I got a good deal with Thriva for a thyroid blood test. My mum, sister, aunt and grandmother all have underactive thyroids. I have been experiencing anxiety and tiredness for the past 6 months, so thought I would get a test. All normal, the tiredness is coming from low Vitamin D. I’ve been reading posts on this board and appreciate all your knowledge.
B12 Active - 104 pmol/L (37.5-188)
Ferritin 58.3 ug/L (13-150)
Folate 10.2 nmol/L (8.83 - 60.8) was within normal range, 40-60 is optimal
Thyroid
FT3 - 5.42 pmol/L (3.1-6.8)
TSH - 3.65 mIU/L (0.27 - 4.3)
TgAB- 14.3 kU/L ( 0 -115)
TPOAB - 16.3 kIU/L (0-34)
T4 - 103 nmol/L (66-188)
FT4 - 16.8 pmol/L (12-22)
Vit D - 27.3 nmol/L (50-175)
So my question.......
With my family history of thyroid problems, how often should I retest?
Every couple of years?
Your tiredness will be caused by a combination of low vitsmins and your struggling thyroid. But doctors will be resistant to treating you, so you may have a long wait to get worse until you will be treated. 
How often can i test bloods?
How often should gp test tsh when hypothroid.
How much T3 should I add?
New member- Blood Tests- what do you think?
Help with understanding test results
SETEHE
brackets are the dark green ‘optimal results’
That doesn't mean much when we can't see a picture of it, I'm afraid. And "optimal" is different for everyone, it's very individual where we each feel optimal.
So what is the actual range, usually the whole of the green bar and not just the "optimal" bit. For example, the range for FT4 will be 12-22 (I think it's the same as Blue Horizon and Medichecks range).
You can either edit your opening post and add the picture or you can post the range with your result.
Only the vitamin D needs looking at.
Yes, it definitely does, in fact I'd show that to your GP and ask if he's willing to prescribe loading doses as you are very close to Vit D deficiency which is diagnosed when level is <25nmol/L. If GP wont prescribe, come back and I can work out what you will need to take and also tell you the important cofactors needed when taking D3.
Your ferritin is also on the low side and that can be improved 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...
Your Active B12 is OK and folate is recommended to be at least half way through range so a good B Complex is needed there, eg Thorne Basic B or Igennus Super B.
Got it!! Amended the ranges.
Thank You. I’ll get booked into the GP regarding the Vitamin D. See what he suggests.
Thank You for your other advice too, i’ll Take a look at that article tonight.
I guess I’m thinking I will have thyroid problems as most the woman in my family will but maybe I won’t. Glad to have found out about the vitamin D.
That's great, thanks.
So, as mentioned, Active B12 is OK, folate is very low in the range so do consider either Thorne Basic B (my choice) or Igennus Super B and that will raise your folate and maintain, maybe even raise B12. Also look at folate rich foods. Ferritin should be increase over time with liver, etc.
Do come back and tell us what your GP says about your Vit D. If he offers you 800iu or 1,000iu D3 then that wont help at all, you need much, much more than that. The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L and the Vit D Society recommends 100-150nmol/L so that should be your aim (regardless of what your GP says!).
Thyroid
TSH - 3.65 mIU/L (0.27 - 4.3)
Here is a graph showing the TSH level of normal healthy people
web.archive.org/web/2004060...
You will see that most people without any thyroid problems will have a TSH level of around 1, certainly no more than 2, so your TSH level is high in it's range and in some countries hypothyroidism is diagnosed when TSH reaches 3. Here in the UK our doctors tend to mostly be sadists and make us wait until it reaches 10.
FT4 - 16.8 pmol/L (12-22)
Most normal healthy people without a thyroid problem will have FT4 around mid-range, maybe a bit higher. Yours is 48% through range.
FT3 - 5.42 pmol/L (3.1-6.8)
Your FT3 is 54% through range so you are making a good amount of T3 at the moment (T4 is a storage hormone which converts to T3, T3 is the active hormone which every cell in our bodies need).
