So I’ve just got my Blue Horizon tests back done by finger prick on 20/09/21 at 7-8am, fasted.
I’ve also added the tests I’ve just done with the 9th with the GP for comparison. (Done 8.20am on 09/09/21) GP repeated antibodies and FT3 today but don’t have the results of that yet obviously.
Also my cortisol was even lower this time, what could this be and what other tests I should do to see why cortisol is so low?
Magnesium 0.99 (0.7-1.0)
Cortisol 140 (166-507)
TSH 5.62 (0.27-4.2)
T4 Total 89 (66-181)
FT4 15.8 (12-22)
FT3 4.73 (3.1-6.8)
TPO 20 (<34)
TG 174 (<115)
Previous results:
(I was fasting, but BG kept dropping low 1-2h before test and I ate, so I think that lowered TSH..)
Cortisol 166 (171-536)
TSH 4.94 (0.27-4.2)
FT4 15.8 (12-22)
FT3 - Lab didn’t test
TPO - still pending
TG - still pending
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OudMood
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Did you do the Silver test and not the Gold, as B12, folate, ferritin and Vit D tests aren't here.
Magnesium 0.99 (0.7-1.0)
Testing magnesium is unreliable. About 99% of magnesium is stored in bone, muscles and soft tissues, leaving about 1% in the blood. So testing what's in the blood isn't giving an accurate picture of our magnesium status.
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Cortisol 140 (166-507)
I am concerned about this. Did you have doctor's comments? If so what did they say? I am going to tag Hidden who knows a lot about serum cortisol tests and can help far more than I can. All I can say is that you should discuss with your GP because I think this needs investigation.
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TSH 5.62 (0.27-4.2)
T4 Total 89 (66-181)
FT4 15.8 (12-22)
FT3 4.73 (3.1-6.8)
TPO 20 (<34)
TG 174 (<115)
So over range TSH again although FT4 and FT3 in range.
Your Tg antibodies are over range and this can be indicative of autoimmune thyroid disease but they can be raised for other reasons. The NHS tends to only look at TPO antibodies where Hashi's is concerned but you can have negative TPO and positive Tg antibodies to confirm Hashi's, you just need a doctor to agree! My own opinion is that you have Hashi's.
Did you do the Silver test and not the Gold, as B12, folate, ferritin and Vit D tests aren't here.
Yes, I’ve only done the silver as I’ve had those tested at the GP on the 09/09/21.
Vit D 71 (30-200) ⬆️- [27] taking 4,000iu a day
Serum B12 681 (191 - 663) ⬆️❗️[556]
Folate 8.7 (3.9 - 26.8) ⬆️ [2.7] supplementing
Ferritin 66.7 (30 - 400) ⬆️❗️[62]
Cortisol 140 (166-507)
I am concerned about this. Did you have doctor's comments?
No, I didn’t get the comments.. I was too impatient. Since it was low at the GP test as well, they want to discuss. I’ve mentioned this to one of my Endos a couple of days ago (the first result, this only arrived today) and they prescribed a SST test, I guess appt will be in the post in a few weeks.
So over range TSH again although FT4 and FT3 in range.
Is this normal? Or does it happen?
It is unnerving.. 😂 I wish my body just decided what’s wrong and let me get on with it! 😂🙊
I’m starting to wonder if my Thyroid is a symptom rather than a cause?
But there is a correlation between Addison’s, Hashimotos and Type 1 Diabetes as well as PCOS, so maybe I just got “lucky” and won the jackpot?! 😂
I will also be emailing my Gp asking to add the results to my medical records and to ask the doctor to review it (the receptionist suggested it, so possibly they won’t ignore them..)
I was curious if PaulineS might be able to comment on the urgency about cortisol?
How bad can it get and how fast?
I’ve read on the NHS page that low cortisol can lead to adrenal crisis and that if left untreated it could be life threatening..
Not sure how much should I worry 😬
Am I ok to wait 3-4 weeks for SST or should I push for an earlier one?
So over range TSH again although FT4 and FT3 in range.
Is this normal? Or does it happen?
If it is Hashi's (and that is my guess) then this is where the immune system attacks and gradually destroys the thyroid. Your results mean that at the moment your thyroid is still managing to produce enough thyroid hormone to keep your FT4 and FT3 in range.
