Assuming last dose of Levo was 24 hours before test, and no biotin in any supplement:
CRPHS .161 mg (<5)
As an inflammation marker, the lower the better with this test. Yours is OK.
Ferritin 161 ug (13-150)
Ferritin is recommended to be half way through range, and some experts say the optimal level for thyroid function is 990-110ug/L. Are you supplementing?
Folate Serum 15.1 nmol (>3.89)
Good result.
B12 Active 114 pmol
Good result.
Vitamin D. 91 nmol
Pretty good result. The Vit D Council, Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level between 100-150nmol/L, with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health recommending at least 125nmol/L.
TSH .163 miu (0.27-4.20)
Free T3 3 .3 pmol (3.1-6.8)
Free Thyroxine 13.8 pmol (12-22)
These results show that you could do with an increase in your dose of Levo.
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.
FT4 is only 18% through range and FT3 is just 5.41% through range
Many Thanks. My last Levo was 24hrs before test and I took no supplements for 2 weeks before. Where do I get Ferritin from and why would it be high?I am only on 50mg of Levo and have been for years. I guess I will need to speak to my GP re increase.
Would it help to take a vitamin D supplement. I have vitamin D3 4000 iu I can take if needed.
Where do I get Ferritin from and why would it be high?
Ferritin is your iron store, not iron itself but where iron is stored until the body needs it.
It can be high if you are supplementing and don't need to, or because you eat a lot of iron rich foods (liver, red meat, pate, plus other sources) or it can be falsely high if you have any infection or you have inflammation somewhere in your body.
I am only on 50mg of Levo and have been for years. I guess I will need to speak to my GP re increase.
Yes, athough your GP may say your results are fine because they are all within range. However, it's not "in range" that is important, it's where in range that matters and how you feel, we all have a point in the range where we are optimally medicated so regardless of what your results are if you have symptoms then you are undermedicated and need more Levo.
Please check out the links in this pinned post which includes quotes from the links, all of which can be helpful in providing evidence to your GP to support your request for an increase:
If your GP is worried about your low TSH then you should point out that TSH is not a thyroid hormone, it's a pituitary hormone, and the FT4 and FT3 are the thyroid hormone tests and these tell us our thyroid status. TSH is useful in diagnosing a thyroid condition but once diagnosed and on thyroid replacement hormone the TSH doesn't have much use.
List all your remaining hypothyroid symptoms, you could use this tick list from Thyroid UK to show your GP:
and emphasise that your FT4 and FT3 are extremely low in their ranges, and that 50mcg is actually a starter dose for a newly diagnosed hypo patient who would have regular 6 week testing with increases in dose until their symptoms abated.
Would it help to take a vitamin D supplement. I have vitamin D3 4000 iu I can take if needed.
With your current level you'd not need 4,000iu daily, you could take it alternate days then retest after 3 months to check your level. If all you want to check is Vit D then there is an NHS lab which offers an easy dried blood spot fingerprick test to do at home for £29:
If you do supplement you'd also need to take D3's important cofactors.
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 my suggestions are Vitabay, Vegavero or Vitamaze brands which all 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.
Vitabay and Vegavero are either tablets or capsules.
Vitabay does do an oil based liquid.
Vitamaze is an oil based liquid.
With the oil based liquids the are xx amount of K2-MK7 per drop so you just take the appropriate amount of drops.
They are all imported German brands, you can find them on Amazon although they do go out of stock from time to time. I get what I can when I need to restock. If the tablet or capsule form is only in 200mcg dose at the time I take those on alternate days.
If looking for a combined D3/K2 supplement, this one has 3,000iu D3 and 50mcg K2-MK7. The K2-MK7 is the All-Trans form
Magnesium should be taken 4 hours away from thyroid meds and as it tends to be calming it's best taken in the evening. Vit D should also be taken 4 hours away from thyroid meds. Vit K2-MK7 should be taken 2 hours away from thyroid meds. Don't take D3 and K2 at the same time unless both are oil based supplements, they both are fat soluble vitamins which require their own fat to be absorbed otherwise they will compete for the fat.
Don't start all supplements at once. Start with one, give it a week or two and if no adverse reaction then add the next one. Again, wait a week or two and if no adverse reaction add the next one. Continue like this. If you do have any adverse reaction then you will know what caused it.
Which lab processed the test? Usually it's Eurofins County Pathology, occasionally it's The Doctors Laboratory but I have recently seen a post showing a different one.
I am having trouble believing that Ferritin range. Even the male range only goes up to 400, the female range is usually 150, maybe 200 and my surgery uses 20-300 for everyone.
Can you add a picture of your results, you can add an image by clicking on the rectangle icon below the message box, make sure no personal details are showing.
All comments remain the same for the new ranges except for Folate, with that range it is low. Do you take a B Complex?
I have never seen such a wide ferritin range before. To be honest that's ridiculous.
Ferritin is recommended to be half way through range, so with that range that would be 340ug/L and in that case your result shows a low level. However, when you look at
According to some experts, ferritin levels of at least 40 ng/ml are required to stop hair loss, while levels of at least 70 ng/ml are needed for hair regrowth. The optimal ferritin level for thyroid function is between 90-110 ng/ml
where ng/ml is the same as ug/L, then it makes no sense because your level is way, way higher than what they are saying.
Can you see which lab processed this? If you go to your Medichecks account and click to view the results of this test, you will see a link to print the results, that shows the lab in the top right hand corner of the results sheet as shown on image below.
I would be contacting Medichecks about this, asking how the range can be so wide with this lab when the range from Eurofins County Pathology is 13-150 and uses the same unit of measurement.
Many thanks. Will look on Amazon for vit k2-mk7 so I can use up the vit D tablets I already have.Will also start a magnesium supplement in a couple of weeks time and see how I feel.
Also will attempt to make Doctors appt re increase in Levo.
In the majority of patients 50-100 μg thyroxine can be used as the starting dose. Alterations in dose are achieved by using 25-50 μg increments and adequacy of the new dose can be confirmed by repeat measurement of TSH after 2-3 months.
The majority of patients will be clinically euthyroid with a ‘normal’ TSH and having thyroxine replacement in the range 75-150 μg/day (1.6ug/Kg on average).
The recommended approach is to titrate thyroxine therapy against the TSH concentration whilst assessing clinical well-being. The target is a serum TSH within the reference range.
……The primary target of thyroxine replacement therapy is to make the patient feel well and to achieve a serum TSH that is within the reference range. The corresponding FT4 will be within or slightly above its reference range.
The minimum period to achieve stable concentrations after a change in dose of thyroxine is two months and thyroid function tests should not normally be requested before this period has elapsed.
Your extremely low Ft4 result shows you’re under medicated
Hi Slowdragon, Thanks for your reply. Is not the Thyroid peroxidase antibodies 8.4 and my Thyroglobulin antibodies 13.1 My Autoimmunity (as stated by Medichecks) the test for autoimmune disease?
Hi This is the first test I've done privately. Only normal test done my gp. Had a scan in May on my thyroid which showed a growth on the front of the thyroid which is supposedly ok and not considered concerning although it is quite large.
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