Please can someone help with interpreting my results.
Here are my GP results from three weeks ago. I do not understand how my TSH has raised so drastically.
GP results - 3 weeks ago
TSH - 2 (range 0.3-4.2)
Free T4 - 11 (range 9-23)
Free T3 3.9 (range 2.5-5.7)
Thriva results - this week
Active b12 - 37.5-188 (150)
Folate - 8.83-30 (15.3)
TIBC - 41-77 (63)
UBIC - 24.2-70.1 (51)
Ferritin - 13-150 (60)
Iron 10-30 (11.5)
Transferrin saturation 20-50 - 18
FT3 3.1-6.8 (4.8)
TSH 0.27-4.2 (4.08)
TgAB 0-115 (17)
TPOAb 0-34 (<5)
T4 66-181 (103)
Ft4 12-22 (14.3)
Vit d 50-175 (95)
I had my GP test in the morning at 8.30. I took my Thriva test at 9am. Prior to my GP test, I stopped taking biotin for one week. I have not taken biotin now for three weeks. I don't understand how my TSH has elevated so quickly in a short space of time.
I have lupus.
My symptoms are swollen hands, tiredness, difficulty losing weight, bad moods. I am so depressed my GP has given me antidepressants. She also referred me to a healthy eating group as I'm depressed about my weight. I lost two stone last year and gained it back over lockdown. Finding it impossible to shift now.
Written by
Mrsarcher2021
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My iron, ferritin and vitamin d levels are on the lower side. Should I try taking vitamins to see if raising them helps? Do I need iron or ferrous sulphate?
Do you mean that if I improve my vitamin levels, my TSH will rise.
I don't know if gp will give me a scan. My test with them three weeks ago had TSH of 2. Not really sure why it has increased so suddenly.
Apologies I have seen a typo. Range for vitamin d is 75-175. Mine is 95. I have been supplementing with 4000iu vitamin d for under a year. Not sure why it is low.
In terms of iron, is there a particular supplement you would recommend?
Is it worth improving vitamin d and iron, then retesting in three months before having a scan
Optimal for Active B12 is over 100 so your level is fine. If you are supplementing B12 you should probably reduce your dose, because otherwise you are just wasting money.
Folate - 8.83-30 (15.3)
Optimal for folate is upper half of the range i.e. roughly 20 - 30. You could research folate-rich foods and start to include them in your diet. I don't mean folic acid-fortified foods - people with thyroid disease often can't convert folic acid into folate. For further info on folate and folic acid :
Optimal for vitamin D depends on source, and is quoted as being 125 nmol/L or as a range of 100 - 150 nmol/L. Yours is so close to optimal that I strongly doubt any of your symptoms are connected to low vitamin D, and whether you try to raise your level or not is up to you. In your shoes, I wouldn't bother. For future reference, if ever your vitamin D level drops you might find this link of use for working out the dose of vitamin D3 you need to raise your level to optimal :
Ferritin (a measure of your iron stores) - Optimal is around mid-range or a little bit over, say around 80 - 120. Yours is below optimal.
Iron (measures the free iron in your blood) - Optimal is 55% - 70% of the way through the range i.e. with the range you've given this would be around 21 - 24. Yours is below optimal.
Transferrin saturation - Optimal is 35% - 45%, so yours is below optimal.
TIBC - Yours is not miles away from mid-range, suggesting your iron is not too bad.
UIBC - I never know what to say about this, but it isn't miles away from mid-range so it seems likely it is okay.
Ferritin, iron and transferrin saturation are the things I usually rely on when discussing iron. All three of yours suggest you need more iron, but not dramatically more.
It is quite common for people to have inconsistent results in an iron panel, some results suggesting everything is fine or not too bad, while others may suggest more iron is needed, and others suggesting that iron might even be a bit high, so I try to go with "the balance of probabilities suggests..."
Your iron is a lot lower through the range than your ferritin, suggesting there is a risk that taking supplements might raise your ferritin while leaving serum iron quite low. But the only way to find out if that will happen is to improve your iron intake with food or supplement iron and just see what happens - but it is essential to not carry out this experiment for long, because it can be dangerous.
There is a condition called Anaemia of Chronic Disease (ACD). It presents with high ferritin and low in range or below range serum iron. If you have this condition, supplementation should be avoided. See these links on the subject :
I would suggest that you try improving your iron and ferritin with food - it's safer than supplementing if there is a risk that you have ACD. See this link for more help on eating iron in food :
If you decide you want to supplement (you would have to do an iron panel monthly to be safe, I think, since your ferritin is not too bad), then the info I have on supplementing can be found in this reply to another member :
This is helpful. I will try to improve my iron levels through food.
I feel so tired at the moment, so I thought it could be anaemia. My TSH has doubled in two weeks, but not high enough for treatment. I have an appointment with my doctor in two weeks so I'll raise this all then.
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