I'll say right off the bat this isn't a thyroid issue, but I didn't know where else to post this and felt that the thyroid community & pernicious anaemia forums have the most expertise with blood tests, since their lives seem to be ruled by them!
I have had high Ferritin for over a year. Recently I had it retested at a new doctors and it is just going up and up. It is not hemochromatosis as my transferrin, saturation and iron are all normal range. This means it's probably an inflammation problem, a chronic one, given how long I've had it.
On my last blood test, my doctor was looking for possible autoimmune markers (at my request) and as well as the even higher ferritin it brought up high LDH- architect (Lactate dehydrogenase). This is in all tissues but is only released into the blood when tissue is damaged. In other words, I am experiencing cell death.
I've tried Googling the two things together and get zero result. Plenty of ideas for one and plenty for the other, but not for the two together. Has anybody any ideas for why these might be occurring together, or any experience of having these two things together?
Out of the choices for high LDH, it seems unlikely to be my liver, kidneys or a heart condition. The two most likely is muscle damage (I suspected Dermatomyositis, hence me asking her to check) and cancer. Obviously the idea of cancer worries me!
If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I'd be grateful to hear them. Thanks!
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One thing that might be helpful in identifying the source of a problem is a blood test for LDH which separates out the various kinds of LDH there are in the body. I don't know what such a test is called nor whether the NHS would offer such a test.
My emphasis :
LDH is an enzyme that makes it possible for the body to turn sugar into energy. LDH can be found in many tissues and organs, including the kidneys, pancreas, heart, liver, brain, blood cells and skeletal muscles, notes Healthline. There are five different types of LDH enzymes, and elevation of a particular enzyme or multiple enzymes can help make a diagnosis of certain disorders. For instance, when LDH-1 is higher than LDH-2, a heart attack may have occurred; when all LDH enzymes are elevated, it can be an indicator of failure of multiple organs, while elevation of LDH-4 an LDH-5 suggests liver damage, notes Healthline. Ongoing treatment for various conditions can be tracked through regular monitoring of LDH levels.
Thanks for those links, Humanbean. It's not a B12 deficiency because I have regular injections. I did see haemolytic anaemia listed and I remember once having a blood test some years ago where haemolytic anaemia might have been raised (I believe I had irregular shaped red blood cells) but I think it went with some condition/drug or another at the time. I'll need to have a look through my records and see. I've already tried PubMed but I'll have a go on Google Scholar - thanks for that.
P.S. Yes, I'd also seen that the enzymes can be tested for separately. Unless the doc has some rivetingly plausible theory she wants to follow ,I'm going to ask if they can be done to narrow the field.
I have had high Ferritin for a couple years now mine is double above the range at 300 and my CRP is 9 which means inflammation. I think this is because I have Graves' disease and high antibodies of 4000 and a multinodular goitre. I think you need further investigations myself. I am not medically trained but I have studied thyroid disease for over 10 years now.
I have just read your story and my cousin who is a similar age to me which is 60 had her gallbladder removed many years ago. Since then she has been unable to eat certain foods because she gets an upset stomach ... onions and fresh cream are couple of the foods. She is grossly overweight and I wonder if she also has a thyroid problem but she refuses to go to a doctor about it so I given up trying to help her now.
I am just adding that your CRP would be very high if it was cancer. I myself had a blood test a while ago because I thought I might have cancer because my mother died at a young age and I was concerned I might have it because of extreme weight loss .... it was Graves' disease.
B vitamins best taken in the morning after breakfast
Igennus Super B complex are nice small tablets.
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 Thorne Basic B or jarrow B-right are other options that contain folate, but both are large capsules
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
Hi SlowDragon, I am currently spacing my B12 injections out to have them less frequently. I think I'm at about 8 weeks apart at the moment. I used to have them every 4 weeks, but don't believe they are necessary that frequently any longer. I supplement with Vit D & magnesium, so no issues there either.
My PPI consumption is a problem, but I have oesophagitis and I just can't get off them. My thyroid is a bit more iffy. Yes, I do get slightly elevated results, but equally well they often drop right down to normal again. In the middle of this perfect storm of high ferritin and LDH, they dropped down to 2.6, I think it was. Perfectly normal. Even if it is slightly underactive I don't think it's severe enough for Levo to be helpful.
Ironically, on the day I got the lowest TSH result (it was 2.3) I had been fasting, as in no breakfast. The one taken two months before that was at 6 - the highest I've ever seen it. I'll be honest, I can't make head nor tail of my thyroid results, with a drastic drop like that in two months, and also, doctors - and female doctors at that - seem to have zero concern over my elevated thyroid results. I suppose being 63 and female means these are 'normal' to them. They certainly never suggest treating it and I don't have the heart to fight them for treatment, especially as I'm not even sure it's either a problem or THE problem. I don't think hypothyroidism causes rashes, does it? Although it may cause muscle pain and breathlessness?
P.S. Thanks for the graph, very interesting, if depressing. It certainly puts me in the dysfunctional range, but if that's so then why don't doctors give a damn?
Yeah, I know we are really lucky to have the NHS (or so they keep telling us) but sometimes I feel all that gratitude we are supposed to feel is like the gratitude the poor are supposed to have when someone throws them a copper or two - i.e. be grateful you've got something rather than nothing. I'm not exaggerating when I say I have never - never ever - gone into a doctor's and had them show an interest or concern in anything I am telling them. They want to drug you and dispense you. So if you have a complex problem, or a clusterf*ck of symptoms that 'could be anything' they do NOT want to know. I still haven't worked out a way of dealing with that. Taking one problem at a time ignores the big picture and never really resolves anything, but it gets you out the door, stumbling on, and they are happy with that.
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