Hi,
Wow, what a service from Medichecks. I have today received my blood results after posting them on Thursday.
Could someone please help by putting the results into layman's terms? And telling me what I need to do?
I am going gluten free as of today....see my previous post. I am currently only taking 25mg of levothyroxine.
Many thanks in advance .
nessa263
TSH: 7.52 (0.27-4.2)
FT4: 19.6 (12-22)
There is something not right to have such a high TSH and a high FT4. With your FT4 level one would expect to see your TSH down to around 1-ish. With your TSh level, one would expect to see your FT4 very low in range and yours is 76% through the range, just about perfect.
It would seem that there is a false result here due possibly to a couple of reasons.
If you had doctor's comments from Medichecks, what did they say about this?
When did you take your last dose of Levo before the test?
Ferritin and folate are good.
Active B12 is OK, below 70 would suggest testing for B12 deficiency, I would want mine over half way through range (over 112).
Vit D is dire. Below 25 is Vit D deficiency. The cut off point used to be 30. You could ask your GP if he is willing to prescribe loading doses normally used for Vit D deficiency, if not and you are offered 800iu then that wont help.
If that was my result l would follow the previous NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary for Vit D deficiency below 30, and that would be to take loading doses totalling 300,000 over a number of weeks.
You could take 5000iu daily for 2 months (or any other combination to reach 300,000iu) and then retest.
The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L (50ng/ml) and the Vit D Society recommends a level of 100-150nmol/L (40-60ng/ml). They suggest 4,900iu daily to raise your current level to their recommended level but 5000iu is the nearest you can get.
vitamindcouncil.org/i-teste...
Once you've reached the recommended level then you'll need a maintenance dose to keep it there, 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:
There are important cofactors needed when taking D3 as recommended by the Vit D Council -
vitamindcouncil.org/about-v...
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.
naturalnews.com/046401_magn...
Check out the other cofactors too (some of which can be obtained from food).
Thanks for this. It doesn't really say anything about it in the doctors report apart from I may be developing hypothyroidism and shold see my doctor. I took levothyroxine 24 hours before. Do you think I should retest?
nessa263
I took levothyroxine 24 hours before
OK. I was just wondering if you'd taken it on the morning of the test which would have given a false high FT4, but obviously that's not the case.
Next question then is did you take Biotin or a B Complex containing Biotin (B7) in the week before the test?
Or maybe there's something wrong with the feedback loop and the signal between the pituitary - which produces TSH - and the thyroid isn't working properly.
If you want to retest then I would use another company, maybe Blue Horizon as they don't use County Pathology any more as far as I know, which is probably the lab which did your Medichecks test.
I had a multi vitamin with biotin in during the week I think.
Is it worth going to a private endocrinologist?
Is it worth going to a private endocrinologist?
Some people have found it worthwhile, some have found it to be a waste of time and money, you would have to choose very carefully.
If you think you took biotin in the week before the test, then before spending any money on seeing a private endo, I would repeat the test, ensuring you don't take biotin for a week, possibly with another company - maybe Blue Horizon as they use a different lab. As far as I am aware Medichecks use County Pathology, I think Thriva also uses County Pathology, and Blue Horizon uses The Doctors Laboratory and another one possibly.
Just wanted to say thanks. I know how frequently you comment and help people out, and it really is appreciated. I have done my research and hopefully my supplements will arrive tomorrow.
I had a multi vitamin with biotin in during the week I think
It's possible that may have given a false result then. Medichecks have confirmed that we should leave any biotin supplement off for a week.
nessa263,
Your thyroid hormone test results aren't usual. As they stand they support thyroid hormone resistance or a pituitary tumor. What did the Medichecks doc advise ?
Have you been supplementing biotin which can influence TSH result, so giving a false ? If not, you could try another test offering a different TSH assay.
Low Vit D needs supplementing as advised by SsS above, and thyroid antibodies are elevated indicating Hashimotos. You may have been having Hashimoto attack when blood was drawn ?
.
endocrinenews.endocrine.org...
The doctors report didn't say anything apart from I should go to the doctors as I may be developing hypothyroidism!
Which alternative test would you recommend?
nessa263,
Are you supplementing biotin ?
Depending on the particular assay, biotin can influence results to be either falsely high or low. TSH antibodies can interfere further and even FT4/3 results can be skewed.
Repost your question as there are others more informed than I regarding what type of immunoassay's you should be looking at.
Maybe a diogenes question ?
Not all assays use the streptavidin-biotin reaction as part of the measurement. Unfortunately, its the most used ones that do.
This paper shows it is the Roche Cobas Assay system that is interfered with by biotin
Cureus. 2018 Jun; 10(6): e2845.
Published online 2018 Jun 20. doi: 10.7759/cureus.2845
PMCID: PMC6103391
PMID: 30140596
Effect of High-dose Biotin on Thyroid Function Tests: Case Report and Literature Review
Monitoring Editor: Alexander Muacevic and John R Adler.
Arash Ardabilygazir, Sonia Afshariyamchlou, Danial Mir, and Issac Sachmechi
Roche Cobas Assay
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