This is all new to me and, apart from the vitamins, does anyone have any other suggestions? Someone mentioned that this could be central hypothyroidism, could that be right? Should i be asking the GP for a trial of levothyroxine?
Thank you @Slowdragon - I am going to start taking some vitamins (one at a time)
In answer to your queries, I am a meat/fish eater but do have a pretty healthy diet (alongside the unhealthy one!) so get plenty of necessary vitamins and minerals and therefore unsure about the ferritin issue. I will ask GP about B12 and folate tests. As far as I'm aware there is no history of autoimmune disease in family. I'll take on board a bit more movement!
Thank you @Janeroar
The ranges are as follows:
CRP HS - 0-5 - mine was 4.9
Ferritin - 13-150 - mine was 57
B12 - 25.1-165 - mine was 55
Vitamin D - 50-200 - mine was 50
TSH - 0.27-4.2 - mine was 2.3
Free T3 - 3.1-6.8 - mine was 3.4
Free Thyroxine - 12-22 - mine was 16.6
Thyroglobulin antibodies - 0-115 - mine was 16.9
Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies - 0-34 - mine was 18.8
Thank you @Purplenails
I've never had an issue with lowT3/Thyroid before - just a relative suggested I do test so no historic results and never had medication.
The folate result came back as a sample error so no results received for that.
Appreciate all responses and look forward to receiving any other help/advice/thoughts
Lizadeb
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Lizadeb
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Hi. Sorry no-one has replied, I was hoping to see a response for my own reasons as I know someone with a similar condition,. SlowDragon seemed to have made some helpful suggestions re vitamins . The obesity mentioned in your first post (28stone+?) plus mobility and other issues (breathing/strain on heart?) presumably means longstanding health problems which could have serious implications so i wondered whether the thyroid issues warranted tackling at this stage, and if so how does someone in that position proceed, as the levels are not out of range in GP-speak? Would a specialist endo help? Could a slower thyroid/metabolism slowly lead to such issues?
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Someone mentioned that this could be central hypothyroidism, could that be right? Should i be asking the GP for a trial of levothyroxine?
I've looked through the replies in that thread and I can't see any mention of central hypothyroidism. Do point it out if I missed it.
CRP HS - 0-5 - mine was 4.9
High in range, an inflammation marker but non-specific so doesn't tell us where the inflammation is. As it's in range GP unlikely to take any notice.
Ferritin - 13-150 - mine was 57
Should be half way through range and some experts say the optimal level for thyroid function is 90-110ug/L. Try improving through diet by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet
Don't consider taking an iron supplement unless you do an iron panel, if you already have a decent level of serum iron and a good saturation percentage then taking iron tablets can push your iron level even higher, too much iron is as bad as too little.
B12 - 25.1-165 - mine was 55
Needs further investigation as was mentioned by SlowDragon as below 70 may mean B12 deficiency. A good level would be 100+
Vitamin D - 50-200 - mine was 50
Just scraped into the "adequate" category; however, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L, with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health mentioning a study which recommends over 125nmol/L.
Ideally you would supplement with 4,000-5,000iu D3 daily and retest after 3 months.
Once you've reached the recommended level then a maintenance dose will be needed to keep it there, which may be 2000iu daily, maybe more or less, maybe less in summer than winter, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. This can be done with a private fingerprick blood spot test with an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:
Doctors don't know, because they're not taught much about nutrients, but there are important cofactors needed when taking D3. You will have to buy these yourself.
D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and Vit K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems such as hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, etc.
D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds if taking D3 as tablets/capsules/softgels, no necessity if using an oral spray.
For D3 I like Doctor's Best D3 softgels, they are an oil based very small softgel which contains just two ingredients - D3 and extra virgin olive oil, a good quality, nice clean supplement which is budget friendly. Some people like BetterYou oral spray but this contains a lot of excipients and works out more expensive.
For Vit K2-MK7 I like Vitabay or Vegavero brands which contain the correct form of K2-MK7 - the "All Trans" form rather than the "Cis" form. The All Trans form is the bioactive form, a bit like methylfolate is the bioactive form of folic acid.
Magnesium helps D3 to work. We need magnesium so that the body utilises D3, it's required to convert Vit D into it's active form, and large doses of D3 can induce depletion of magnesium. So it's important we ensure we take magnesium when supplementing with D3.
Magnesium comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds if taking magnesium as tablets/capsules, no necessity if using topical forms of magnesium.
Don't start all supplements at once. Start with one, give it a week or two and if no adverse reaction then add the next one. Again, wait a week or two and if no adverse reaction add the next one. Continue like this. If you do have any adverse reaction then you will know what caused it.
TSH - 0.27-4.2 - mine was 2.3
Free T3 - 3.1-6.8 - mine was 3.4
Free Thyroxine - 12-22 - mine was 16.6
Central Hypothyroidism is diagnosed when TSH is normal, low or minimally elevated with a very low/below range FT4. Your FT4 result doesn't suggest Central Hypothyroidism.
A normal healthy person would have a TSH of no more than 2, often around 1, with FT4 around mid-range-ish. So your TSH is on the high side but that could be your norm. See graph of TSH levels in health people here:
It may be worth repeating the test in 3-6 months to see if it changes, but always test no later than 9am, nothing to eat or drink except water before the test.
Thyroglobulin antibodies - 0-115 - mine was 16.9
Thyroid Peroxidase antibodies - 0-34 - mine was 18.8
These are classed as a negative result for autoimmune thyroid disease.
I think the first thing you should do is optimise all your nutrients. Doctors have no idea about optimal levels but these are the levels you should aim for:
Vit D - as above, 100-150nmol/L
B12 - Active B12 over 100.
Total Serum B12 - top of range. 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."
Do you have any signs of B12 deficiency – check here:
If you do then list them to discuss with your GP and ask for testing for B12 deficiency and Pernicious Anaemia. Do not take any B12 supplements or folic acid/folate/B Complex supplements before further testing of B12 as this will mask signs of B12 deficiency and skew results.
Folate - at least half way through range, if no range and just something like >3.9 then aim for double figures.
Ferritin - as above, half way through range or maybe 90-110ug/L.
Thank you so much for your really comprehensive and helpful reply. I will start with the Vitamin D and ask the GP about B12 further investigation. I really appreciate it.Lizadeb
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