T4 - 103 nmol/L (66-188)
This is Total T4 and not a particularly useful test, the Free T4 (FT4) is the more useful test as it tells us the amount of free (unbound) T4 that is available to be taken up by the cells.
TgAB- 14.3 kU/L ( 0 -115)
TPOAB - 16.3 kIU/L (0-34)
These results are negative for autoimmune thyroid disease. However, antibodies do fluctuate so it's possible that a future test may show a different result. If you had over range antibodies with an over range TSH (not necessarily reaching 10) then that would indicate possible future hypothyroidism and an enlightened doctor would hopefully start you on Levo.
I think at the moment, concentrate on Vit D (do come back and say what's happening and I will elaborate on what else you need to take with D3 and the importance of future testing), and folate levels.
As for retesting your thyroid, I would suggest doing this in 6 months' time when the supplements will have had time to improve your nutrient levels (don't forget the liver for ferritin level). You need to keep an eye on that TSH and if it continues to rise then you may be heading towards hypothyroidism.
When doing thyroid tests, we advise:
* Book the first appointment of the morning, or with private tests at home no later than 9am. This is because TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day. If we are looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, or looking for an increase in dose or to avoid a reduction then we need TSH to be as high as possible.
* Fast overnight - have your evening meal/supper as normal the night before but delay breakfast on the day of the test and drink water only until after the blood draw. Eating may lower TSH, caffeine containing drinks affect TSH.
* If you take Biotin or a B Complex containing Biotin (B7), leave this off for 7 days before any blood test. This is because if Biotin is used in the testing procedure (which most labs do) it can give false results.
These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with doctors or phlebotomists
Wow thank You. This is fantastic.
I've booked in with the GP for Friday, so we will see what is suggested.
I really do appreciate the advice.
1000iu vit D to be taken per day.
I have to pay for prescription so he’s recommended I source my own as it’s cheaper.
He’s added a reminder on my record to come in for repeat thyroid test in 6 months time.
SETEHE
Vit D - 27.3 nmol/L (50-175)
1000iu vit D to be taken per day.
OK, so refer back to my previous post where I said:
"Do come back and tell us what your GP says about your Vit D. If he offers you 800iu or 1,000iu D3 then that wont help at all, you need much, much more than that. The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L and the Vit D Society recommends 100-150nmol/L so that should be your aim (regardless of what your GP says!)."
Your GP has suggested exactly what I thought, a minimal amount which wont raise your level, 1000iu D3 daily is barely a maintenance dose for someone with a decent level already. You are barely above Vit D Deficiency level so need much more.
To reach the recommended level from your current level, based on the Vit D Council's suggestions you could supplement with 5,000iu D3 daily.
Retest after 3 months.
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:
vitamindtest.org.uk/
Doctors don't know, because they're not taught much about nutrients, but 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 Vit 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...
drjockers.com/best-magnesiu...
afibbers.org/magnesium.html
D3 tablets and capsules aren't very well absorbed. For best absorption go for oil based softgels, eg Doctor's Best which only contains 2 ingredients - D3 and extra virgin olive oil - (widely available on the internet, cheapest I have found is Dolphin Fitness). Some people like an oral spray, eg BetterYou, this is absorbed via the mucous membranes in the oral cavity, this form is more expensive than the softgels and contains quite a few excipients.
Vit K2-MK7 also comes in oil based softgels for good absorption.
Don't start all supplements at once, start with one, give it a week or two and if no adverse reaction then add the next one. Continue like this, if you do have any adverse reaction then you will know what caused it.
Thank You. Taken note and it looks like I have a lot to research.
Really useful, thank you for taking the time to help.
The GP said my Vitamin D was low 10 years ago, which is why my parathyroid gland was tested. I think it must have returned to normal, as we had full bloods taken with both pregnancies with no feedback.
I’ve just signed up to NHS SystmOne and can see all my previous bloods online. Just not my pregnancy ones. So going forward any NHS blood tests I can research the results myself. Rather than taking ‘they are fine’ for an answer