Within range results - can someone confirm please?

[Barny12]

Hi all,

After having possible hypothyroid symptoms and an ambiguous NHS blood test last year I finally had a private test done, which appears to be within "normal" parameters, apart from the cortisol. Can someone confirm please?

Biochemistry

hs-CRP 0.33 <5.0 mg/L

Ferritin 38.6 30 - 400 ug/L

Magnesium 0.94 0.7 - 1.0 mmol/L

Hormones

Cortisol (Random) 473.0 6am - 10am 113 - 456 nmol/L

Thyroid Function

TSH 1.80 0.27 - 4.20 mIU/L

T4 Total 79.5 66 - 181 nmol/L

Free T4 13.0 12.0 - 22.0 pmol/L

Free T3 4.93 3.1 - 6.8 pmol/L

Immunology

Anti-Thyroidperoxidase abs <9.0 <34 kIU/L

Anti-Thyroglobulin Abs 11 <115 kIU/L

Vitamins

Vitamin D (25 OH) 76 50 - 175 nmol/L

Vitamin B12 559 145 - 569 pmol/L

Serum Folate 32.70 8.83 - 60.8 nmol/L

Thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Welcome to the forum

Ferritin is EXTREMELY low, especially for a man

What’s your diet like, vegetarian or vegan?

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking if any?

GP should be doing full iron panel test for anaemia

Total T4, Ft4 are both low

High cortisol can be due to low thyroid hormones as cortisol tries to compensate for lack of thyroid hormones

[Barny12 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks for the quick reply. Well spotted - I am vegan/plant based whole foods.

I take the Vegan Society recommended VEG1 supplement consisting of:

D3

B2

B6

Folic acid

B12

Selenium

Iodine

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Barny12]

Low iron and ferritin can cause fatigue

Never assume iron is low because ferritin is

You need full iron panel test

Post discussing why important to do full iron panel test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Eating iron rich foods pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily orange juice or other vitamin C rich drink can help improve iron absorption

List of iron rich foods

dailyiron.net

Links about iron and ferritin

irondisorders.org/Websites/...

drhedberg.com/ferritin-hypo...

This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Helpful post about iron supplements and testing

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

restartmed.com/hypothyroidi...

Post discussing just how long it can take to raise low ferritin

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Barny12 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks for all the advice SlowDragon.

I'll definitely get the iron and cortisol checked out. Do you think it's worth me asking my GP about the actual thyroid level results?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Barny12]

Suggest you get ferritin levels improved and then retest thyroid 2-3 months later

[Barny12 in reply to SlowDragon]

Fantastic, thanks for all your help!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Barny12]

Essential to test iodine and only supplement if confirmed deficient

Iodine use to be used to treat hyperthyroid patients

Iodine test

If you want to do an iodine test then the best is a non-loading urine test which can be done with Genova Diagnostics.

Details of test in the pdf linked to on ThyroidUK's page here, along with details of how to order and receive your results :

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

The test code is END25 and can be found on page 3 of the pdf.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Barny12]

Heme and non heme iron vrg.org/nutrition/iron.php

[fuchsia-pink]

Hi BarnyAre you on thyroid meds at the moment? If not, you won't get a prescription until TSH goes waaay over range, possibly as high as 10, given that antibodies are low - even though your free T4 and free T3 are low and you probably won't be feeling that great.

If you are taking levo, I'd try and get an increase of 25 mcg a day, as you really want your free T4 and free T3 in the top third of their ranges. At the moment free T4 is a pretty feeble 10% through range and free T3 a better but still not brilliant 49.5% ...

In the meantime, as SlowDragon says, ferritin is very low, and vit D could be higher too and boosting these will no doubt be beneficial

[Barny12 in reply to fuchsia-pink]

Hi fuschia-pink, thanks for the reply.

No I'm not on any thyroid meds. After the ambiguous NHS blood test last year, I realised that as a vegan I was getting zero iodine from the foods I was eating, so supplemented with the above mentioned vegan vits/minerals including iodine - which took my next NHS blood test into the "normal" thyroid range.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Barny12]

More on plant based iron sources

plantproof.com/plant-iron-v...

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Barny12]

Generally vegan diet is low in iodine

But you probably want to test your levels