Please help to understand my thyroid result. My endo thought all I had was vitamin defiency :( I feel so bad.

[Ester78]

Dear All,

I would like to ask for your kind help to understand what is going on with me.

My boyfriend and I have been trying to have a baby with no luck for a while now. About a year ago my aweful hypothyroid symptoms had made me visit an endocrinologist. When I had the appointment at my endocrinologist I told him that we were planning to have a baby and I wanted to check my female hormones as well. Because at that time I was already over 40.

He suggested to have a blood draw for only TSH, the two thyroid antibodies and female hormones.

My test result were the following a year ago.

TSH: 2,110 mIU/L REF: 0,400 - 4,000

Anti-thyeroglobulin: <0,9 IU/ml REF: <4,00

Anti-TPO: 3,56 IU/ml REF: <10,00

As checking out my blood results he said everything was fine. He didnt care about my symptoms only my blood result. And he said my symptoms were due to winter vitamin deficiency. (About 5 months ago I started to supplement with ferrous bysglycinate that actually made me feel better for a while.). Since my previous blood test my symptoms got a lot worse. I feel terrible each day. Im extremely tired all day, no stamina, shaky hands, no libido, puffy saggy eyelids..etc. So I decided to visit a private lab to have a blood test a week ago. My results are the following now:

TSH: 3,94 mIU/I REF: 0,550 - 4,780

FT4: 15,72 pmol/I REF: 11,50 - 22,70

FT3: 4,49 pmol/L REF: 3,50 - 6,50

Anti-TPO: 39,0 IU/ml REF: 0,0 - 60,0

Anti-thyeroglobulin: 130,0 IU/ml REF: 0,0 - 60,0

Iron: 22,3 umol/L REF: 10,7 – 32,2

Transferrin/TIBC: 2,19 g/L REF: 2,00 – 3,60

TIBC saturation: 40,5% REF: 15,0 – 45,0

Ferritin: 103,0 ug/L REF: 10,0 – 120,0

Folate: >54,36 nmol/L REF: 12,9 – 54,4

B12 vitamin: 713 pmol/L REF: 156 – 672

Vitamin D: 146,9 nmol/L REF: >75

Can you please help to interpret my results?

Do I have Hashimoto? Do you have any suggestions what to do next?

As a side note: We decided to visit a fertility center to go through IVF but my doctor there was only asking for TSH blood test as well. I dont really understand this mentality. Is it only in Hungary or everywhere?

Thank you very much for all of you answering me in advance. I really appreciate all responses.

Esther

[jimh111]

Your blood test results look reasonably OK although the thyroid ones are a little low but not definitive. The only way to find out is a trial of thyroid hormone but I don't know how difficult that is in Hungary. I would push hard for a three or six month trial of levothyroxine perhaps starting on 50 mcg.

If you get pregnant point out that it's important to continue the thyroid treatment and that the levothyroxine probably helped.

Take some photographs of yourself now, full length and face. If you improve on levothyroxine you can compare your appearance and have hard evidence.

If you can't get a trial have another blood test around mid-cycle as TSH is higher then.

[Ester78 in reply to jimh111]

Dear Jimh111, Thank you so much for your suggestions and your reply. I have an appointment at a new endo tonight. So I'll see what she will have to say.

[silverfox7]

TSH level is important in pregnancy. It’s recommended to be kept at 2 or below for a successful delivery.

There were a lot of threads recently quoting miscarriages if TSH was too high.

[Ester78 in reply to silverfox7]

Dear Silverfox, I appreciate your reply. Thank you. I will keep this on mind.

[humanbean]

Anti-TPO: 39,0 IU/ml REF: 0,0 - 60,0

Anti-thyeroglobulin: 130,0 IU/ml REF: 0,0 - 60,0

The second result above suggests that you have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Many people with thyroid disease feel better with a gluten-free diet. It is worth trying it, and being absolutely ruthless about it. If you get no obvious benefits within three - four months you can always go back to eating gluten again.

Folate: >54,36 nmol/L REF: 12,9 – 54,4

B12 vitamin: 713 pmol/L REF: 156 – 672

Vitamin D: 146,9 nmol/L REF: >75

I'm assuming that you are supplementing because your levels are quite high. All the above are fine, but I would suggest reducing your dose of your supplements for the above so that they don't go any higher.

