Blood test results- hubby had private testing done!

[Louise1610]

We decided that he should have some basic tests done to see if there was anything that could account for aches/pains/tiredness/irritability etc. and we've got a few unusual results I was hoping someone could help us with!

Here are his results from Thriva- for context, he has no diagnosed conditions.

- HbA1c- diabetes- 36.27 mmol (range of 20-48+, optimal shows as 31-37)

- Testosterone profile:

- Free Testosterone- 0.355 nmol (range of 0-1, optimal shows as 0.2-0.62)

- Testosterone- 16.8 nmol/l (range of 0-29+, optimal shows as 8.64-29)

- SHBG- 30.8 nmol/l (range of 0-170, optimal shows as 18.3-54.1)

- Free Androgen Index- 54.55:1 ratio (range of 0-140, optimal shows as 24-104)

- Iron Profile:

- Total Iron-Binding Capacity (TIBC)- 64.09 umol/l (range of 0-100, optimal shows as 41-77)

- Unsaturated iron binding capacity- (UIBC)- 22.7 umol (range of 0-125, optimal shows as 22.3-61.7)

- Ferritin- 168 ug/l (range of 0-400+, optimal shows as 30-200)

- Iron- 41.39 umol (range of 0-60, optimal shows as 5.8-34.5)

- Transferring saturation- 64.58% (0-100%, optimal shows as 45-50%)

Thyroid profile:

- TSH- 0.902 miu/l (range 0-10+, optimal shows as 1-2.5)

- Free T4- 16.4pmol/l (range 0-30+, optimal shows as 12-17)

- CRP- 0.69 mg/l (range 0-10+, optimal shows as 0-1)

- Active B12- 119 pmol/l (range 0-300, normal is 37.5-188)

- Folate- 12.9 nmol/l (range 0-60.8+, optimal is 40-60.8)

Cholesterol profile:

- Triglyceride/ HDL ratio- 1.04:1 (range is 0-3, optimal 0-0.88)

- LDL Cholesterol- 3.13 mmol/l (range is 0-4.9+, normal is 0-3.4)

- Non-HDL Cholesterol- 3.69 mmol/l (range is 0-6, normal is 0-4)

- HDL Cholesterol- 1.18 mmol/l (range is 0-3.88+, optimal 1-2.5)

- Cholesterol- 4.87 mmol (range 0-7.5+, optimal 3.1-4.3)

- Triglycerides- 1.23 mmol (range 0-4.5+, optimal 0-1)

- Total Cholesterol/HDL Ratio- 4.13:1 (range 0-6+, optimal 2-4)

Liver Function:

- Gamma GT- 30 iu/l (range 0-142+, optimal 0-40)

- Alinine Transferase- 44.5 iu/l (range 0-150+, optimal 15-33)

- Albumin- 45.2 g/l (range 0-60, normal 34-52)

- Alkaline Phosphatase- 74 iu/l (range 0-260, optimal 0-80)

- Globulin- 26.9 g/l (range is 0-60+, normal is 19-35)

- Bilirubin- 10.8 umol/l (range is 0-40+, optimal 10-24)

- Total Protein- 72.1 g/l (range is 0-120, normal is 63-87)

- Vitamin D - 30.7 nmol/l (range is 0-375+, optimal 75-120)

Any help is much appreciated!!!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Vitamin D is very low

Under 50nmol is insufficient

GP should prescribe 1600iu daily for 6 months (Google NHS vitamin D guidelines)

Aiming to improve to at least around 75nmol

Retest in 3-4 months

[Louise1610 in reply to SlowDragon]

1600 iu seems a bit low dose for such a low result? Is that enough?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Louise1610]

Louise1610

Vitamin D - 30.7 nmol/l (range is 0-375+, optimal 75-120)

1600 iu seems a bit low dose for such a low result? Is that enough?

A couple of years ago the NHS would have diagnosed Vit D deficiency at 30nmol/L. Now it's 25nmol/L. So his Vit D is only a bit above deficient.

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 5,000iu D3 daily

Retest after 3 months.

Once he's reached the recommended level 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. He can do this with a private fingerprick blood spot test with an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:

vitamindtest.org.uk/

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.

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

drjockers.com/best-magnesiu...

afibbers.org/magnesium.html

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.

[Louise1610 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you 😊

What do you think about the high iron/saturation levels along with low normal for folate?

