test Results: I had my thyroid results now and... - Thyroid UK

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selftreatendo profile image
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I had my thyroid results now and they are nomal I think.

TSH: 2.32 mU/L (0.27-4.2)

FT4 15.6pm/L (12-22)

FT3 4.6pm/L (3.1-6.8)

Vit B12 is 342 (199-633)

vitD was low a few months ago but I have been taking 50mcg D3 for the last 6 weeks.

Foliate was slightly low so I have been taking 5mcg for a few weeks.

I feel fine staying home but at night I sometimes wake up with tremor and I could not see one night when I suddenly woke up for about 2 seconds. It was very worrying but it only happened once. my diagnosis is ME/CFS though not hypo so perhaps this is normal if I am generally feeling well during the day?

I can exercise lightly but I would not think I can exercise in a heavy way at the moment as I can get some worsening symptoms for half and hour or so.

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selftreatendo
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SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

Welcome to the forum selftreatendo

Your thyroid results are within range. A normal healthy person would have a TSH no more than 2, possibly nearer 1, with FT4 mid-range-ish. However, as we are never tested when we'll, none of us know where our "normal" levels lie.

Your B12 on on the low side.

What was your Vit D level originally and what is it now?

Are you taking D3's important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-mk7?

What exactly have you been taking for your low Folate and is it prescribed? I doubt that it's 5mcg (micrograms) that would be far too low a dose.

selftreatendo profile image
selftreatendo in reply to SeasideSusie

Hi Seaseide Susie.

Sorry I just checked and the Foliate tablets are 5 mg not mcg.

I drew my blood for this thyroid check at around 4 pm so not in the early morning.

SO you think I don't need any thyroid meds?

WHat is K2-mK7? I have never heard of this before. WHat is it supposed to do?

I am afraid I do not k now my Vit D levels now or before. BUt I have been taking 50mcg for about a month or 6 weeks each day. Thanks As I said, I woke up with a tremor and I could not see one night for about 2 seconds my eyes dimmed and then came back on again. It worried me but I they are fine now.

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to selftreatendo

selftreatendo

Sorry I just checked and the Foliate tablets are 5 mg not mcg.

Are they prescribed?

I drew my blood for this thyroid check at around 4 pm so not in the early morning.

SO you think I don't need any thyroid meds?

When we are looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism we need the highest possible TSH, doctors don't diagnose/treat until TSH reaches 10. However, in some circumstances they may treat if TSH goes over the top limit of the range.

To achieve the highest possible TSH we need to do our thyroid tests no later than 9am (TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day) and because eating can lower TSH and coffee can also affect TSH then we need a fasting test with nothing to eat or drink except water beforehand.

Once we are on thyroid medication then the aim is for TSH to be below 1 with FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their reference ranges - this is what pennyannie is referring to when she is talking about how far through range your FT4 and FT3 are, it seems that she is under the mistaken impression that you are already diagnosed and taking Levothyroxine.

I am afraid I do not k now my Vit D levels now or before. BUt I have been taking 50mcg for about a month or 6 weeks each day.

Are you saying that you started to supplement with D3 without testing to see what your level is first? If so that's not a good idea.

Vit D is fat soluble and any excess get stored in our body.

We have to know our Vit D level first so that we can know if we need to supplement. If we do need to supplement then the dose of D3 is based on the current level. Then we have to monitor that level so retesting is necessary 3 months after starting to supplement. When we have reached the recommended level then we retest twice a year and adjust the dose of our supplement if necessary to maintain that level.

There are important cofactors (companion supplements) needed when taking D3 as recommended by the Vit D Council.

D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and Vit K2-MK7 (one form of Vitamin K) 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

Vit B12 is 342 (199-633)

Is the unit of measurement pmol/L or ng/L or pg/ml (the latter two are the same)?

According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:

"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".

"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."

If your unit of measurement is pmol/L then 343pmol/L = 530pg/ml so it could do with being higher.

You say you have a tremor, this is one sign of B12 deficiency. You can check here for other signs:

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

However, you are taking a folate supplement and this can mask signs of B12 deficiency so you may have to think back to before you were taking this.

Have you had Ferritin tested or an iron panel? This would complete the set of core vitamins.

I would also get thyroid antibodies tested.