Iron: 22,3 umol/L REF: 10,7 – 32,2 54% of the way through the range

Transferrin/TIBC: 2,19 g/L REF: 2,00 – 3,60 12% of the way through the range

TIBC saturation: 40,5% REF: 15,0 – 45,0

Ferritin: 103,0 ug/L REF: 10,0 – 120,0 85% of the way through the range

Optimal iron results are given on this link :

rt3-adrenals.org/Iron_test_...

Your iron is fine, your transferrin suggests that you have plenty of iron and don't need more. Saturation is also well within the optimal range. Your ferritin is quite high in range, and I would definitely suggest that if you are supplementing iron that you reduce your dose and try to find a maintenance dose of iron to keep your levels somewhere around where they currently are.

TSH: 3,94 mIU/I REF: 0,550 - 4,780

FT4: 15,72 pmol/I REF: 11,50 - 22,70 38% of the way through the range

FT3: 4,49 pmol/L REF: 3,50 - 6,50 33% of the way through the range

Your TSH is too high for someone who wants to get pregnant. A high TSH reduces your chances of conceiving and increases your chances of miscarriage. Ideally you would be put on Levothyroxine at, say, 50mcg per day and would then get your thyroid hormone levels up and your TSH down to under 2 and possibly even under 1. You might need more - 50mcg Levo is only a starter dose in the UK.

Pregnancy makes high demands on your thyroid hormones and your TSH may rise very quickly once you are pregnant since your thyroid hormone levels are already quite low. If you do conceive while your TSH is too high and you are untreated you would need to get tested and treated very quickly. But ideally you would be treated now to increase your chances of conceiving in the first place.

Congratulations on getting your minerals and vitamins up to a decent level before conceiving. Many women don't do this, and I think all women should to help maximise their offspring's health (and their own).

A post you might find helpful :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

The above link shows that your TSH is nowhere near what it would be in a healthy woman. It's way too high!

[Ester78 in reply to humanbean]

Dear HumanBean,

Your response is so much help for me. I really appreciate that you took your time and effort to explain all blood values to me. You are such a blessing.

Actually 95% percent of the time I have been following a gluten free diet because I have some digestive issues. Unfortunately sometimes I do have cheat meals.

Yes, I have been supplementing with daily vitamin B100, B12 5000 mcg daily, methyl folate 1333 mcg, Vitamin D between 5000 iu - 10.000 iu daily. I have been taking really high dose of it due to this coronavirus situation but I have never thought about supplementing with vitamin K .

I take magnesium citrate daily.

And Im not really sure what the maintenance dose of iron would be..? I have been taking 150-200 mg ferrous bysglycinate with lactoferrin according to STTM website daily for about 3 months.

So thank you very much for congratulating me. I was just trying to feel better by supplementing because i had no help from doctors and i was just trying to help my body to get ready for a possible pregnancy.

Thank you again for your kindness. You have been great.

[humanbean in reply to Ester78]

Yes, I have been supplementing with daily vitamin B100, B12 5000 mcg daily, methyl folate 1333 mcg, Vitamin D between 5000 iu - 10.000 iu daily. I have been taking really high dose of it due to this coronavirus situation but I have never thought about supplementing with vitamin K .

I'm assuming B100 is a B Complex with 100mcg or 100mg of everything in it. Something like this?

hollandandbarrett.com/shop/...

Although a B Complex like that seems like it is good value for money, it isn't really. The idea of having 100mcg or 100mg of every B vitamin just looks good for marketing purposes, it has no logic from a biological point of view.

The dose of some of the vitamins in it is too large for good health. For example, high dose Vitamin B6 can cause toxicity :

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megav...

I took a B100 tablet about 10 years ago and developed peripheral neuropathy as a result of it. Luckily I tracked down the reason for this new problem before it became permanent. I gave up the B100 and haven't taken it since. Once I gave up the B100 for a few months my peripheral neuropathy got better. Nowadays I take a B Complex with much lower doses, and I definitely keep the dose of B6 very low. I also use a product with active B vitamins in. These are :

B12 - methylcobalamin instead of cyanocobalamin

Folate - methylfolate instead of folic acid

B6 - Pyridoxal 5'-Phosphate instead of Pyridoxine Hydrochloride

A couple of good B Complex products often recommended on this forum are :

igennus.com/products/super-...

thorne.com/products/dp/basi...

The dose for the first one is 2 tablets per day, and for the second is 1 tablet per day. I buy the first one and just take 1 of the tablets per day.

