b12 results, advice needed please

[Buddy21]

Little about me,,  total thyroidectomy 18 years ago. I’ve recently reduced thyroxine from to 125mg to 100mg, feeling over medicated probable cause is significant weight loss, 3 stone. This is due to also having gerd and have recently weaned myself off ppi’s and h2 blockers and now following a strict diet and following the low stomach acid  regime. I plan to wait 2 months before I retest my thyroid and wanted to check my vitamins to see if I was deficient which may be contributing to fatigue and hair loss. I stopped my b complex supplements 2 weeks before the test. FERRITIN 149 ug/ l

FOLATE SERUM  15.14 ug/l

B12 ACTIVE 150 pmol/l

I’m concerned my b12 has come back a little high and now I shouldn’t go back taking them as I have done for years, any advice please? 

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

Do you also have your latest thyroid blood results to share with us? You are legally entitled to a printed copy of your results from GP reception.

What was your vit D level?

Having over range B12 really isnt an issue at all as it is water soluble and your body simply gets rid of it via your urine when you pee.

Its recommended to stop any biotin containing supplement like B complex 3-7 days before a blood test.

[Buddy21 in reply to Jaydee1507]

Thank you for replying. I don’t know my recent thyroid results from my gp and to be fair it was done only 2 days after I reduced my thyroxine, so I didn’t plan asking them for a print out. I plan to pay for a private one in 2 months time to see what’s going on now I’ve reduced dosage. I do feel better now I have done it as I was getting palpitations and headaches, no doubt down to the huge weight loss. Yes, I stopped my b complex 2 weeks before blood test.

My vitamin d results 87 NMOL/l

I was advised to top up with 400 iu. I have taken adcal d3 and alficalcidol since having my thyroid removed but I have never taken K2 along with them which is something I need to look into.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator in reply to Buddy21]

Come back and make a new post when you get your private results.

[Buddy21 in reply to Jaydee1507]

thank you, I will.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Buddy21

My vitamin d results 87 NMOL/l

I was advised to top up with 400 iu. I have taken adcal d3 and alficalcidol since having my thyroid removed but I have never taken K2 along with them which is something I need to look into.

What is the reason for the calcium? Were your parathyroids affected when you had your thyroidectomy? Has your calcium level been tested to know that you need calcium? We shouldn't take calcium if we don't need it.

400iu D3 is just a child's dose. 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 of 87nmol/L = 34.8ng/ml

Link to the Vit D Council's website to work out how much D3 you need:

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

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).

I stopped my b complex supplements 2 weeks before the test.

There really is no need to leave B Complex off for that long. As B Complex contains biotin, and if biotin is used in the testing procedure (most labs use it) then we need to leave off any supplement containing biotin for a few days. The higher the dose of biotin the longer we leave it off. If your B Complex contains the amount commonly found in that supplement, eg 400-500mcg, then leaving off for about 3 days would be sufficient. If a stand alone biotin supplement or hair/nail supplement typically containing a much higher amount of around 5-10mg (5,000-10,000mcg) then it's prudent to leave that off for 7 days. There is no benefit in leaving it off for longer.

You haven't given any reference ranges for your results which makes it difficult for us to interpret them accurately (please always include the reference ranges as they vary from lab to lab).

FERRITIN 149 ug/ l

This appears to be a good result providing that it is not falsely raised due to inflammation. An inflammation marker (eg CRP) done at the same time is useful. Ferritin can be raised due to infection, or maybe an autoimmune disease eg rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's.

FOLATE SERUM 15.14 ug/l

Very much depends on the reference range. If Blue Horizon did this test their range is 8.83-60.8 so your result would be very low in range. However, other ranges can be >2.9 or >3.9 or 3.9-19.45 and in these cases your result would be OK.

B12 ACTIVE 150 pmol/l

I’m concerned my b12 has come back a little high and now I shouldn’t go back taking them as I have done for years, any advice please?

Most B12 ranges are around 37.5-188 or similar so if the range is something like that then this is a good result although it does suggest that you no longer need to take a separate B12 supplement as a good quality B Complex containing methylcobalamin (typically around 400mcg) would probably be enough to maintain a good level.

[Buddy21]

when I had my thyroid removed I was pretty poorly in hospital for a week with low blood pressure and was I told they had nicked my parathyroid. As far as I’m aware I don’t get my calcium checked regularly but that’s something I certainly will look into, thanks. I’m trying to screen shot my results but I don’t think I’m having any luck.

they were done with medichecks and it was them that adviced I top up my vitamin d with just 400iu

Ferritin 13-150 R. 149ug/l

folate serum >3.89 R. 15.14ug/l

B12 active 37.5 - 150 R 150pmol/l

Vitamin d 50 - 200 R 87nmol/l

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Buddy21]

Was CRP tested?

[Buddy21 in reply to SeasideSusie]

no it wasn’t.

[Buddy21 in reply to Buddy21]

we’ll at least I don’t remember it being done, it was around 18 years ago.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Buddy21]

I meant was CRP tested when you did your latest Medichecks bundle. If you did the Advanced Thyroid Function Test it is included.

[Buddy21 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh sorry. No it wasn’t, I only had the vitamin testing done which results I have posted . I never have had a private thyroid blood test done before, this is something I will do next time. I just thought it would be a good idea to wait 8 weeks as i have decreased my levothyroxine dosage.

[samaja]

Your B12 test is not really usable whether active or not, because you need to be off B12 for at least 4 months to see whether your are truly low or deficient or might even have PA. So taking B complex or drinking energy drinks will just tell you that there is quite a lot of B12 circulating in your blood but whether it is making it to the cells is not clear at all. Your folate is not bad but for high B12 it would be better around 20. IF you want more information and are on Facebook, you could join the Pernicious Anaemia/B12 Deificiency group which is great for all sorts of questions re B vitamins.

[Buddy21 in reply to samaja]

that’s really Interesting, thank you for the information.