Hello everyone. Wonder if you could help with my results from medicheck. My vitamins and minerals are all good apart from folate which is low. My other results are
TSH 0.667 0.27 - 4.2
Free T3 6.27 3.1 - 6.8
Free thyroxine 13.7 12 - 22
Thyroid peroxidase antibodies 116 <34
Thyroglobulin antibodies 16.1 < 115
CRP 3.05 < 5
Ferritin 76.7 13-150
Folate 2.96 > 3.89
B12 102 > 37.5
Vit d 83.3 50 - 175
Magnesium 1 0.7 - 1
Medicheck said all thyroid results are normal apart from elevated thyroid peroxidase antibodies which are elevated
On reading that and from reading posts on here I thought my TSH was high for Graves and my free thyroxine was low
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Many thanks
Dawn
Written by
Wilky21
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Thanks slowdragon That’s what I thought. What did you think to TSH level. I have put vit results on now. Thanks for the advice about gluten free. Will try that.
Suggests you need dose increase in levothyroxine and retest 6-8 weeks later
Folate is deficient, GP should prescribe folic acid...but you may be better off Supplementing a good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in not folic acid may be beneficial.
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 (or even just a half a tablet for first week) 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
So I spoke to my GP yesterday about my test results from Medicheck and she said the folate levels they work from are different to Medicheck. They are lower so using their range so am not low. This is so confusing. Why don’t they just work off the same ranges So my GP wants to do all the tests again in a months time.
Well your T3 looks very good but your T4 is a bit low on the range.
I think if your doctor sees your T3 result you might have difficulty getting an increase.
You might also have as issue if your doctor manages your treatment on a TSH blood test result.
Initially you went ' hyper ' and were diagnosed to have Graves Disease because of positive antibodies in your blood, unique to Graves.
These antibodies can still be present, but because you now don't have a thyroid, they can't ' set you off ' and into another hyper phase .
Your blood hasn't been changed, and these TRab antibodies can sit on the TSH receptors indefinitely, so you will ' look ' hyper when in fact your T3 and T4 show you not to be.
I think your previous doctor knew this and that your body was attuned to function on a higher level of Levothyroxine, and as you say, you didn't have any undue problems.
Personally having drunk RAI, I do not think the medical profession have a full understanding to all the consequences and fall out of this toxic substance, and follow guidelines to cover themselves, there are no guidelines for Graves after RAI - maybe it would help if there were.
Thanks pennyannie. I thought I would have a problem with GP. Are you talking about the antibodies that are elevated. Do you have gluten free diet also and does it help
Well, I'm talking about the antibodies unique to Graves disease that make the TSH blood test a very unreliable measure of your thyroid hormones. There are several antibodies and one in particular, TRab, latches onto TSH receptors thereby distorting a TSH blood test result.
In my particular surgery I was dosed and monitored on a TSH blood test and kept being dosed down because of my TSH blood test result.
When I insisted on a T3 and T4 being read my T3 was at only 25% through the range, whilst my T4 was at the top of the range, and I'd been struggling along like this for two years being told, I couldn't have an increase in Levothyroxine as I was on the verge of being " hyper " again.
I thought all my symptoms were Graves related until I came to this amazing website.
In fact they were symptoms associated with undermedication of Levothyroxine plus if you have had RAI it is necessary to keep a low/suppressed TSH, as, if you think about it, why would anybody want to stimulate a gland full of antibodies and RAI ?
We drank a substance to kill off the thyroid, why are we then wanting it to function ?
I think there need to be guidelines for Graves after RAI, and maybe your previous doctor should write them. Doctors work to guidelines and computer dogma, but at present they are left ' in the air ' with Graves and treat us as they would someone with basic hypothyroidism.
My diet is relatively clean, and I eat fresh as best I can. I was never one for bread, pasta, or rice or cakes, so haven't changed my eating habits that much. It's definitely worth a try as I think we underestimate the need for an effective and functioning gut.
P.S.. I don't know if this is going to work, but anyway here goes ;-
Thankyou that’s really helpful. It’s my thyroid peroxidase antibodies that are elevated. What are those ? This website has been extremely helpful and the people in the support group are full of knowledge. I am so glad I joined.
Mine are 4000 and have been that high for a couple of years. My thyroid is under attack and I do not how to stop it. I have tried a gluten free diet which made no difference and selenium which has not worked either. You can read my story on my profile page if you are interested.
Unfortunately the NHS don't test my antibodies because they don't think they are important so I do my own private testing. I did have an Endocrinologist about 10 years ago but he was useless so I left his clinic. I now look after my own thyroid health because the NHS just go by just the TSH which means nothing. It is the T4 and T3 that count and they give a good indication of how your thyroid is functioning.
That is true. Many years ago they always used to check t3 and t4 but then they stopped. Don’t you show your Gp your private results. Won’t that help your case. Have just read your profile. It just makes you lose faith in the nhs altogether It’s a good job you know your stuff so you are able to self manage how do you get your medication then if you self manage
I actually had a thyroid storm last year and I was hopeful I would have a more detailed blood test. Unfortunately they just tested the TSH even though they know I have Graves' disease written on my medical records. I even wrote to my local MP last year and she was supposed to put my case to Matt Hancock ... you can read the response I got if you look on my profile page and scroll down to my threads.
I just copied and pasted this to explain what they are.
Thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies are a marker for the presence of autoimmune thyroid disease. Blood test results for TPO antibodies are positive in 95% of patients with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, also known as Hashimoto's disease, and in 50% to 80% of patients with Graves' disease.
I don't understand ' cut and paste ' and typed it all in, one finger at a time !
I'll blame my lack on computer skills, on my Graves and having dyslexia.
P.S.
If you wish to you can buy T4-Levothyroxine on the internet, as you can T3, or NDT - Natural Desiccated Thyroid which was the successful treatment for around 100 years prior to the introduction of Levothyroxine, blood tests and ranges and guidelines as instituted by Big Pharma in around the 1960's.
I'm self medicating with NDT as it contains all the same named thyroid hormones that our own thyroid produces T1, T2, T3., T4 and calcitonin. It is pigs thyroid dried and ground down into tablets, referred to as grains., with each grain containing approximately 38 T4 + 9 T3.
BUT I'm sorry - I seem to have mental block with all things laptop, and flat pack.
If this little laptop doesn't come on tomorrow, like it should, I've no idea about anything, other than to check that I've turned it on from the wall socket.
Many people have kindly tried to help me on here with this, and the more I' m told the more anxious I get and then ' glaze over ' .
It is making me a bit angry, with myself, like when at school and being dyslexic.
It would save me a lot of time, but hey, ho, it could be worse, at least I'm here, thanks to my niece setting this set up for me.
Not everyone knows how to use a laptop I prefer to use a desktop myself but I do have an ipad which I watch netflix on. My husband can only use one finger when he uses his laptop and I keep asking him to try to use 2 but he won't. I am lucky because I was trained by the NHS when the service decided to use them. We did not have a mouse when I first started using them so it is much easier now. I think the BBC was one of the first ones I used which was more like a word processor.
And do you feel better on that rather than Levo. Have just been reading g an article on how to reduce your thyroid peroxidase antibodies. There are several different diets and it mentioned ndt
Well yes, that is a foregone conclusion, otherwise I wouldn't be on here, trying to help and advise other people in a similar position to where I was a couple of years ago.
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