I haven't posted for a while as I am fine. Since taking T3 all my various ailments have disappeared on the whole. Very fortunate as since my husband died during the first lockdown, it is just me with 3 children. This is about my daughter, 14, very tired, put on 2 1/2 stone in 2 years, very moody. I guess you could say she is a teenager, but she has so little energy. We got blood tests and I see now that our area has followed everyone else and refuses to test T3. GP says everything is OK, but I got a copy of the results and serum transferrin was in red, 3.92gl, when the highest it should be is 3.6. Does this mean she needs iron?
TSH is 1.6 (0.27-4.2) and T4 14.5 (12-22).
Serum iron 17.3
Serum ferritin 18ugl (13-150), which seems very low
B12 433ngl (197-771)
Folate 4.4ugl, <3
I'm wondering if I should give her my Thorne basic B or I could get her the Thorne Iron Bisglycinate. Or something for her energy levels! The GP said she is fine. Thank you!
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Donutlight
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• Low in range indicates lack of capacity for additional iron
• High in range indicates body's need for supplemental iron
Although you haven't given a range (so I can't be sure) I think the serum iron is below optimal.
Serum ferritin is way below optimal, and it is normally suggested that optimal is around 80 - 100 ug/L or 80 - 110 ug/L, I can't remember exactly.
Folate should usually be in double figures. Personally I aim for a level of around 15 ug/L but my levels bounce around all over the place and for unknown reasons I find it hard to maintain my folate levels where I want them. For the body to make use of vitamin B12 it needs good levels of folate.
To raise vitamin B12 one of the best supplements is methylcobalamin, which is easily sourced on Amazon or other supplement websites.
To raise folate one of the best supplements is methylfolate, which is also easily sourced on Amazon or other supplement websites.
When taking methylcobalamin and methylfolate it is a good idea to take a B Complex, such as the Thorne one you mentioned as well.
Once B12 and folate are at good levels it might be possible to maintain them with just a B Complex like the Thorne one you mentioned. But experimentation is important.
I am pleased to hear you are doing well with the addition of a T3 to your Levo meds but so very sorry to hear about your husband.
And then your daughters illness …. .. transferrin which is an iron protein carrier usually raises in the presence of iron deficiency to encourage further levels of iron. Ferritin appears low but to actually confirm iron deficiency and supplement iron you would need to supply the ranges for your daughters serum iron to establish actual iron levels.
Both Vit B12 & folate could do with being higher levels.
Hi, thanks for responding. Serum iron range is 6.6 to 26, so 17 doesn't seem so bad - wonder why the transferrin is so high. She is not vegetarian, but she does look very pale to me. I think we might have to get the medichecks thyroid test with the antibodies and T3 to see if I have "gifted" her a problem.
Thank you for the links humanbean, the folate and ferritin need dealing with then. I will ask for a full iron panel for anemia and see what the GP says.
Thank you Radd - my husband had liver cancer. He was under the care of a liver unit and didn't have cancer at first but they watched it grow. He had 2 polyps appear during a check up and they wouldn't remove them because the polyps weren't cancerous yet, NHS policy (no doubt cost based). They waited until they were cancerous, about a year, and these killed him after an attempt to remove them failed (made them go into overdrive).
I will ask for a full iron panel for anemia and see what the GP says.
It depends on how your GP diagnoses anaemia what your chances are. Many of them only look at haemoglobin (which is tested as part of a Full Blood Count) to determine whether someone is anaemic, and they often only act on it when haemoglobin is below range. However, there is a difference between the following two conditions :
1) Iron deficiency without anaemia
2) Iron deficiency with anaemia
A patient with iron deficiency, whether or not they are anaemic, should be treated. But given how doctors are trained and them wanting to save money they often don't test enough things to even be aware the patient is iron deficient.
See these links :
Title : Iron deficiency without anaemia: a diagnosis that matters
Hi Donutlight, you’ve had excellent advice from humanbean & others & I hope your daughter gets the tests and supplements she needs.
I just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss; how traumatic for all your family. Remember to reach out to forum members any time you need advice or support; we are here to help! Very best wishes to you 🦋
Hello Sweet MamaI am no expert and not in a place to give advice but yet I was compelled to write as I’ve been through so much with my family’s health, or lack thereof in recent years.
Obviously a 21/2 stone weight gain and extreme fatigue is not fine and causing you great concern for her on top of everything else you are dealing with.
Grief is a terrible thing and much of this could be her trying to cope in her own way but I believe we place too much faith in GP’s who specialize in nothing they are G (general) practitioners of knowledge, so they read and understand a bit more about human anatomy but nobody knows a child better than his/her Mother.
As for the specialists, the Governments all over this world seem to be tying their hands more and more due to the rising costs so tests are missed and diagnosis is many times incomplete. For example, why would someone with a broken back only have an MRI of Lumbar spine, what about the Cervical or the Thoracic area and bingo, when they finally do it 8 months on, there is extensive damage there too ( that’s one of my kids). Makes no sense, most of the time, trying to cut costs is costing lives!
Go with your gut and be strict with your girl, as she gets older she’ll love you for it. Don’t let her slip away, make her be the best version of herself that she can be! No one will ever know your child as you do.
I am so very sorry for the loss of your husband and I hope that you and the kids can pull together and be there for one another always. May he R.I.P.
Thank you for your kind messages. I will definitely be doing some more tests, before getting some folate, etc. Would like do that straight away, but would be better to wait until further tests are done so the baseline is clear. They did full bloods, and the white blood count is 5.5 (4-11 range). There is something going on, I can sense it.
Originally went to the gp because of tiredness and the red rash that sometimes comes up on her face. My mother had lupus, so I thought there might be a connection. Tried to get through to the gp twice today, but was number 28 and 26 in the queue..
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