a TT last April and have felt pretty good on the whole but have definitely started to notice that I am more tired, that my weight is creeping up and that I feel quite agitated and a little depressed and a bit tearful and generally not myself though I still feel a lot better than I did pre-TT. I am also 52 years of age so am peri-menopausal as well which may be contributing to my symptoms.
I hope I have given enough information here for some sound advice and I do thank everyone in advance who can help me with these results.
Thank you so much for this wonderful forum and for the information I have so far received from it.
The thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level is low. If you are already taking thyroxine, dose adjustment may be necessary - you should discuss this with your usual doctor. If you are not taking thyroxine, it would be wise to keep an eye on this level - either by reference to previous results if known or by checking TSH again in 6 months’ time or so. There is a possibility that hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland) will develop if the TSH fails to rise (a low TSH implies excessive thyroxine production from the thyroid gland).
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Just a comment on the feedback from your bloods. I'm told that Blue Horizon don't ask what type of medication you are taking so won't know that TSH will be suppressed and FT4 can fall in its range. There may be a little room to increase your medication looking at your FT3 but I feel the main issue could well be your vits etc. We tend to be low so many of us need to supplement for life but essential to check Vit D, B12, folate and ferritin. Your have results for three but you need ferritin as well. The results need to be optimal to help our thyroid work better so Vit D needs to be higher, B12 Isn't too bad but ranges are often on the low side but neurological problems can appear if results under 500 so 500+ seems a logical target to aim for. Ferritin beats to be at least 70 and folate needs to be at least halfway in its range. So these will help your thyroid work much better if optimal, not just in range, can help conversion, can lessen or even negate some symptoms so well worth doing that but be aware it's not a quick fix but can take time depending on how low, to get improvement but well worth the effort.
Hi Jaxie. I'm doing the same blood test next week so will follow this post and see what they say on mine. I too have had a TT back in January 2016. Now struggling with a few things I'm interested in seeing what I can do on this forever saga!
I find I always get good response from the people on here who know so much more than I.
Did you reduce the amount of Levo when you added T3?
I am on a combination of Levo and self sourced T3, and it is a fine balancing act with the doses, and a lot of tweaking to find the dose that suits us best.
We all have a point in the reference range where we feel best - tweaking doses and retesting 6-8 weeks later helps us here. I found that a low in range FT4 makes me very unwell, I need both FT4 and FT3 about 75% through their ranges. Other people do well with a low FT4 as long as their FT3 is in a good place.
There is room to improve your FT3 level, but you may or may not need a higher FT4 as well.
Also important is to have optimal nutrient levels so that the thyroid hormone can work properly. Yours clearly aren't optimal.
Ferritin 43.2 (13 - 150 ug/L)
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...
Vitamin D (25 OH) 64nmol/L
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].
The Vit D Council suggests, to reach the recommended level from your current level to take 3,700iu D3 daily
Retest in 3 months. 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 an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:
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
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 454 (Deficient <145 pmol/L)
454pmol/L is the same as 615pg/ml. 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 your level isn't too bad, if you are in the older age group you may want it nearer 1000pg/ml which is the same as 738pmol/L.
Sometimes we can have a good serum B12 result (yours is serum B12) but out Active B12 isn't good. Active B12 is what is available to be taken up by the cells. It's a bit like the difference between Total T4/T3 and Free T4/T3.
Serum Folate 15.60 (8.83 - 60.8 nmol/L)
Folate should be at least half way through it's range, which is 35+ with that range. Eating folate rich foods can help, as can supplementing with a good B Complex containing 400mcg methylfolate (not folic acid) such as Thorne Basic B or Igennus Super B. Both contain methylcobalamin as well and that should raise your B12 level.
Anti-Thyroidperoxidase abs 26.2 <34 kIU/L
Anti-Thyroglobulin Abs <10 <115 kU/L
Your Tg antibodies are nice and low but I would say your TPO antibodies, although in range, are on the higher side. Some members have had success in reducing antibodies by adopting a gluten free diet, something maybe to look into and think about.
Dear SeasideSusie thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me. I will take Magnesium from now on and increase my Vitamin D levels. Do you know where I could get Iron; Ferritin and Folate supplements as I am not keen on liver or getting it from my food as I may not get that right? This is my first private blood test so I don't know what my ranges were before as I was only told by my Consultant that my thyroid levels were within range which is why I am taking things into my own hands to try to make myself feel better. Do you know why my eyes might be bulging more lately? Could this be that my thyroid medication needs increasing? I have increased and decreased my T3 according to whether I feel anxious on it or not and feel that the dose I am on now does not give me anxiety as higher levels did. Also, if I increase my Levothyroxine, will I put on even more weight? I am not sure about a lot of things and your advice is gratefully appreciated.
Folate will be taken care of with one of the supplements I mentioned.
Iron is complicated. The trouble is you only have a Ferritin level. If you start taking iron tablets and your serum iron is already high, then iron tablets would make the serum iron even higher so wouldn't be a good idea. This is why I never suggest iron tablets.
Bulging eyes are generally connected with thyroid eye disease and Graves disease/over active thyroid. Do you gave Graves? I have no experience of it but there is some information here
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