B12 looks like it could do with being slightly higher?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Louise1610]

Louise1610

What do you think about the high iron/saturation levels along with low normal for folate?

Thriva have a strange way of displaying their results when looking at the bar graph which causes confusion for some people.

First of all no range will have a low limit of zero, anyone who had that level for certain tests would be extremely ill if not pretty close to dead. An exception would be thyroid antibodies which does actually have a range starting at zero.

Then they put their version of "optimal" which, in reality, is not optimal, optimal is where we feel best so it's an individual thing. Look what they put for FT4:

Free T4- 16.4pmol/l (range 0-30+, optimal shows as 12-17)

Then look at the bar graph they provide on their dashboard. It goes from orange on the left hand side (where the 0 is), then a green area (light and dark green), then orange on the right hand side.

The whole of the green area - light and dark green - is the normal range, obviously the orange area is "out of range".

I can't find an exact example from a previous post but this is the closest I can get:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

So for your FT4 test the left hand orange part will start at zero and the right hand orange part will end at 30, the green part in the middle will go from 12 to 22.

So 12-22 is the reference range.

They have decided that "optimal" is 12-17 which is nonsense because if you had a level of 12 you'd be very unwell, you'd probably have a high TSH to go with your low FT4 and be hypothyroid.

17 is 50% through range and even someone who doesn't have a thyroid problem you'd expect their FT4 to be mid range and if we are a treated Hypo patient on Levothyroxine we'd generally need FT4 to be around 70% through range or even higher.

So we can completely discount Thriva's "optimal" levels.

Then compare it to the sheet that you can print off like this:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

which clearly shows the "Normal Range" is 12-22.

So the "Normal Range" is what we need along with the result, nothing else.

I have just used that as an example to point out that it's extremely difficult to interpret Thriva's results unless the graphic is shown or the actual reference range as shown on the result sheet that can be printed off.

Having said all that, my point is that I can't say anything about the Iron Profile results because the actual proper "Normal Range" hasn't been given, so if you can have a look at the results and either add a picture to your first post in this thread (click on MORE, choose EDIT, then ADD A PHOTO, then SUBMIT) or type out the normal range then I can comment further.

Folate- 12.9 nmol/l (range 0-60.8+, optimal is 40-60.8)

Folate is recommended to be at least half way through range. I know that Thriva's range (green part of the bar) is 8.83-60.8 so a good result would be about 35+.

Eating folate rich foods will help raise his level but he could also consider a good quality, bioavailable B Complex such as Thorne Basic B or Igennus Super B.

Active B12- 119 pmol/l (range 0-300, normal is 37.5-188)

B12 looks like it could do with being slightly higher?

Not necessarily. Below 70 would be a concern and suggest testing for B12 deficiency. Above 100 I would be happy with but if you want to get it higher then fine. The methylcobalamin contained in the B Complex will help improve the Active B12 level.

B Complex contains Biotin and Biotin is used in the testing procedure at most labs. If we take a B Complex or stand alone Biotin supplement then we should leave it off for 7 days before any blood test because it can give false results if Biotin is used in the testing procedure.

[Louise1610 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Apologies- I'll post the normal ranges below for the Iron as those are remaining ones that definitely stand out:

Iron Profile:

- TIBC- 64.09 umol/l (normal range is 41-77)

- UIBC- 22.7 umol/l (normal is 22.3-61.7)

- Ferritin- 168 ug/l (normal is 30-400, optimal is 30-200)

- Iron- 41.39 umol/l (normal is 5.8-34.5)

- Transferrin saturation- 64.58% (normal is 20-50%, optimal is 45-50%)

I'm not sure why the Iron and Transferrin Saturation would be high, but the UIBC really quite low?

From your advice so far, he will need to start vitamin D supplementation at 5000IU daily for 3 months and if another blood test shows it's reached a good level, reduce to maintenance dose on 2000IU, alongside taking Magnesium and Vitamin K2-MK7 as well. I agree that the Folate is a bit too low, so will look into appropriate foods or the B-Complex which would support both the Folate levels and B12 levels.

I think the Liver Function tests, Diabetes, CRP, Thyroid all generally look ok and nothing suspicious to look into further. I know nothing about sex hormones and optimal levels, but Thriva has said the Testosterone profile is ok. His Cholesterol doesn't seem too bad to worry yet either.

Thanks for helping so far