...

Are you aware of the problem with Biotin which is usually found in a B Complex products? There is no problem with it in terms of taking it. The problem is that it can corrupt results from some testing machines (not all testing machines) when the blood sample being tested has lots of biotin in it. Always stop taking any product containing biotin for a week before any testing of any kind. For the reasons why see these links :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu......

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

...

B12 5000 mcg daily What kind of B12 is this? There are several kinds. The most popular one on the forum is methylcobalamin. Your B12 result is over the range but this is not dangerous as far as I'm aware. You might want to reduce your dose to save money. You may be urinating a lot of it out. The same comments apply to methylfolate.

...

Vitamin D between 5000 iu - 10.000 iu daily You should definitely cut back on this. Vitamin D is fat soluble and it can build up to toxic levels.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper...

You could start taking your Vitamin D supplements perhaps just on two or three days a week?

...

I have never thought about supplementing with vitamin K .

Be careful when referring to vitamin K - there is more than one type of vitamin K : vitamin K1 and vitamin K2. They are not interchangeable.

K1 is necessary for the blood to clot and few people would ever need to supplement this, K2 is involved in helping the body move calcium around the body and probably has other functions too. Vitamin K2 is the one that is required when taking vitamin D supplements.

See posts by SeasideSusie for info on this... And I've just realised I have already said this in my other reply.

...

And Im not really sure what the maintenance dose of iron would be..? I have been taking 150-200 mg ferrous bysglycinate with lactoferrin according to STTM website daily for about 3 months.

Everybody has to work this out for themselves. You could reduce your dose to taking the same product three times a week and see if your levels start to drop or start to rise. If your levels rise then you should drop your dose to 2 days a week, if your levels drop then increase dose to 4 days a week. It's trial and error. I don't know of any other way of finding your maintenance dose.

To do a full iron panel, see this link :

medichecks.com/iron-tests/i...

You can get 10% off the price with the discount code given on this page :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Good luck.

[humanbean]

A couple of things I forgot to mention...

When you started supplementing vitamin D did you start taking vitamin K2 and magnesium as well? Vitamin D increases the body's absorption of calcium from the diet. That calcium needs to go into your bones and teeth, not end up lining your arteries. The vitamin K2 and magnesium help that to happen. See replies to others by SeasideSusie for more information on the subject.

healthunlocked.com/user/sea...

Another thing to consider is what type of diet do you eat?

[Ester78 in reply to humanbean]

Thank you again. i will check all those helpful links you sent me.

[rosetrees]

Clearly if you feel ill every day there is something going on. Your doctor is doing what most do - testing for one set of things, finding nothing and telling you to go away, instead of thinking again about what else to test for in order to find out what is actually wrong.

A couple of suggestions:

Have you had your adrenal function tested? You'll probably have to do this privately with a saliva cortisol test.

Have you been properly tested for Lyme Disease and co-infections? Again, you'll have to have this done privately. Take a look at Armin labs in Germany or Igenex in America.

[Ester78 in reply to rosetrees]

Dear Rosetrees,

Thank you very much for your reply. Yes, my adrenal function was tested and actually I received my results yesterday. Im not sure how to interpret it.

After waking around 7:00 am 8317 pg/ml REF: 1850 - 14.570

2 hours after waking 6448 pg/ml REF: 1300 - 10.290

5 hours after waking 4132 pg/ml REF: 760 - 5690

8 hours after waking 1312 pg/ml REF: 650 - 4380

12 hours after waking 601 pg/ml REF: 330 - 3330

I have never been tested for Lyme disease but i had vaccines for it when I was a teenager. My dad had the vaccine for Lyme disease and he became very ill. He was hospitalized.

[Batty1]

Sadly everywhere ... TSH is king!

[humanbean]

As a side note: We decided to visit a fertility center to go through IVF but my doctor there was only asking for TSH blood test as well. I dont really understand this mentality. Is it only in Hungary or everywhere?

No, it isn't only in Hungary. It's everywhere. Doctors have been brainwashed for decades to believe that the only thyroid info they need is the TSH. Obviously this is nonsense, but doctors just love the TSH.

[Ester78 in reply to humanbean]

Yes, thats very sad. Actually yesterday I was officially diagnosed with Hashimoto and my new endocrinologist prescribed L-thyroxine 50 mcg as a start but Id like to get NDT instead of synthetic hormone.

Thank you again dear Humanbean