SeasideSusieAdministrator

katrina100

To find previous posts, you go to your profile and all your posts/replies will be there. Click onto your avatar or your username to take you there.

healthunlocked.com/user/kat...

Ferritin 160ug/L (20.0-275.0)

So your ferritin has reduced from last time when it was 229ug/L (13-150).

Your Full Blood Count is all within range except for RBC which is slightly high. You can read about RBC here labtestsonline.org.uk/tests...

Apart from Ferritin, your vitamin results are those given in our previous post and advice given at that time.

Active B12 59.900 Pmol/L (37.5-188)

Your Active B12 is below the level of 70 where Viapath at St Thomas' Hospital suggests testing for B12 deficiency, as explained in reply to your previous post

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Did you check or signs of B12 deficiency and discuss this with your GP as suggested previously?

Folate 4.66ug/L (>3.89)

Again, this was discussed before. What have you done about it?

25 OH Vit. D 61.4 nmol/L (50-175)

Advice was given previously about the dose of D3 that is recommended by the Vit D Council last time. Have you increased your dose? Are you not taking magnesium and Vit K2-MK7 as mentioned before?

TSH 1.57 mu/L (0.35-5.0)

This is lower than last time, were F4 and FT3 not tested this time?

Have thyroid antibodies been tested?

From your thyroid results, there doesn't appear to be a problem. The problem would seem to lie with your vitamins, which you should aim to optimise and then see how things are.

katrina100 in reply to SeasideSusie

I forgot to say, I had tried a B12 spray from BetterYou but it upset my stomach, I wasn’t sure about taking a capsule/tablet form of it, is it a good form for absorption?

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SeasideSusieAdministrator in reply to katrina100

Sublingual methylcobalamin should be absorbed well as it bypasses the stomach.

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katrina100 in reply to SeasideSusie

Thanks I'll look it up.

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SlowDragonAdministrator in reply to katrina100

I found Better You B12 gave terrible stomach ache first time I tried it, was fine after that

But I didn't really like the taste

You could try Jarrow sublingual B12.

amazon.co.uk/Jarrow-Methylc...

Or

Supplementing a good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in not folic acid may be beneficial. Rather than folic acid

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

B vitamins best taken in the morning after breakfast

Recommended brands on here are Igennus Super B complex. (Often only need one tablet per day, not two. Certainly only start with one tablet per day after breakfast. Retesting levels in 6-8 weeks ).

Or Jarrow B-right is popular choice, but is large capsule

If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

Vitamin D - Better aYou vitamin D mouth spray is good as avoids gut. You are likely to need higher dose than 1000iu.....but see how you get on and retest after 2-3 months

vitamindtest.org.uk

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radd

katrina100,

Have you ever had TPOAb & TGAb (thyroid antibodies) measured ?

katrina100 in reply to radd

Yes, they are normal.

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katrina100

Hi.

Thank you, I’ve followed your advice and have found them, I just couldn’t access them!

I have increased my Vit.D to 1000iu per day, I had planned to work it up, I have a sensitive stomach and wasn’t sure if it would affect it.

I bought a Magnesium Chloride gel (100mg in 1ml) I tried Magnesium chloride tablets, they gave me terrible nausea and diahorrea, I still have to be careful with the gel but it’s easier to control the dose.

My GP insisted my B12 is normal, “it’s within normal range”, and refused to do anymore about it.

I did forget about the Vit.K2-MK7, I’ll look at that again. Thank you.

F4 and FT3, again Doctor not interested as my TSH is normal. Is FT3 not the test I had - Free T3 5.21 - or is it something different?

I wondered about having a RT3 test privately. Would this be useful?

So nothing I’ve tried so far is helping 🙁 I just feel rubbish.

Thanks for replying.

SeasideSusieAdministrator in reply to katrina100

F4 and FT3, again Doctor not interested as my TSH is normal. Is FT3 not the test I had - Free T3 5.21 - or is it something different?

You had FT4 and FT3 tested in February according to results posted, they are not included in the other set of results, only TSH.

I wondered about having a RT3 test privately. Would this be useful?

Very unlikely and a waste of money in my opinion. There are many, many causes of rT3, not just thyroid, and a test will tell you if it is high but not why it is high. Where it's connected with the thyroid, there's usually a high FT4 result and a low FT3 result which indicates that rT3 is being made rather than FT3. You don't have a high FT4.

My GP insisted my B12 is normal, “it’s within normal range”, and refused to do anymore about it.

Did you show your GP the information from St Thomas' Hospital?

Did you check the list of signs/symptoms of B12 deficiency - do you have any? It's not the numbers that matter with B12, it's symptoms.

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katrina100 in reply to SeasideSusie

Yes I do have quite a few symptoms that are on the list. Tinnitus, dizzyness, exhaustion, gastric symptoms...... and more.

I tried to show him what I had printed, he wasn't interested. From this chat I'm thinking I should try another GP, we have several in our surgery.

Thank you for your great advice, now and previously.

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SlowDragonAdministrator in reply to katrina100

You have low folate and low B12

They work together

Ask GP to test both

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

Vitamin D is still far too low

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katrina100 in reply to SlowDragon

Thank you. I'm going to see if I can get an appointment with another GP and take all the information with me again.

