The saga of my attempts to get a full test has been achieved by paying 35 quid for a blood draw after 2 failed attempts with finger pricks.
Thyroxine stuff all came out in the results first time and has been discussed separately so am only looking for comments on the items below :
ferritin 110 (30-400)
Folate 18.4 (8-60)
B12 132 (37-188)
D 53 (40-250)
I am supplementing b12 but not anything else above magnesium. I am changing diet I think to try to improve folate and D as I think this may ultimately help improve ferritin.
Not done these tests for about 5 years and the scales have changed so not sure I have any real comparatives.
Medichecks says they are all fine and within range so I guess I am lucky that I don’t need to do any more for now ?
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Danielj1
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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
In week before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate folate supplement (eg Jarrow methyl folate 400mcg) and separate B12
The upper limits for ferritin don't so much indicate that you should be at a higher level, as say that test results which are higher, but in range, are not an issue.
Males over 56 can go up to 503 without it being considered too high. Whereas males 20 to 55 have a top of range at 314.
This in no way means that males over 56 should have a higher ferritin. There is nothing good or positive in being between 315 and 503. But there is nothing bad about it! It just is.
I suggest round about 110 is likely just fine.
I'd be more likely to question whether a ferritin of 503 in a male over 56 really is fine than be concerned about 110.
(Having said this, I very much question the bottoms of reference intervals. They seem to be significantly too low, in my view. Especially when NICE declare that ferritin below 30 is too low - though without discussing reference intervals. But it was a nice little chart to copy!)
Are you vegetarian? If not then that level of b12 I was told that b12 supplementation was unlikely to work well from my consultant. I moved onto B12 jabs. I had them alternate days (due to neurological symptoms - see b12d.org for their assessment sheet) eventually daily jabs of b12 recommended by neurologist (NHS). I take a basic B complex with methyl folate in it called Thorne's Basic B as well to balance it all out. I'm three years in and still need to inject daily.That and going GF made a big difference to my thyroid med utilisation... Dose was lowered a little. I feel much better.
Did Medichecks use the lab INUVI or County Pathology? I have a feeling it might be INUVI.
Medichecks says they are all fine and within range so I guess I am lucky that I don’t need to do any more for now ?
And as always they are just looking at the reference ranges and because your results fall within the range they are saying they are fine. Not so! Don't bother having their comments, on the whole they're really not worth having.
Your folate level is poor. That is a very wide range which I think, if it's INUVI - should be 8.83-60.8. Your level is 18.4 which is 18.41%through range with the range I've mentioned. Folate is recommended to be at least half way through range so you can see why I've said your level is poor. You should consider supplementing with a B Complex which you should actually be taking as you're taking B12, when taking B12 a B Complex is needed to help keep all the B vitamins balanced. Some B Complex supplements to consider
Thorne Basic B (sometimes difficult to get and can be expensive)
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 3,700iu per day, nearest to buy is 4,000iu or buy 5,000iu and take 6 days a week rather than 7.
Retest after 3 months.
Seasonal adjustment may be necessary so it's recommended to test twice a year, April and late October being ideal.
Don't forget D3's important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-MK7.
I like Doctor's Best D3 softgels, nice clean supplement containing just D3 and extra virgin olive oil, and I take a separate K2-MK7. I take this K2-MK7 when it's available, it's 200mcg so I take alternate days
Hi Seaside Susie. Thorne's Basic B is on The Big Vit site. I bought 3 bottles discounted to £18 per bottle. So am hoping this is a sign it's becoming more available. 🤞🤞
It seems to come and go, as it comes from the US I expect it goes in and out of stock and they may have to wait for new stock. Amazon is quite bad for this supplement and a few others that are imported.
BigVits currently showing it at Buy 3 for £20.75 each or £23.05 for one, so you did well to get them at the bargain price of £18 each
They had a further 10% off then I got another 10% for joining. That was only yesterday! I shall keep a note of the others you mentioned... Thanks Seaside Susie. I go downhill if I don't take the B complex & prefer not to change brands if I can avoid it. But I do agree - it had crept up to £24 before this offer 😕
Just to add to the great advice that you have had already. Dietary changes have very limited effects other than for ferritin when chicken liver can help. Your ferritin is actually OK assuming you don't have any inflammation at the moment.
Better to buy good quality, high dose vitamins (read the label and compare the numbers, don't be drawn in by a product saying it's ultra, high dose etc). I would need to be eating a few buckets of greens a day to achieve the amount of folate I need.
wow - many thanks to you all for some great detailed comments and a lot to think about.
Tests were medichecks
Spending 2 months in the hottest sun in Spain so I wonder if this will make a big difference short term to D levels - I do not have a problem supplementing although it was suggested that I do this via food rather than supplements
I have just bought 12 months supply of b12 thinking this was the sole priority - I can see from the various comments that a Thorne complex may be better so this seems now a priority
Ferritin I think I can ignore short term for the reasons given above
I would prefer not to post my thyroid results again as my GP is 101% insistent that a tsh result between 2 and 3 is satisfactory and it has never been better than this since on T4 for 5 years and this view is not supported here or by references that are often posted to support this view. I choose to leave this one alone. So would ask that everyone parks this one for now including the other related thyroid numbers.
Going back to D3, I vaguely recall it was about 50 5 years ago when last tested. I had thought this level was above the minimum and OK but accept the comments that 75 is a better target to
Aim at.
I have not read all the links yet so will do so over the next week and come back if anything more comes to light.
Those who are not deficient are recommended to get their vitamin intake from their diet. Those who are deficient often need to add a supplement.
But not many foods increase vitamin D - it is mainly from the sun. My partner always sits out, limbs exposed, when the sun is shining, and he was really surprised to find he’s become vitamin D deficient (he’s being tested for potential hypothyroidism so I think that’s the reason).
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