Please help with blood results

[Damseltree]

First time tested last week.

TSH 3.8 ( 0.30 - 4.20 mU/L

Free T4 13.7 ( 12.00 -22.00 pmol/L)

Vit d 68 (51 - 9999 nmol/L )

Already on b12 injections but still terrible tiredness. Sleep after breakfast after 8 or 9 hours sleep at night. Weak legs. Still numbness in leg and foot. Saw locum GP who says all in range no action,come back in 3 months.

Desparate for help.

Thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Yes they are in range but your TSH is too high for a normal healthy person (it would be no more than 2 in a healthy person) and your FT4 is rather low for a normal healthy person (it would be around mid-range). However, all GPs look at is whether a result is within range or not, they ignore symptoms unfortunately. Your TSH result would give you a diagnosis of hypothyroidism in some countries where they diagnose at a level of 3, here in the UK we have to wait until it reaches 10.

**

Your Vit D is on the low side and the Vit D Council/Vit D Society recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L. If you would like to supplement to improve your level then the Vit D Council suggests 3000-4000iu D3 daily to raise your current level to the recommended level.

Retest after 3 months.

When 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

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 D3 as 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 magnesium as tablets/capsules, no necessity if using topical forms of magnesium.

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

drjockers.com/best-magnesiu...

afibbers.org/magnesium.html

**

For a complete picture it would be best if you had a full thyroid and vitamin panel to include

TSH

FT4

FT3

Thyroid antibodies

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

Low nutrient levels can bring their own symptoms, some of which overlap with symptoms of hypothyroidism. Ferritin in particular needs to be at a good level for thyroid hormone to work properly, that includes our own thyroid hormone as well as replacement hormone.

If your GP can't or wont do the full testing then you could use one of our recommended private labs, hundreds of us here do this. The most popular tests which includes all the above tests are:

Medichecks Thyroid Check ULTRAVIT medichecks.com/thyroid-func... You can use code THYROIDUK for a 10% discount on any test not on special offer

or

Blue Horizon Thyroid Check PLUS ELEVEN bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk/t...

Both can be done as fingerprick tests or venous blood draw (extra cost) and include the full thyroid and vitamin panel. They are basically the same test but with the following small differences:

For the fingerprick test:

Blue Horizon requires 1 x microtainer of blood (0.8ml), Medichecks requires 2 x microtainers (total 1.6ml)

Blue Horizon includes Total T4 (can be useful but not essential). Medichecks doesn't include this test.

B12 - Blue Horizon does Total B12 which measures bound and unbound (active) B12 but doesn't give a separate result for each. Medichecks does Active B12.

Total B12 shows the total B12 in the blood. Active B12 shows what's available to be taken up by the cells. You can have a reasonable level of Total B12 but a poor level of Active B12. (Personally, I would go for the Active B12 test.)

I realise you are having B12 injections but the B12 test is part of the bundle and it's the cheapest way to get all tests done.

As you are having B12 injections, do you also take a B Complex to balance all the B vitamins?

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, coffee affects TSH so it's possible that other caffeine containing drinks may also affect TSH.

[* If taking thyroid hormone replacement, last dose of Levo should be 24 hours before blood draw, if taking NDT or T3 then last dose should be 8-12 hours before blood draw. Adjust timing the day before if necessary. This avoids measuring hormone levels at their peak after ingestion of hormone replacement. Take your thyroid meds after the blood draw. Taking your dose too close to the blood draw will give false high results, leaving any longer gap will give false low results.]

* 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 it can give false results (most labs use Biotin in the assay).

These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with doctors or phlebotomists.

[Damseltree in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you for such a full response.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Damseltree]

We see many people who start in B12 injections ....who are also hypothyroid

Getting vitamin D improved and testing folate ferritin and both thyroid antibodies essential as well as TSH, Ft4 and Ft3

Come back with new post once you get results

[Colega]

Are you taking iodine and its cofactors magnesium, vitamin C and selenium? If not, please seek an *iodine-literate* doctor. Mine essentially saved my life with iodine, appropriate supplements and proper testing. Read the book, The Iodine Crisis, by Lynne Farrow.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

[Damseltree in reply to Colega]

Thank you for all these helpful comments. I will have more tests and suppliment with D3. Also consider finding a good nutritionalist.