Help with Lab Results

[susanmhall62]

I am on 137 mcg Tirosint (taken 24 hours before labs) and 20 mcg Cytomel ( 5 mcg taken12 hours before labs). I stopped the B12 a week before the labs. I'm not sure why the lab did not test Ferritin. I think iron labs look low. D is adequate. B12 could go up a bit. I take the Thorne Iron Bisglycinate 25 mg, however, I am mostly a vegetarian diet currently eating eggs & salmon.

I'm not sure what to do about the thyroid labs. Free T3 looks low to me.

Thyroxine (T4) Free, 1.62 ng/dL (range 0.82-1.77 ng/dL)

Triiodothyronine (T3) Free, 3.2 pg/mL (range 2.0-4.4 pg/m)

TSH <0.005 Low uIU/mL (range 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL)

Reverse T3, 26.1 ng/dL (range 9.2-24.1 ng/dL)

Iron 84 ug/dL (range 27-139 ug/dL)

Iron Saturation 26 % (range 15-55)

Iron Bind.Cap.(TIBC) 326 ug/dL (range 250-450 ug/dL)

Ferritin- no results

Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy 63.7 ng/mL (range 30.0-100 ng/mL)

Vitamin B12 606 pg/mL (range 232-1245 pg/mL)

Folate (Folic Acid) >20.0 ng/mL (range >3.0 ng/mL)

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

susanmhall62

I take the Thorne Iron Bisglycinate 25 mg,

Did you stop this for 7 days before the test and fast for 12 hours before blood draw - both important when doing iron tests.

Vit D is recommended to be 40-60ng/ml so yours is good.

B12 - According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:

"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".

"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."

I stopped the B12 a week before the labs.

Do you also take a B Complex (recommended when taking B12 to balance all the B vitamins)? With your current level of B12 you don't really need a separate B12 any more, once you've reached 550ng/ml a good, bioavailable B Complex containing melthylcobalamin should be adequate.

If you do take B Complex, did you stop if for 7 days before the test?

FT3 is 50% through range, there is room to increase this.

[susanmhall62 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I did stop the iron and B12 a week before the lab work. I take Thorne B Complex #12. I'm going to start taking Floradix Iron + Herbs Liquid Extract which contains Vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12 and C, and stop the Thorne B Complex #12. I'll add the Jarrow folate supplement.

Iron labs tanked when I started the vegan/vegetarian diet because I wasn't conscientious about eating enough protein. I over did it on carbs. I'm tracking my nutrition on the cronometer.com website now for better results.

I wonder if I get the iron labs in range if the FT3 will go up??

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to susanmhall62]

I stopped the B12 a week before the labs

I take Thorne B Complex #12

Some confusion here

You've said you stopped B12.

Thorne B Complex #12 is not just a B12 supplement, it is a B Complex. The reason I asked about B Complex and we say to stop B Complex (not B12) is because it contains Biotin and this causes false results when Biotin is also used in the testing procedure (which most labs do).

I'm going to start taking Floradix Iron + Herbs Liquid Extract which contains Vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12 and C, and stop the Thorne B Complex #12

Iron affects absorption of anything else taken at the same time, iron needs to be taken 2 hours away from any other supplement. I'm not sure how much benefit you'll get from the B vitamins in the Floradix. It also contains B12 as cyanocobalamin and the recommended form is methylcobalamin.

You might be best getting a good quality B Complex and a separate iron supplement if you need one.

Optimal levels according to rt3-adrenals.org/Iron_test_... are:

Serum iron: 55 to 70% of the range, higher end for men - yours is 50.89% (so you're not iron deficient)

Saturation: optimal is 35 to 45%, higher end for men - yours is a slightly low at 26%

Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC): Low in range indicates lack of capacity for additional iron, High in range indicates body's need for supplemental iron - yours is 38% so in the lower half of the range

I would have said that your iron results don't show the need to supplement with iron but to obtain it through food. Iron supplements could very well take your serum iron too high, and too much iron is as bad as too little.

[guysgrams]

RT3 shouldn't be that high. I've heard it needs to be in the lower range and below 15 for sure. Inflammation maybe? FT3 could be higher also.

[unblocktheplane]

Would suggest Dr. Chandy's recent book on B12. May be downloaded here: b12d.org/book.

[susanmhall62 in reply to unblocktheplane]

Thank you! I bookmarked it and will download it chapter by chapter.