Am I ok to wait 3-4 weeks for SST or should I push for an earlier one?
I don't know enough about serum cortisol tests to comment. Hopefully Hidden will pop along and comment. Hopefully you wont have to wait too long for your SST test but it might not hurt to point this result out to your GP and maybe they can contact the department for an earlier appointment.
That is actually the male range. I don't know why GP tests always show the same range for males and females, and for pre and post menopause females.
If you do a test with Medichecks or Blue Horizon the range is 13-150 and the recommended "half way through range" with that range is about 82.
With the Ferritin, although it’s within range it’s kind of low..
Can I supplement with 210mg of Ferrous Fumerate?
I don’t think the GP will prescribe an iron panel as it was “in range”
I would not suggest supplementing with iron tablets without doing an iron panel. If GP wont do one then Medichecks does one for £39 (less the permanent 10% discount for TUK). It's called the Home Iron Blood Test and can be done by fingerprick.
If you test and your serum iron and transferrin saturation percentage are good, then taking iron tablets will increase these and too much iron is as bad as too little.
I have decent serum iron and transferrin saturation levels but lowish ferritin (lower than yours) and I've experimented. I took a fairly lowish dose of iron (only 5mg elemental iron) and it raised my serum iron from 54% to 68% through range, but my ferritin dropped from 40% to 33% through range. So I stopped the tablets, no point in taking iron too high when ferritin was getting worse.
If you want to increase your ferritin level then unless you do an iron panel to know whether you need iron tablets you should try and raise it through diet, eg 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
HI, as you're aware your cortisol is low, the reference range they give is for the whole day, however cortisol should be at it's highest point first thing in the morning & then drops through the day. Ideally cortisol should be between 350-550nmol/Ls, so yours at 140 is low. I've seen a lot lower results where people have had hardly any cortisol in their body, so although you probably feel rather unwell you should be okay to wait a few weeks for the SST. Sadly many Endo's aren't conversant with pituitary/adrenal issues so really hope yours is, which hospital are you with? You may need to message me the name rather than post on here. Low cortisol can be due to a few reasons, one is that you have an autoimmune condition which causes Addison's disease where the adrenal glands have stopped functioning, yours might be going that way or it's due to other factors. The pituitary isn't secreting enough ACTH to stimulate your adrenal glands to produce cortisol. You have a benign tumour in an adrenal gland; TB can also cause Adrenal Insufficiency.
The short synacthen will indicate if your adrenal glands are producing enough cortisol. You are given an injection of artificial ACTH & bloods taken at 30 mins & sometime 60mins, they want to see this rise to over 450nmol/Ls. They do need to do an ACTH blood test at the start of the SST which needs to go on to ice straight away, this shows if the issue is with the pituitary gland. While you wait for the SST be aware of how you are feeling, if you become unwell with diarrhoea & vomiting, feel dizzy, find it difficult to speak then you need to contact 999 straight away & say that you are being investigated for Adrenal Insufficiency & maybe having an Adrenal Crisis. If you have a BP monitor then do regular checks to find out what your normal BP is, when you do it put the cuff on & sit quietly for a couple of minutes prior to doing a reading. Your BP can drop if you are going into adrenal crisis, although it might start off high & then suddenly drop, it is a medical emergency. Have you lost weight? Do you crave salty products? These can be symptoms of Adrenal Insufficiency. Hope that helps a bit?
I checked that article.. unfortunately it doesn’t really give a further explanation on how they correlate to be able to derive further information from there 😓.
I was theorising whether this had something to do with age of diagnosis I.e. the most recent the diagnosis the higher those antibodies or something along those lines.
But then when researching, the anti-TG it always brings it back to the Thyroid.
And diabetes on its own seems a correlation rather than a causation especially pertaining to elevated TSH.
Do you have any more articles that may go deeper into why you’re have Tg antibodies with Type 1 diabetes and why they would be caused by T1D rather than the Thyroid?
I’m looking but not finding much.. other than correlation on Hashi and T1D 😩😩
I’m so confused… I obviously don’t want diseases that I don’t need.. but also want to give a name to how I’m feeling and focus on getting better 😓😓 and the fact that GPs so far have not really taken it too seriously (I.e. not too concerned) is stressing me out and making me even more impatient!
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