Help with bloods

[Coney]

Could anyone shed some light on my results for thyroid/ iron / b vits

It would be much appreciated

Thanks 🌸

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Coney

To be able to comment on your thyroid results, please tell us what thyroid meds you take, the dose(s) and the time of last dose(s) before the test. Last dose of Levo should be 24 hours before the test and last dose of NDT or T3 should be 8-12 hours before the test. Also, did you take any biotin or B Complex or any other supplement containing biotin in the 3-7 days before the test?

B12: 575ng/L (ng/L is the same as pg/ml)

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."

If those were my results I'd be wanting to increase my B12 level.

Folate: 5.4 (>3.9)

When there is no proper range with an upper and lower limit, we tend to suggest aiming for double figures.

To improve both B12 and folate levels you could consider a good quality, bioavailable B Complex. My preference is Thorne Basic B. If you look at different brands then look for the words "bioavailable" or "bioactive" and ensure they contain methylcobalamin (not cyanocobalamin) and methylfolate (not folic acid). Avoid any that contain Vit C as this stops the body from using the B12. Vit C and B12 need to be taken 2 hours apart.

When taking a B Complex we should leave this off for 3-7 days before any blood test because it contains biotin and this gives false results when biotin is used in the testing procedure (which most labs do).

Serum iron: 15 (6-35)

Transferrin: 2.52 (2-3.6)

Ferritin: 56 (we don't know which range to use)

Saturation: 24%

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

Serum iron: 55 to 70% of the range, higher end for men - yours is 31.03% so on the low side

Saturation: optimal is 35 to 45%, higher end for men - yours is 24% so a little on the low side

Transferrin: Low in range indicates lack of capacity for additional iron, High in range indicates body's need for supplemental iron - assuming 50% through range is perfect, yours is 32.5% through range so a little low

Ferritin: Recommended is half way through range but we don't know the range you would need to use. However, some experts say that for optimal thyroid function ferritin should be 90-110ug/L.

[Coney in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you for taking the time to give all this information. I did leave the thyroid med until after test I am currently on 100 t4 /125 t4 at weekends that’s it . I’m not taking any supplements at present but will definitely look into getting what you have recommended

Thank you

[Coney in reply to SeasideSusie]

Sorry to bother you again but do you have any recommendations on what I could buy or do to increase the iron ferritin etc

Thank you again

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Coney]

Eating more iron rich foods should help, eg liver, liver pate, black pudding, etc. Total amount of liver shouldn't exceed 200mcg per week due to it's high Vit A content.

List of iron rich foods:

everydayhealth.com/pictures...

bda.uk.com/resource/iron-ri...

You shouldn't take iron tablets unless you have an iron panel to see if you have iron deficiency and a full blood count to see if you have anaemia. Taking iron tablets when you get already have a good level of serum iron can take your level too high and too much iron is toxic and is as bad as too little.

[Coney in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you very much for this My thyroid at present is 100 t4 125 on sat and Sunday

My t3 level is 3.4

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Coney]

Coney

If you left 24 hours between last dose of Levo and blood draw then your FT4 result should be accurate. It is very slightly over range and at odds with your TSH result of 2.23 which is far too high for yur FT4 level. Your TSH is telling us that you are undermedicated yet your FT4 is telling us that you're not.

3.10-6.8 is the range for the t 3 i am not taking taking any at this moment

I can't see a result for this. You also need FT3 testing, this is most important because you need to know how well you're converting T4 to T3. If FT3 is low in range with your high FT4 then conversion is poor and you would probably benefit from adding T3. But do you mean you've taken T3 before? If so why aren't you taking it now?

[Coney in reply to SeasideSusie]

3.10-6.8 is the range for the t 3 i am not taking taking any at this moment Thanks again 🙏

[Coney]

I no longer have any t3 currently waiting on a delivery . I haven’t had any for few mths . Yes that is m t3 results it’s on another page I can’t understand why tsh is creeping up along with t4 it is always that way 😏

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Coney]

If you stopped T3 it’s natural result that TSH increased

[Coney in reply to SlowDragon]

Oh thank you very much I was curious as to why my tsh plus t4 gets high Thanks again

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Coney]

Because Ft3 is dropping