* Blood draw no later than 9am. This is because TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day. If looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, an increase in dose of Levo or to avoid a reduction then we need the highest possible TSH
* Nothing to eat or drink except water before the blood draw. This is because eating can lower TSH and coffee can affect TSH.
* If taking thyroid hormone replacement, last dose of Levo should be 24 hours before blood draw, if taking NDT or T3 then last dose should be 8-12 hours before blood draw. Adjust timing the day before if necessary. This avoids measuring hormone levels at their peak after ingestion of hormone replacement. Take your thyroid meds after the blood draw. Taking your dose too close to the blood draw will give false high results, leaving any longer gap will give false low results.
* If you take Biotin or a B Complex containing Biotin (B7), leave this off for 7 days before any blood test. This is because if Biotin is used in the testing procedure it can give false results (most labs use biotin).
These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with phlebotomists or doctors.
If so then your FT3 is on the low side for someone taking T3.
TSH 0.01 (0.27- 4.20)
FT4 18.7 (11.0 - 25.0)
FT3 4.8 (3.1 - 6.8)
Folate 21 (0-60.8)
B12 200 (0-300)
Ferritin 48 (15-300)
Is this a private test done by Thriva?
Ferritin is low, it's recommended to be half way through range with some experts saying that the optimal level for thyroid function is 90-110ug/L. You can help raise your level 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.
Folate was Thriva result from last test - the rest are via GP and beginning of this month.
I do eat lots of iron rich food - I eat all of them as much as poss (liver find difficult to buy and eat weekly but doesn't seem to make much difference, so I started taking the Floradix which has made a small increase. So should ask for an iron panel and see what that comes back as.
The range is actually 8.83-60.8. Thriva have a confusing way of showing results on the graphic with the coloured bars. To see the actual proper normal reference range you need to download the pdf which lists test results with "normal range".
Folate is recommended to be at least half way through it's range, so about 35 plus with that range.
Complex B
Vit C: 10mg
B1: 2.5mg
B2: 5mg
B6: 5mg
B12: 10ug
There doesn't appear to be any melthylfolate (B9) which is unusual. You may be better changing your supplement to one that contains 400mcg methylfolate and without Vit C because Vit C keeps the body from using the B12 contained in the supplement. Vit C should be taken 2 hours away from B12. I do well with Thorne Basic B.
Your Ferritin level doesn't suggest iron deficiency so your GP may not be willing to do an iron panel. If not, for peace of mind, you can do this with Medichecks - called Iron Home Blood Test and can be done by fingerprick. Leave off iron supplement for 7 days before the test and fast for 12 hours before (water allowed). Otherwise it's your choice if you want to continue with your iron supplement.
Thanks for that Seaside Susie. Agreed Thriva is confusing - will be going back to Medichecks for the next one.
Have just checked Complex B (Together) and it does have Methylfolate at 10ug - but Thorne looks good - i'll try next. I will keep Vit C separate and see how that goes and might do the iron test to see how that looks. If all good, should I try increasing T3 slightly?
If those were my results on your treatment regime, I would be increasing my T3 by 6.25mcg and retesting after 8 weeks to see what difference it has made.
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