So your full set of thyroid/vitamin tests should include

TSH

FT4

FT3

Thyroid antibodies

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to SeasideSusie

selftreatendo

I am assuming that you aren't taking any Levo or other thyroid replacement hormone. Am I correct?

pennyannie profile image
pennyannie

Hello Selftreatendo :

Well, I'm not quite sure what your name means but I'm a self treating hypo :

Actually I have Graves Disease and was treated with RAI thyroid ablation in 2005 becoming very unwell some 8 years later, and finding no help with the NHS system, and support from this amazing website and a few books, have turned things around for myself.

Generally, once on any thyroid hormone replacement we can feel better when our TSH is below or around 1 and our T3 and T4 are balanced and in the upper quadrants of the relevant ranges.

Currently your T3 is at about 38% through its range and your T4 at around 40% - so well balanced but probably an increase in Levothyroxine might help you if suffering symptoms of hypothyroidism.

It's always important to maintain ferritin, folate, and vitamins B12 and D at optimal levels as these all aid the conversion of the thyroid hormone and maintain your core strength strong and solid for good health and mental well being.

selftreatendo profile image
selftreatendo in reply to pennyannie

Hello Pennieannie,

Thanks. So you saying 36% and 38% t4 and T3 are not enough through the range? What is the range for then if it is in the range? Could you tell me how you know 1 or below TSH is the best? How did you find this out?

pennyannie profile image
pennyannie in reply to selftreatendo

Hey there

What I am saying is that if you are with hypothyroid symptoms you might feel better if you increased your Levothyroxine medication as you are well in the ranges of both T3 and T4 :

The range is just that, a range, a guideline, and you have room to manoeuvre within that range if you wish to. If you are well and happy where you are and without hypothyroid symptoms, that's ok. too : It's just my opinion, and you can choose to ignore it, and me.

I learnt from this site and a couple of books over the past few years when housebound and very unwell. My symptoms being the long term consequences of RAI treatment for Graves Disease and the ongoing treatment in primary care of being monitored with just a TSH blood test reading thereby compounding my problems as I was also dealing with the symptoms of undermedication when on monotherapy with Levothyroxine.

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Are you currently taking any levothyroxine?

If yes, how much and these results show you need 25mcg dose increase in levothyroxine

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Absolutely essential to test BOTH thyroid antibodies at least once

B12 is too low

What were folate and vitamin D results and ranges

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin

medichecks.com/products/thy...

Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays

Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Median TSH graph shows that a TSH over 2 is higher than average

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

TSH daily variation

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Very important when you test TSH, especially with sub clinical hypothyroidism

researchgate.net/publicatio...

According to the current TSH reference interval, hypothyroidism was not diagnosed in about 50% of the cases in the afternoon.”

“Further analysis demonstrated inadequate compensation of hypothyroidism, which was defined in 45.5% of the morning samples and in 9% of the afternoon samples”

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/252...

TSH levels showed a statistically significant decline postprandially in comparison to fasting values. This may have clinical implications in the diagnosis and management of hypothyroidism, especially SCH.

Daily variation

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Obviously you need to find out how low vitamin D was

And retest

Vitamin D

GP will often only prescribe to bring levels to 50nmol.

Some areas will prescribe to bring levels to 75nmol

leedsformulary.nhs.uk/docs/...

GP should advise on self supplementing if over 50nmol, but under 75nmol (but they rarely do)

mm.wirral.nhs.uk/document_u...

NHS Guidelines on dose vitamin D required

ouh.nhs.uk/osteoporosis/use...

But improving to around 80nmol or 100nmol by self supplementing may be better

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/218...

vitamindsociety.org/pdf/Vit...

Once you Improve level, very likely you will need on going maintenance dose to keep it there.

Test twice yearly via vitamindtest.org.uk

Vitamin D mouth spray by Better You is very effective as it avoids poor gut function. There’s a version made that also contains vitamin K2 Mk7

It’s trial and error what dose we need

Government recommends everyone supplement October to April

gov.uk/government/news/phe-...

Also read up on importance of magnesium and vitamin K2 Mk7 supplements when taking vitamin D

betterbones.com/bone-nutrit...

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

livescience.com/61866-magne...

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

Vitamin K2 mk7

betterbones.com/bone-nutrit...

healthline.com/nutrition/vi...

Importance of vitamin D for fighting Covid

moxafrica.org/post/the-vita...

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Suggest you get FULL Thyroid and vitamin testing privately 6-8 weeks after starting last vitamin supplement

Making sure to test as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water

That way you can retest vitamin D, folate and B12 plus get accurate thyroid levels

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