I've had a Medichecks Thyroid and Ultravit blood test - first thing, fasting and 24 hours after last dose of levothyroxine - and their doctor's report says everything is fine. When I look at it nothing goes into the red but my TSH, B12 and Vitamin D seem to be almost borderline to my untrained eye. As I suffer with all the classic symptoms - exhaustion, having to pace my activities, racing heart, cold intolerance, no immunity - just had one cold straight after another one both lasted for weeks, poor skin, hair etc, vertigo, strange stomach etc, etc, etc. I am not sure what to make of it. Any ideas would be most welcome, I've been taking 100 units Levothyroxine for about 12 years with no information from any of the gps who have prescribed me.
Thyroid Check UltraVit Blood Test - medichecks
TSH 0.353 (range: 0.27 - 4.2)
Free T3 4.08 (range: 3.1 - 6.8)
Free Thyroxine 17.2 (range: 12 - 22)
Thyroglobulin Antibodies 91.6 (range: <115)
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies 21.4 (range: <34)
Ferratin 79.3 (range: 13 - 150)
Folate 14.21 (range: >3.89)
Vit B12 79.6 (range: >37.5)
Vit D 65.9 (range: 50 - 175, deficient <30, insufficient 30-50)
CRP H 3.64 (range: <5)
The support on this website has been a revelation - I'm so glad to have found it!
Many thanks
Written by
Beachcombe
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Well, they will say that, they're NHS trained so think the same as any NHS doctor. Not worth having their comments, and you get results back quicker without them.
It will help others to respond if you add the reference ranges in your above post, ranges vary from lab to lab and not everyone knows Medichecks ranges (I do so I can comment).
TSH is good.
FT4 is 52% through the Medichecks range.
FT3 is 26.49% through the Medichecks range.
The aim of a treated hypo patient on Levo, generally, is for TSH to be 1 or below with FT4 and FT3 in the upper part of their reference ranges.
Your FT4 and FT3 are not in balance and they are too low in range.
Your Tg and TPO antibodies are both negative but quite high in their ranges which makes me think that you could possibly have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) which is where the immune system attacks and gradually destroys the thyroid. Because antibody levels fluctuate, it's likely that they could be over range when tested another time, just as likely that they could be lower.
Ferritin is OK, it's recommended to be half way through range, which would be approx 82 with Medichecks range.
Folate is OK.
Active B12 at 79.6 would be too low for my liking. Below 70 suggests testing for B12 deficiency, so I'd want mine at least100.
Vit D at 65.9nmol/L is on the low side. The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L and the Vit D Society recommends a level of 100-150nmol/L. To reach the recommended level from your current level, based on the Vit D Council's suggestions you could supplement with 4,000iu D3 daily
Retest after 3 months.
As you possibly have Hashi's, you might want to consider using an oral spray as this bypasses the stomach and can give better absorption, eg BetterYou. Some Hashi's patients have also done well with an oil based softgel such as Doctor's Best.
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:
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.
That is all incredibly useful information. Thank you so much. I have never had a diagnosis as such but if it Hashimoto's then that would explain alot. I will get on the case!
Can you add ranges, please? [there is an "edit" function in the "more" arrow on the right]. These vary from lab to lab - but as a general rule if you're struggling at the bottom of a range, you are likely to feel better if you're higher up!
Thank you for your advice - I am quite scared of my doctors as they are like brick walls to any discussion about anything. I asked for vit d test a few months ago and was told that I did not need one as one had been done (months previously) and it cost them £15. I think I might have found a sympathetic doctor here in Bristol (private not NHS) so will take my results to her armed with my advice from here.
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