Blood results

[Shardy5]

Good morning - I would love some feedback on an overall blood test I had done with medicheck and any advice on next steps would be brilliant !

Brief background - I’m 42 - have been taking 50mg sertraline for the past 2 years but have just generally felt rubbish for a while - tiredness / no energy / poor sleep - hence the blood tests.

My results that were flagged up suggest under active thyroid ? and iron deficiency

TSH 8.53 ( 0.2 - 4.2 r )

Free t3 5.57 ( 3.1 - 6.8 r )

Free thyroxine 13.4 ( 12 - 22 r )

Ferritin 14.1 ( 13 - 150 r )

Vit B12 51.3 ( 37.5 - 188 r)

Vit D 45.8 ( 50 - 175 r )

[Dadondadda]

Well, that's not a difficult diagnosis.

I'm not sure about the vitamin D as there are no ranges given but you obviously need some supplements and thyroid medication.

[Dadondadda in reply to Dadondadda]

Yep, see you've added in the ranges, and now we know you also need vitamin D.

Vitamin D and Ferritin that low can cause some unpleasant symptoms - b12 is just on the borderline. $30 at the grocery store, and you can bring those up.

[Shardy5 in reply to Dadondadda]

Thankyou - quite surprised at the low b12 - I already take a oral spray as I don’t eat animal products. Will look into iron supplements although I can’t tolerate the small doses in multi vits!

[Dadondadda in reply to Shardy5]

I know there are different types of iron preparations. Try them all if you have to, to see what works. But that's very low. The lab range for iron is low generally, as iron inadequacy is very common, and you're on the very bottom.

Anyways. Cheers. Hope you feel better.

[MaisieGray]

Can you edit your post to add the reference ranges, as they can differ from lab to lab and not everyone is familiar with those used by Medichecks.

[Shardy5 in reply to MaisieGray]

I’ve edited the post.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Your results shout out hypothyroidism, probably autoimmune thyroid disease

Your TSH is high

FT4 very low

You need both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested

Hypothyroidism badly affects gut function leading to poor nutrient absorption

Clearly your vitamin levels reflect this

See you GP. You will need starting on 50mcg Levothyroxine and bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks later

The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 and FT4 in top third of range

Very important to improve vitamin levels at the same time

Good vitamins are needed for good thyroid function

Are you in the UK? Is vitamin D measured in nmol?

Once you confirm units can add some more info

B12 is EXTREMELY low. GP will be Testing for Pernicious Anaemia before starting on B12 injections. Several B12 injections over 2-3 weeks to start with, most likely

Folate needs testing, frequently too low as well

Suggest you post B12 results on PAS healthunlocked for advice too

Ferritin is very low. GP will need to do full iron panel before very likely prescribing 2 or 3 ferrous fumerate iron supplements per day

Very important to test for thyroid antibodies to see if cause is autoimmune thyroid disease

Depression is common symptom of hypothyroidism. This should improve as your levels improve

List of hypothyroid symptoms

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[Shardy5 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thankyou for your response - yes I’m in Uk and the vit d is nmol/L.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Shardy5]

Vitamin D is too low.

GP should prescribe 1600iu daily for 6 months

clinox.info/clinical-suppor...

GP will only prescribe to get vitamin D to 50nmol

But ideally Aiming to improve to at least 80nmol and around 100nmol may be better . To do so you will need to self supplement

Vitamin D mouth spray by Better You is good as avoids poor gut function.

It's trial and error what dose each person needs.

Once you Improve level, you may need on going maintenance dose to keep it there.

Retesting twice yearly via vitamindtest.org.uk

Government recommends everyone supplement October to April

gov.uk/government/news/phe-...




Low Vitamin D is extremely common when hypothyroid

[Shardy5 in reply to SlowDragon]

so I've had a GP appt today and was basically told my blood results were within normal range - I was quite gobsmacked tbh! He reluctantly agreed to do a repeat blood test which I'm going back for- ' just to check if theres a pattern ' but overall was pretty unhelpful - got to admit I'm feeling pretty let down. I will see another Dr with the next results - but is this a pretty common response ?? I work in the medical profession myself so I'm not an easy pushover but felt like I was banging my head against a wall !

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Shardy5]

Jesus wept ,.... they get worse

No wonder there's almost 100,000 members on here

See a different GP at same practice

Point out you have high thyroid antibodies, thus confirms you have autoimmune thyroid disease

Your TSH is ABOVE range

Vitamins, suggest you self supplement.

Only start one at a time and wait at least ten days to assess before adding another

Starting with just vitamin D

Aiming to improve vitamin D to at least 80nmol and around 100nmol may be better .

Vitamin D mouth spray by Better You is good as avoids poor gut function of Hashimoto's

Suggest you supplement 2000iu for 2-3 months and retest.

It's trial and error what dose each person needs. With Hashimoto's we often need more than average

Once you Improve level, very likely you will need on going maintenance dose to keep it there.

Retesting twice yearly via vitamindtest.org.uk

Local CCG guidelines

clinox.info/clinical-suppor...

Government recommends everyone supplement October to April

gov.uk/government/news/phe-...

Ferritin is rock bottom. You need full iron panel before at least starting on ferrous fumerate supplements. But an iron infusion may be quicker way of improving levels if iron is as low as ferritin

You don't have folate test and vitamin B12 is very low

Insist that GP tests for Pernicious Anaemia before starting any B vitamins

Taking a supportive friend or family member along to next appointment as witness may produce better outcome

Email Dionne at Thyroid Uk for list of recommended thyroid specialists

please email Dionne at

[e-mail]

[Shardy5 in reply to SlowDragon]

thank you for the quick reply! I've just been for repeat blood tests and I've booked appt with another ' better' Gp but unfortunately cant get in any earlier than beginning of May!

Already take a really high Vit D 10000 iu tab that's obviously not doing anything but I've just had the Betterforyou vegan oral spray coincidently in a monthly box today so will switch to that. I already use the B12 oral spray

My folate result was 11.48 ug/L (r>3.89)

Again many thanks for your advice!