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katrina100 in reply to SeasideSusie

Sorry can I just ask, I have been told today there is a six week wait for a GP appointment! I’m not an emergency apparently! I feel pretty unwell, would I be better off paying and having a Viapath Test done, or is it acceptable buying and trying a Vit B12 and Folic supplement now and seeing if it makes a difference. Having today read lots of information from the sites you gave me links for, I understand that it would skew blood results, but if I can’t get to see a GP for ages, even if I had a Viapath Test done, I don’t know what to do for the best.

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SeasideSusieAdministrator in reply to katrina100

Considering Viapath at St Thomas' suggests testing for B12 deficiency, and you have some symptoms, personally I wouldn't start supplementing. If you have Pernicious Anaemia or B12 deficiency you may need B12 injections, so jumping in with self supplementing before you know if you do need them would, in my opinion, be shooting yourself in the foot because supplementing will skew your results and mask the signs of deficiency.

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katrina100 in reply to SeasideSusie

Thank you, I'll get the Vialath test and see what it shows.

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katrina100 in reply to katrina100

I managed to get an emergency appointment today, which was lucky. A locum doctor who is retesting all my levels doing a bigger screening of my thyroid and is going to arrange for B12 injections based on my levels from Feb and April, to see if it gives me an improvement. Thanks for all your advice.

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katrina100 in reply to SeasideSusie

Hi SeasideSusie. I have results back from a blood test this week. Again I’ve been told ‘normal no action’ Yes they are slightly higher than the last ones, but I still feel rubbish! Are they worth tackling the doctor over?

Serum B12 - 324ng/L (180.0-914.0)

Serum Folate - 8.3ug/L (2.7-34.0)

Free T4 - 12.3 pmol/L (9.0-20.0)

Total 25-hydroxy vitamin D level - 76nmol/L (50.0-150.0)

Serum calcium - 2.40mmol/L (2.2-2.6)

Calcium adjusted - 2.34mmolL (2.2-2.6)

Serum Albumin - 43g/L (35-50)

Inorganic phosphate Level - 1.15 mol/L (0.8-1.5)

Alkaline phosphatase level - 105 is/L (30.0-130.0)

Taken at 9am.

I can’t work out the B12 level, it’s a different reading to the private one I had, which was ng/L.

Thank you.

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SeasideSusieAdministrator in reply to katrina100

katrina100

Serum B12 - 324ng/L (180.0-914.0)

I can’t work out the B12 level, it’s a different reading to the private one I had, which was ng/L.

Active B12 59.900 Pmol/L (37.5-188)

If you mean the Active B12 test is the private one (and the NHS don't do this test normally, I believe), then you have two different B12 tests here.

Serum B12 tests the total B12 in your blood, Active B12 tests just the B12 that is available to be taken up by the cells, this test is more useful. If you have been started on B12 injections then you are getting what you need but it would have been useful if you'd had the further testing done because that should tell you if you had Pernicious Anaemia or B12 deficiency. Pernicious Anaemia is a common cause of B12 deficiency but not the only cause:

pernicious-anaemia-society....

If you want further clarification of this then you could ask on the Pernicious Anaemia forum, my knowledge is limited to what I have already said

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

Serum Folate - 8.3ug/L (2.7-34.0)

This is low, it's recommended to be at least half way through range. As you are having B12 injections, then to balance all the B vitamins you should take a good B Complex (although your GP probably doesn't know this and certainly wont prescribe one). Consider Thorne Basic B or Igennus Super B, both are good quality supplements with the bioavailable forms of active ingredients. Steer clear of cheap, high street or supermarket brands.

Total 25-hydroxy vitamin D level - 76nmol/L (50.0-150.0)

Still too low. This was discussed in previous post so you know what to aim for and what dose to take, plus D3's cofactors.

Free T4 - 12.3 pmol/L (9.0-20.0)

This is low in range. Do you have TSH and FT3 results from this new test? You wont get a diagnosis of hypothyroidism unless TSH is at least over range, most doctors wait until it reaches 10.

Other test results are all in range, no red flags with any of them.

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katrina100 in reply to SeasideSusie

These were bloods requested by a locum doctor. I was told on Monday that the partners are not happy about giving me the B12 injections, so no I’m not on them. The blood tests were not all she promised either so the Thyroid T4 was all she did! I’m really disappointed, thought I was actually getting somewhere.

After the blood test I started using Biocare B12 and Zinc & Folate Drops but only one drop of B12 and two of Folate, I wanted to see if they made any difference to how I felt. Maybe I should stop and have the Viapath test done.

My TSH has never got to 10 so I doubt the GP is going to help me there either. Just feel so unwell.

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katrina100 in reply to SeasideSusie

I think the private testing is the way to go. I will go through all your advice, especially all the supplements but not until I’ve tested again. I just wonder if the Viapath test showed anything if my GP will ignore them. I’ve had the feeling this week they are watching their budgets extremely carefully 🙁

Thanks again for all your help.

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katrina100

I was offered an op to remove them and reduce my thyroid as I get food stuck in my throat, feels like a shelf if that makes sense. I’ve been told I can request to have it done when I’m ready. I wasn’t keen on the idea.