Hello, I have been experiencing hair loss, cold hands/feet for about 3 years or so. And for the last few months I have been experiencing bad fatigue, brain fog and dry gritty eyes and thin eyebrows and also irregular periods. I recently did one of those blood tests online, where you send in a blood sample and your results get reviewed by a doctor. Anyway my tsh level came back a bit high, and the doctor said I might have subclinical hypothyroidism.
My results are as follows:
TSH: 6.58 miu/l
FT4: 12.4 pmol/L
Vitamin D: 16.1 nmol/L
Also my cholesterol came back as high, and I had some elevated liver enzymes. However iron and blood glucose etc were fine.
My question is does my blood results indicate possible hypothyroidism? Also can hypothyroidism cause high cholesterol and very low vitamin d?
Sorry it’s so long, any help appreciated thanks 😊
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Please could you add the ranges as labs vary. I think you are Hypo and not borderline. You also need FT3 and anti-bodies tested - TPO & Tg to rule out Hashimotos.
Low VitD and raised cholesterol are often linked to Hashimotos - raised liver enzymes too. You also need B12 - Folate - Ferritin tested as I think they too will be low.
Your VitD result is dire and needs good supplementation ASAP. Which company did you use ? Have you shown your GP ?
No I do not, as it was a general blood test I picked, so only had Tsh and ft4. As I had no idea I could have a thyroid issue, I just thought I was marginally anemic.
Ah thanks for your reply, I actually don’t cook with pure oil I use a low calorie spray called fry light, but maybe that isn’t healthy either. I read the PDF you sent, I do live in sun deprived Scotland, but I supplement with iron and vitamin d daily so I assumed I would be ok. I will need to visit my gp then I think, anyway thanks again for the reply.
How much VitD are you taking ? Very much doubt your GP will test the FT3 - they know so little about thyroid.
There are important co-factors to take with VitD - Magnesium and VitK2-MK7 ... Your VitD would be good around 100 so taking at least 5000 iu's daily should help. VitD is fat soluble so buy a gel capsule with olive oil. Test again at the end of winter.
Ferritin is good around 70 so you need to raise it either by supplementing or eating iron rich foods like liver or black pudding.
B12 also needs raising to around 70 so a GOOD B Complex should help. B12 by Jarrow Methylcobalamin also good to take alone initially.
Be prepared for a battle with your GP 😥 Let us know how things go - in a new post.
I’m going to get a full thyroid panel done, through Thriva this includes tsh, ft4, ft3 and antibodies. Here’s hoping my gp will accept bloods not done through the nhs. The level of vitamin d3 I take is 15mcg and b12 at 10mcg, which I realise now is probably not enough. I will contact my doctor ASAP, to get vitamin d supplements. As my mum had an undiagnosed thyroid issue for years, which resulted in her being extremely vitamin d deficient, thus developing osteoporosis.
Thanks for the help and supplement information, I will look online for a good supplement to take after any vitamin d I might get prescribed at the gp’s.
Not all GP's accept Private Test results. You are taking around 600 iu's of VitD - a long way short of the 5000 needed. Don't forget the co-factors mentioned earlier.
There is more to osteoporosis than VitD. Low T3 can be a cause. Has Mum been prescribed calcium ?
Yeah that’s what I was thinking, i will still show my results to the gp, at the very least she may want to test those things again to make sure. Yeah I will look into getting magnesium, vitamin d and the others mentioned. Oh right, well I have much to learn, I think vitamin d deficiency must run in my family as my mum gran and brother all suffer with a vitamin d affliction. I would need to ask but I think she has been on calcium since they noticed she had osteoporosis, and she has recently been put back on high dose vitamin d.
Calcium is involved in the breaking down of old bone cells - osteoclasts. Osteoblasts are building new bone cells. She will also need boron and Magnesium and the VitD co-factors that Docs know so little about. When taking VitD the uptake of calcium from foods is increased - K2 directs calcium away from arteries and soft tissues and into bones and teeth. We have to keep reading and reading so we can obtain good treatment - even if we have to do it ourselves. Most of us do ... !
I will be sure to relay this information to her, thanks. It’s scary to think, how little doctor’s know about certain issues. As i have had possible hypothyroid symptoms for years, and all I got every time was an iron supplement and sent on my way. Leading me to believe I was just iron deficient for years 😒. Anyhoo I will be doing my own research from now on, I have started to watch a dr Westin child’s on YouTube, he seems a good resource for hypothyroidism, he is an American doctor but information is still relevant.
hmm interesting stuff, I will check out the book as well thanks 👍 I’ll be sure to do an update post if/when I get bloods/treatment from my gp here’s hoping, thanks again for all the info 🙂
Yes it is that one, so I shall stop using it at once. Well I’ve not spoke to my gp as of yet, as I assumed I was fairly healthy and only did the blood test thing because, they had a %50 off offer. Well heart disease is pretty prevalent in my immediate family, so I shall explain that to my gp and see what she says.
I shall show my gp the blood results and hopefully, she’ll concur that i may have hypothyroidism and give me some medication for it. And like you said thus lower my cholesterol, thanks again.
A TSH in a healthy person is around 2.5 so your result is 6 which means your thyroid is struggling as the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone - TSH - from the Pituitary gland is working hard too hard in an effort to tell the Thyroid to produce T4. As you can see your FT4 is at the bottom of the range. T4 is mostly inactive in the body and must convert into the ACTIVE T3 - needed in every cell of your body. Yours will be low due to low T4 and poor levels of B12 - Ferritin and VitD.
I have to disagree about the TSH my son-in-law who is healthy has a TSH of 1.05 ... so I think a healthy person usually has a TSH of about 1. sorry Marz just my opinion after researching it for many years. Also my daughter has a TSH of 2.40 and has hypothyroid symptoms including raised liver enyzmes and low iron ... I am having trouble trying to convince her that her thyroid is failing . I personally think the TSH doesn't mean a lot and it is the T4 and T3 that counts. My TSH is 0.27 what do you think that means??
I am just adding this ... sorry if that sounded sharp but I have had a TSH of 0.80 and a low T4 and T3 and my GP refused to treat me because my TSH was in range!! That is why I think the TSH doesn't mean a lot.
Let's not confuse the OP. You are talking individual cases about whom there may be varying backgrounds. A TSH of 6 suggests Hypo and we are discussing this member.
I too have studied the thyroid since 2005 and been a member here since 2011.
Ok but I am going by what I know from sites in the US and the UK. We are all different and I just disagree about the TSH ... I personally wish they would stop using it as a test because it is a pituitary gland hormone not a thyroid hormone.
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