Blood results

[Minnie43]

Any help with these results 🙏

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Minnie43

CRP is good, the lower the better as this is an inflammation marker.

**

Ferritin isn't too bad, recommended is half way through range which is 82 with that range. Maybe make sure you eat iron rich foods regularly to try raise it, eg liver, liver pate, black pudding, etc.

**

Folate obviously below range. Suggestive (but not diagnostic) of folate deficiency according to NICE:

cks.nice.org.uk/anaemia-b12...

Folate level

◦Serum folate of less than 7 nanomol/L (3 micrograms/L) is used as a guide to indicate folate deficiency.

◦However, there is an indeterminate zone with folate levels of 7–10 nanomol/L (3–4.5 micrograms/L), so low folate should be interpreted as suggestive of deficiency and not diagnostic.

Maybe speak to your GP about this. If he's not willing to do anything then a good quality B Complex containing methylfolate and methylcobalamin will help raise your level, also folate rich foods may help. As B12 contains biotin it must be left off for 3-7 days before any blood test as it causes false results when biotin is used in the testing procedure (which most labs do).

**

Active B12 - 66 (37.5-188)

Active B12 below 70 suggests testing for B12 deficiency according to Viapath at St Thomas' Hospital:

viapath.co.uk/our-tests/act...

Reference range:>70. *Between 25-70 referred for MMA

There is a link at the bottom of the page to print off the pdf to show your GP.

Do you have any signs of B12 deficiency – check here:

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

b12d.org/submit/document?id=46

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.

**

Vit D: 71.7nmol/L

This is on the low side. 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.

To reach the recommended level from your current level, you could supplement with 3,000iu D3 daily then retest in 3 months to check your level and make any adjustment necessary.

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:

vitamindtest.org.uk/

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. 90-100mcg K2-MK7 is enough for up to 10,000iu D3.

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.

If looking for a combined D3/K2 supplement, this one has 3,000iu D3 and 50mcg K2-MK7. The company has told me the K2-MK7 is the Trans form

natureprovides.com/collecti...

It may also be available on Amazon

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.

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

drjockers.com/best-magnesiu...

**

Thyroid antibodies - these are raised which confirms autoimmune thyroid disease, known to patients as Hashimoto's and this is where the immune system attacks the thyroid and gradually destroys it, it's the most common cause of hypothyroidism. Did you already know that you have Hashi's? Hashi's isn't treated, it's the resulting hypothyroidism that is but some members have found that a gluten free diet can help but there is no guarantee.

**

TSH: 0.24 (0.27-4.20)

FT4: 16.3 (12-22)

FT3: 4.37 (3.1-6.8)

The aim of a treated hypo patient on Levo only, generally, is for TSH to be 1 or below with FT4 and FT3 in the upper part of their reference ranges, if that is where you feel well.

Your TSH is slightly below range but this isn't an indicator of thyroid status and although useful for diagnosis once we are on thyroid hormone replacement it doesn't have much use.

Your FT4 is 43% through range and your FT3 ia 34.32% through range. They are both on the low side and suggest that at the moment an increase in your dose of Levo would be beneficial.

Hashi's does tend to cause fluctuations in symptoms and test results and it's possible to swing from hypo to a "false hyper" and back again.

[Minnie43 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks going to order the supplements now

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Minnie43]

Minnie43

Don't start all supplements at once, start with one, wait 1-2 weeks, if no adverse reaction then add the second one, wait 1-2 weeks and if no adverse reaction then add the next one, etc. That way if you do have a reaction you will know what caused it.

Don't do anything about B Complex until further testing of B12 has been carried out. Come back and tell us if your GP is going to test for B12 deficiency.

[Minnie43 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Ok I have magnesium supplements here which I was taking but when my thyroid levels changed I stopped them as thought it could be themThey are from hey nutrition does anyone know if there a good one ? They weren't cheap

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Minnie43]

They are from hey nutrition does anyone know if there a good one ?

heynutrition.com/products/m...

This one? I've no idea if it's any good. They don't list excipients. Are those forms of magnesium suitable for your needs? Do you actually need zinc? Zinc and copper should be balanced, and we Hypos tend to be low in one and high in the other but we wouldn't know which unless tested. The amount of D3 is 25mcg which is 1,000iu, is that right for everyone? Personally I don't go for added extras, I go for what I need but we all have to decide what that is for us individually.

[Minnie43 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes that's itI will just order the ones that you sent link for thank you

[Minnie43 in reply to Minnie43]

Have you any other recommendations for magnesium that are in UK so can get them quickly I have looked at purolabs and vitabright both are just magnesium but in finding it hard to pick 😅

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Extremely high thyroid antibodies

If not already on strictly gluten free diet request GP do coeliac blood test BEFORE trialing strictly gluten free diet

If coeliac test is positive you will need to remain on high gluten rich diet until endoscopy

[Minnie43 in reply to SlowDragon]

Will ask gp for the ceoliac bloods thanks

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Minnie43]

Poor gut function with Hashimoto’s can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but a further 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal

Before considering trial on gluten free diet get coeliac blood test done FIRST just to rule it out

lloydspharmacy.com/products...

If you test positive for coeliac, will need to remain on gluten rich diet until endoscopy (officially 6 weeks wait)

If result is negative can consider trialing strictly gluten free diet for 3-6 months. Likely to see benefits. Can take many months for brain fog to lift.

If no obvious improvement, reintroduce gluten see if symptoms get worse.

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2018/04/3-re...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

Non Coeliac Gluten sensitivity (NCGS) and autoimmune disease

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/296...

The predominance of Hashimoto thyroiditis represents an interesting finding, since it has been indirectly confirmed by an Italian study, showing that autoimmune thyroid disease is a risk factor for the evolution towards NCGS in a group of patients with minimal duodenal inflammation. On these bases, an autoimmune stigma in NCGS is strongly supported

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/300...

The obtained results suggest that the gluten-free diet may bring clinical benefits to women with autoimmune thyroid disease

nuclmed.gr/wp/wp-content/up...

In summary, whereas it is not yet clear whether a gluten free diet can prevent autoimmune diseases, it is worth mentioning that HT patients with or without CD benefit from a diet low in gluten as far as the progression and the potential disease complications are concerned

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

Despite the fact that 5-10% of patients have Celiac disease, in my experience and in the experience of many other physicians, at least 80% + of patients with Hashimoto's who go gluten-free notice a reduction in their symptoms almost immediately.