ferritin, folate, Vitamin D levels

[Violet333]

Just had some test results back. Recently had B12 test at 487 (range 197-771), now have (finally!) got ferritin result at 174 (range 30-148), folate 15.3 (range 3.9-26.8) and total 25-OH Vitamin D at 50. No range given for Vitamin D but note to say 30-50 may be inadequate in some people. Just looking for so help to interpret these. please. TSH remains at 2.26 (0.27-4.20) T4 at 14.1 (12-22). I am not being treated for hypothyroidism.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Violet333

Are you taking any supplements?

If taking B Complex or biotin in any supplement did you leave this off for 3-7 days before the test? Biotin can give false results for any blood test.

B12: 487 (range 197-771)

Is the unit of measurement pg/ml or ng/L or pmol/L? It makes a difference.

If it's pg/ml or ng/L (which are both the same) then this level is on the low side.

According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:

"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".

"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."

If it's pmol/L then you multiply by 1.355 to give pg/ml which works out at 658.9pg/ml and it's not too bad at all.

ferritin: 174 (range 30-148)

Are you taking an iron suppement? If not, was CRP (an inflammation marker) tested as well. Ferritin rises with inflammation so this could possibly be raised if inflammation is present.

folate: 15.3 (range 3.9-26.8)

Folate is recommended to be at least half way through range, which is approx 15.5 plus with that range, so your folate is just about OK.

total 25-OH Vitamin D: 50nmol/L

This is low and it's recommended that Vit D is 100-150nmol/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 of 50nmol/L = 20ng/ml

On the Vit D Council's website

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

I would look at the second table

My level is between 10-20ng/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).

You will see that they suggest a dose of 4,900iu D3 daily, nearest to buy is 5,000iu.

Retest after 3 months.

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 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.

[Violet333 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks so much for all this information. The B12 is in Ng/L. This was after two months of 100mcg cyanocobalamin daily, following an earlier test result of 404. However, after reading up a bit I've decided to take methylcobalamin 1000 daily instead. I'll be tested in two months time, so we'll see. I'd stopped supplements (have been taking a multivitamin as well), B12 and anything enriched with folate well before the tests. I did have a cold at the time of the tests - inflammation? So folate ok, but a bit low so will try to up that and looks like I need a vitamin D supplement. Will look at your recommendations, thanks again.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Violet333]

IMPORTANT......If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

In week before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate methyl folate supplement and continue separate B12

Exactly what multivitamin are you taking

[Violet333 in reply to SlowDragon]

Not sure it was a full week, maybe five days stopped taking B12. I noticed biotin was in the Engevita flakes I use so stopped eating that for the same period. Pretty basic MV tablet stopped at the same time. What does biotin do to the results?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Violet333]

multivitamins not recommended on here generally

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...