New Iron, Calcium and B12 results

[Batty1]

My GP decided my earlier iron test results weren’t good enough and ordered new ones and I just received the results and the results are slightly different which is weird since its the same lab.

My B12 is high because I supplement and I think my D3 is a little on the low side.

Let me know what you think… should I start supplementing iron (doctor did say it was ok to supplement) should I also take D3 with K2 (she won’t recommend supplements) because its in range.

Multiple photos to follow.

[Batty1]

This is my B12 Results

B12 results

[Batty1]

Vitamin D

Lab results for D3

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Batty1

Vit D: 32.5ng/L

You might want to check out a recent post that I wrote about Vit D and supplementing:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

and you can check out the link to how to work out the dose you need to increase your current level to the recommended level.

Your current level is 32.5ng/L

On the Vit D Council's website

web.archive.org/web/2019070...

you would scroll down to the 4th table

My level is between 30-40ng/ml

The Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L (40-60ng/ml), with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health mentioning a study which recommends over 125nmol/L (50ng/ml).

So now you look at how much is needed to reach 50ng/ml and you'll see that they suggest 2,500iu per day.

You should be perfectly OK to supplement with 3,000iu D3 daily which may be the nearest that you can buy.

Retest in 3 months and 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.

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 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

natureprovides.com/products...

It may also be available on Amazon.

One member recently gave excellent feedback on this particular product here:

Here is what she said (also read the following replies):

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Another important cofactor is Magnesium which helps the body convert D3 into it's usable form.

There are many types of magnesium so we have to check to see which one is most suitable for our own needs:

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

explore.globalhealing.com/t...

and ignore the fact that this is a supplement company, the information is relevant:

swansonvitamins.com/blog/ar...

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.

**

As for iron, when discussing iron panel results we often refer to optimal levels according to rt3-adrenals.org/Iron_test_... are:

Serum iron: 55 to 70% of the range, higher end for men - yours is 25.93% through range so it's low.

Saturation: optimal is 35 to 45%, higher end for men - yours is 18.8% so it's low.

Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC): Low in range indicates lack of capacity for additional iron, High in range indicates body's need for supplemental iron - yours is 60% through range, a little over half way so not necessarily classed as high.

I don't have optimal levels for Iron Binding Capacity Unsaturated.

Ferritin: Low level virtually always indicates need for iron supplementation; High level with low serum iron/low saturation indicates inflammation or infection; High level with high serum iron and low TIBC indicates excess iron; Over range with saturation above 45% suggests hemochromatosis - yours is low in range.

Iron is complicated and I'm not medically trained so I can't advise what you should take, I would go through these results with your doctor, they're still pretty poor results and I would get your doctor's guidance. If you take iron supplements then it is important that you test with a full iron panel every couple of months to keep an eye on levels, you don't want your serum iron and saturation to go high/over range as too much iron is as bad as too little.

It would be a good idea to do a complete blood count to see if you have anaemia. The iron panel can only show if you have iron deficiency, not anaemia. You can have iron deficiency with or without anaemia.