I went to the Dr today and asked if I could have the following checked: TSH; FT4; FT3; TGAb; TPOAb; Vit B12 (active); Folate; Vit D; Ferritin; CRP-hs. He was agreeable to all of them except for the TGAb and TPOAb. He said those two aren't necessary as I have already been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. Is that your understanding too?
Also the B12 blood test he has requested hasn't been marked as "active". Does that make a difference?
He has asked them to test for other things as well like autoimmune conditions, cholesterol, diabetes etc.
My main concern is that the antibodies have been missed off the test and I wondered if they were absolutely necessary.
Thanks as ever for your answers and wisdom.
Written by
Keto4Me
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
NHS doesn't offer Active B12 test. The standard one is fine
Antibodies......perhaps these were tested when originally diagnosed with hypothyroidism. If so NHS refuses to retest
Do you have access to your medical record and blood test results online? If so look back and see if these were ever tested.
If never been tested then you can get just antibodies tested privately.....but suggest you wait until GP tests come back. NHS lab rarely tests FT3 even if GP requests. So you may need to consider ordering more than just testing antibodies privately
Thanks again. So it doesn't look like he's asked for FT4 or FT3 just TSH, T4 and T3 so I may as well treat myself to the Medicheck Thyroid Check Plus, which does TSH, TF4, TF3 and antibodies as I can see it being a battle asking them to look up a blood test from the 90s.
sorry, didn't see this...back in 2016. Partial thyroidectomy was because of a goitre with cysts pressing on my windpipe. So they removed some of my thyroid but then took too much. PT was done late 90s.
SeasideSusie replied on previous post in depth 18 days ago
Vitamin D - she recommended 4000iu daily.
Vitamin D is low. GP will only prescribe to bring vitamin D up to 50nmol. Aiming to improve vitamin D by self supplementing to at least 80nmol and around 100nmol may be better .
Vitamin D council recommend level 100nmol- 150nmol
Once you Improve level, you may need on going maintenance dose to keep it there.
Government recommends everyone supplement vitamin D between October and April
Eating liver or liver pate once a week, plus other iron rich foods like black pudding, prawns, spinach, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily vitamin C can help improve iron absorption
Thank you. I did save SeasideSusie's post and was very grateful to her but have not had chance/felt up to working through it all yet. Thanks again to you and Susie. I hope I have not come across as ungrateful. It must be infuriating when you see the same posts and even previous answers ignored/forgotten. Looking forward to getting rid of the brain fog
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
So I got my new results in. Everything but Vit D seems to be in range...
Serum folate level 4.3 ug/L [3.0 - 20.0]
Serum vitamin B12 level 309 ng/L [180.0 - 640.0]
Serum ferritin level 60 ug/L [15.0 - 200.0]
Serum vitamin D level 29.4 nmol/L [71.0 - 200.0]
TSH 1.68 mIU/L (this is from Medicheck)
TSH level 0.88 mu/L [0.35 - 4.94] this is from Dr both done on the same day with about a 2 hour difference in between, fasted, no medicine.
Free thyroxine 16 pmol/L
Free T3 4.46 pmol/L
TGAb <10 kU/L
TPOAb 15.9 kIU/L
Looks like my Dr was right all along about my thyroid and it's just the way I am. I shall start the Vit D spray today and gradually adding the other supplements that SeasideSusie kindly suggested.
Is it still worth me experimenting with NDT, do you think? Any thoughts please?
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
Ferritin is not bad. Might be better a little higher
Eating liver or liver pate once a week, plus other iron rich foods like black pudding, prawns, spinach, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily vitamin C can help improve iron absorption
Selenium supplements can help improve conversion of FT4 to FT3
Daily vitamin C helps support immune system and may help improve iron absorption too
Suggest you retest FULL Thyroid and vitamins in 2-4 months once worked on improving vitamins levels
Your vitamins are likely low because of being hypothyroid.
How much Levothyroxine are you currently taking?
Improving vitamins may increase TSH and show that you need more Levothyroxine
Many of us need FT4 near top of range (or over range) in order to get high enough FT3
Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, states in Pulse Magazine,
"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.
In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l.
Most patients will feel well in that circumstance.
But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.
This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is still within range "
You can obtain a copy of the articles from Thyroid UK email print it and highlight question 6 to show your doctor please
email Dionne at
tukadmin@thyroiduk.org
NHS postal kit for just vitamin D if not get full testing
Majority manage fine on high enough dose of Levothyroxine. Make sure it's same brand. Obviously the easiest option
Some of us eventually need addition of small dose of T3 either as Liothyronine or addition of NDT
Extremely difficult to get either prescribed in UK. T3 slightly easier, but high cost charged for T3 by pharmaceutical companies in UK (not rest of world) means extremely difficult, but not impossible, to get NHS prescription
NDT - loads of different makes. Takes a lot of experimentation to find which works best. Very difficult to get prescribed.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Home blood test kit, shocked how much blood you need to take, not sure I can do it!
Need Help with Blood Test
Need Help with understanding blood test.
Do I need to fast for Thyroid blood test?
What thyroid blood tests do I need? 
