Please can someone help explain my blood test results. Drs don't want to even discuss anything on the phone!
My previous blood test said I had an abnormal tsh with normal t4. Previously I was taking iodine but I stopped doing that.
Previously my results showed
Tsh 148.33 mU/L 0.3 - 5.0
Free t4 <3.2 pmol / L 7.9 - 16.0
It also says Free T3 2.8 pmol/L 3.8 - 6.0
My ferritin was >15 and <100ng/mL with low Hb and MCV, it said a normal ferritin in the presence of inflammatory changes does not exclude iron deficiency.
B12 was 195 mg/L 120 - 900
I don't know what any of this means. Is there a conversion problem if I was taking iodine before and my t4 was considered in the normal range? Now that I've stopped it no longer is, Not sure what to do?
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Starry-eyed
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Are you taking thyroid medication? If you are not taking medication then it looks like your results point to an underactive thyroid if your T4 and T3 are low. My TSH was 5 and I was put on meds to bring it down below 2. I had low b12 and folate as well so I take supplements for that. I paid out of pocket to have other testing done for thyroid antibodies. Do you feel any slight fatigue?
Ive just started on 25mg of levothyroxine and will increase to 50mg. I am tired, I have a really puffy face and hands all the time. What's the anti bodies test? And what does it tell you? do you buy the supplements or are they prescribed?
When I was taking iodine my t4 was normal. Is there any meds for tsh only? To be honest I really don't still fully understand why one part can't be treated... Instead of all of it. If that makes sense.
Iodine is never recommended, it use to be used to treat people who were hyperthyroid.
About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is caused by autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto’s
Hashimoto’s is diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies
Low vitamin levels are very common when hypothyroid. Important to regularly retest vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
B12 is low.
Have you had folate test?
B12 and folate work together.
Ferritin is 25. This is low
Eating iron rich foods like liver or liver pate once a week plus other red meat, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily orange juice or other vitamin C rich drink can help improve iron absorption
That's how I started off but I had half my thyroid removed so I was started at 50mcg, then 75mcg, then 88mcg. The dose will be different for each person. Some people need 100mcg maybe more. You wait 6 weeks in between tests and one of those doses should eventually help you feel less tired and make the swelling go away. You would not take medicine for the TSH. Think of TSH as a messenger to your thyroid to pump out thyroid hormone but something isn't working right so you're going to supplement with Levothyroxine. Your body needs more T4 which is an inactive hormone to convert to the active T3 hormone that your whole body needs to function. Thyroid peroxidase or/and thyroglobulin antibodies may or may not be present if you have autoimmune condition called Hashimoto's disease where your immune system attacks your thyroid. Knowing I had high antibodies did not change my treatment with levothyroxine however. Hang in there. It took me way to long to write this due to my eyesight and I just repeated what has already been written here!
The TSH is just the message from pituitary telling thyroid to work
The higher the TSH the more hypothyroid you are
Your TSH is EXTREMELY high
Ft4 is the level of hormone in your blood. It’s currently extremely low
When very hypothyroid, levothyroxine has to be started slowly and increased up slowly
Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose increase
It will take several months to get on to high enough dose levothyroxine
Suggest you get a weekly pill dispenser so that it’s easy to remember to take levothyroxine everyday, especially as very poor memory and brain fog are typical hypothyroid symptoms
It's about 6 weeks since your last post, when you said you 'd been started on 25mcg for a week then 50 mcg for 3 weeks then retest.
Is this what you did ? you sounded unsure about wanting to take the levthyroxine .
Your TSH has risen significantly to one of the highest levels i've ever seen. TSH is a signal from pituitary asking for more thyroid hormones.
Your FT4 has fallen to extremely low , Levothyroxine is replacement T4.(and is basically Iodine, T4 has 4 iodine atoms and T3 has 3 iodine atoms, your body turns T4 to T3 by removing an atom and then T3 is usable in cells)
On the face of it these results look like you haven't been taking any Levo at all yet, but if you have what dose are you on now , and how many weeks have you been taking that same dose every day before this latest blood test ?
I'm not sure if taking iodine could have had an impact on what s (not ) been happening to your results , or how long such an effect might last, but you've stopped now so that's good, how many weeks after you stopped taking iodine was this test taken?
I would normally have expected your TSH to have started to fall once you were on 50mcg for a few weeks, and Ft4 to begin to rise, but maybe because your TSH was so high in the first place 120 (ish) it is taking longer in your case.
If you have been taking Levothyroxine regularly , then these results tell you that the dose needs to be higher , urgently, in my opinion. (i'm surprised you can function with these results to be honest)
GP needs to discuss these result with you.
It's too soon to be trying to figure out conversion yet , you can't tell anything until you get on to a full replacement dose for you , and this will be when your TSH is towards the bottom of the lab range and your FT4 is near the top of range. When your result's are there, then you can see how much T3 you made.
Until you are on enough T4 (levo), you can be worse initially, because the pituitary senses the extra and lowers TSH, but thyroid is still struggling to make enough, and the 50 is not enough.
Autoimmune Hypothyroidism is the most common cause for hypothyroidism, your last post said GP didn't think it could be autoimmunity in your case because you were still producing T4..... this explanation is not logical...and T4 production does not tell you if the cause is Autoimmune.
The test for Autoimmune hypothyroidism is an antibody test which has not been done on these results above. It is called TPOab (Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies) or TGab (Thyroglobulin antibodies) has this test been done yet?
I sincerely hope you are feeling better than these results suggest, they look concerning to me, and i would hope your doctor is equally concerned.
p.s
I've just read this back and realised it might sound like i'm shouting at you ,i'm really not just typing fast after a cup of coffee.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
just typing fast after a cup of coffee. 
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