Help with results from Blue Horizon Please

[MCkit]

Hello everyone,

I have a B12 deficiency (I get injections every 12 weeks) and had some bloods done by my GP in August and my folate came back as extremely low so I was prescribed 5mg for 8 weeks. I was advised by this wonderful forum to hold off testing for my full thyroid panel until I had finished supplementing and got my levels up which I now have.

I did the gold thyroid tests through blue horizon and the results are as follows and I would really appreciate your thoughts on them. I was disappointed that my eating liver and black pudding has only increased ferritin from 56 to 57.9 over 3 months. Whilst my vitamin D was tested on 8 September with a reading of 72 and I have managed to increase it to 115!I suppose my main question is does my thyroid look ok to you?

The high cortisol is worrying though I am stressed probably mostly because of the hair loss which has been going on for quite some time. I took the test at 8.00am fasted only water and stopped my B complex a week before testing.

Thank you for your help.

Biochemistry hs-CRP 0.24 (normal range <5.0 mg/L )

Ferritin 59.7 (normal range 13 - 150 ug/L )

Magnesium 0.87 (range 0.7 - 1.0 mmol/L

Hormones Cortisol (Random) 479.0

6am - 10am 113 - 456 nmol/L

4pm - 8pm 58 - 278

Midnight <64

Thyroid Function TSH 1.71 (range 0.27 - 4.20 mIU/L )

T4 Total 97.7 (range 66 - 181 nmol/L )

Free T4 16.4 (ramge 12.0 - 22.0 pmol/L )

Free T3 4.93 (range 3.1 - 6.8 pmol/L

)

Immunology Anti-Thyroidperoxidase abs <9.0 (range <34 kIU/L )

Anti-Thyroglobulin Abs 10 (range <115 kIU/L

)

Vitamins Vitamin D (25 OH) 115 (range 50 - 175 nmol/L )

Vitamin B12 >1476

Deficient <145 pmol/L Insufficient 145 - 300 Consider reducing dose >569

Serum Folate 34.70 (range 8.83 - 60.8 nmol/L

)

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Suggest you carry on as you are and retest again in 3-6 months

Meanwhile try to reduce stress levels....yoga, walking meditation etc

[MCkit in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you slow dragon. I used to do yoga where I work once a week but alas with covid and working from home that has ended but yes will try and get some online classes. In your opinion is my thyroid all looking good?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to MCkit]

How do you feel, do you think you have hypothyroid symptoms?

Nothing obviously out of step. No antibodies

Vitamin levels improving

Do you have Pernicious Anaemia or just low B12?

Are you vegetarian or vegan, or is cause of low B12 unknown

You might consider trialing strictly gluten free diet, might help improve cortisol

Why gluten intolerance can upset cortisol levels

kalishinstitute.com/blog/gl...

[MCkit in reply to SlowDragon]

I have tested negative for pernicious anemia but that test is unreliable in 50% of patients. I have just been retested again (awaiting results) but have been receiving injections for 4 years, my diet is good , not vegetarian but I recently found out I am homozygous for C677T of MTHFR . I have been tested for coeliac a few times (negative) but I went gluten free 7 weeks ago and feel much much better (gut issues much better) . I will read that study you have shared which could be the piece in the puzzle and my body just needs longer to adjust. I feel a lot of the symptoms of pernicious anemia overlap to thyroid issues - extreme fatique (though I am improving with increase in my folate), always cold, dizziness, brain fog, brittle hair and hair loss. But great to know that the results look ok - health is tricky, much of the time it is a process of elimination. Thank you for your help.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to MCkit]

I was just reading your previous post re homozygous for C677T of MTHFR.

You may be better supplementing a good quality daily vitamin B complex with FOLATE in, rather than just folic acid

This can help keep all B vitamins in balance and will help improve B12 levels between injections too

Difference between folate and folic acid

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

MTHFR gene variation can mean we have trouble processing folic acid.

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

B vitamins best taken after breakfast

Igennus Super B is good quality and cheap vitamin B complex. Contains folate. Full dose is two tablets per day. Many/most people may only need one tablet per day. Certainly only start on one per day (or even half tablet per day for first couple of weeks)

Or Thorne Basic B is another option that contain folate, but is large capsule

If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to MCkit]

Great to hear gluten free diet is helping too

You may see cortisol levels improve at next test

[MCkit in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you and yes hopefully I will.