My husband has just received his test results back from medichecks today and we wanted some advice before going to the GP.
TSH 5.56 (0.27-4.2)
Free T3 5.66 (3.1-6.8)
Free Thyroxine 18.5 (12-22)
Thyroglobulin 10.1 (<115)
Thyroid peroxidase <9 (<34)
Vit D 54.6 (50-175)
Vit B12 Active 104 (>37.5)
Folate serum 5.98 (>3.89)
CRP HS 0.41 (<5)
Ferritin 226 (30-400)
He also had a male hormone check done as we thought there might be an issue and though his testosterone was in range his prolactin was 397 (86-324) which the comments on Medichecks said could be caused by a thryoid problem.
His symptoms all seem to be conducive of a Thyroid problem; insomnia, weight gain (especially around the mid section and despite a controlled diet and exercise), IBS, fatigue, hair thinning/loss, depression, brittle nails, loss of libido and not dealing well with hot temperatures.
Any advice on how to approach this with the doctors would be appreciated, he had his Thyroid function tested last year in May but he was in range at the time ((TSH 2.0 (0.5-4.4)).
Thanks in advance!
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Ponyo2
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So .... his TSH is out of range, but probably not far enough out of range for his doctor to be bothered to do anything. Many countries will treat you when your TSH goes over 3, but in the UK they usually want it waaaay out of range - sometimes as high as 10 before they will do anything. Which is cruel. And makes a mockery of even having a top-end to the range.
As far as his thyroid hormones are concerned, free T4 is 65% through range and free T3 is 69% through range. So these are both quite decent - personally I like mine a little higher, top quartile, and more importantly, they're in balance.
Vi D isn't brilliant. Hopefully SeasideSusie will pop along in a bit to comment further, but he might want to get outside a lot while it's sunny and maybe look into vit D supplementing .
I'd try getting a GP to acknowledge the over-range TSH and symptoms and sort him a trial of levo - but you may nee two over-range blood results before he'll do anything
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 4,000-5,000iu D3 daily
Retest after 3 months.
Once the recommended level is reached then he'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.
Don't start all supplements at once. Start with one, give it a week or two and if no adverse reaction then add the next one. Again, wait a week or two and if no adverse reaction add the next one. Continue like this. If you do have any adverse reaction then you will know what caused it.
Folate serum 5.98 (>3.89)
This is too low. Folate is recommended to be half way through range and I think Medicheck's range is 3.89 to about 18.?, so we're looking at 11.5+ with that range. A good quality, bioavailable B complex such as Thorne Basic B or Igennus Super B will help raise this level.
Is this his first thyroid test? If so, TSH can be raised due to non-thyroidal illness so it's worth repeating TSH/FT4/FT3 again in a couple of months.
He has had his Thyroid function tested before with the NHS, they only tested TSH which was 2.0 (0.5-4.4). His family has a history of thyroid problems but it does seem like he may need to take another test in a few months.
Was blood test done as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water?
IBS - When hypothyroid often linked to poor gut function, low stomach acid, acid reflux and often gluten intolerance
Hypothyroidism frequently affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working
Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.
According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal
While still eating high gluten diet ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first
Assuming test is negative you can try strictly gluten free diet
(If test is positive will need to remain on high gluten diet until endoscopy, maximum 6 weeks wait officially)
Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse
If you look at the graphic where they show the coloured bar, red at either end and green in the middle, the actual full range is shown, low limit at left hand end of the green bar, upper limit at the right hand end of the green bar. See this post showing the graphic
NICE guidelines now allow for the possibility of treatment for those levels.. i have a link but my eyeballs are telling me that the lids need to come down now
Perhaps someone else can post the link. I THINK the se tion is 1.5.4, but there is every poss i ve remembered that wrong.
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