My thyroid and iron panel results for interpretation please

[Sneedle]

Hello everyone,

I recently got my results back and am quite confused. I'm still on 75mcg Levo. I'm 88kg. The GP didn't want to raise it last time we spoke (before coming onto the forum).

T4 and T3 have dropped. TSH has risen slightly.

In addition to the B Complex and Vit D/K/Mag, I have been taking 1 capsule daily Nutri T Convert which is supposed to help with conversion:

Ingredients:

Mukul myrrh extract (gum guggul) 300mg

Magnesium (amino acid chelate) 75mg

Zinc (picolinate)7.5mg

Copper (picolinate) 0.8mg

Selenium (selenomethionine) 75ug

Encapsulated with: Capsule shell (gelatin/glycerol) Magnesium stearate

My conversion has improved very slightly on one capsule.

Folate is awful, dropped from March level (when I wasn't supplementing) despite supplementing 400mcg since then (as part of Yippmai Liposomal B Complex). I thought it would have gone up?

B12 Active also not good, nothing to compare as previous test was inactive type. The Medichecks Dr suggested an MMA test. I have been supplementing 500mcg B12 also since March and again, was expecting some improvement.

What could explain these?

Iron Panel - can someome help with this? I haven't been supplementing iron, and don't have the Haemochromatosis gene.I've joined the PA group and will post my results and ask there too. Transferrin saturation is above top of range - is this important?

Basically I've seen drops in Folate B12 and T4 T3 when I was expecting some improvement due to supplementing. I'm still very fatigued (CFS diagnosis years ago) and am on HRT 200mcg patches and Mirena. I have a lot of stress with family illness and relationship stuff ongoing.

Thanks for your help.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You’re under medicated

Insist on next 25mcg dose increase in levothyroxine

Retest 6-8 weeks later

Explain to GP you have been supplementing B12 and B complex

Levels not improving

You should be tested for Pernicious Anaemia

You may need B12 injections even if negative for PA

[Sneedle in reply to SlowDragon]

Hello Slow Dragon, thanks for your reply.

I will be going back to GP again to ask for trial of next step up the Levo ladder. Plus show these results - they will want to run their own tests again which are inactive only but we'll see what gives.

Are you saying that my low thyroid levels are impacting the folate and B12? Is that how it works?

I've been hoping to improve these two b vits so that my thyroid levels will get better, but obviously that approach hasn't worked.Also I understand (maybe wrongly) that first you need your co factors to be optimum in range, before you increase the thyroid medication? I seem to be a bit at a loss if that's the case! Is going up a dose to 100mcg Levo a good idea if the B12 and folate are this low? Are there risks?

Thanks for your help!

[greygoose]

Zinc (picolinate)7.5mg

Copper (picolinate) 0.8mg

Have you ever had either of these tested?

Zinc and copper need to be balanced - which is why many supplements contain both - but hypos tend to have one too high, and the other too low. So, adding more to the one that is high is a very bad idea - especially if it's copper. So, I would recommend you stop these supplements until you can get them tested.

[Sneedle in reply to greygoose]

Hello greygoose , thanks for your reply.

I haven't had these tested and realise I have no idea about the ins and outs of testing and supplementing them - ie. where to buy tests, are some tests better than others, are these like magnesium where the test seems to be a snapshot and not that helpful etc. As I need to watch the money. Do you know if these amounts are negible or a lot? I definitely don't want copper overload.

I was given the T convert by my nutritionist who uses her 25 yrs experience and a bioresonance machine to test for whay my body does and doesn't need at any given point. I will check with her about copper etc. when I next see her, and look into testing if needed. I've finished the bottle now and won't take any more for the moment.

It's very difficult to know sometimes what to do for the best, between medics, nutritionists, the good folks here with lived experience and a lot of knowledge, and the blood tests. Sometimes they conflict! eg. my gp told me to take iron supplements about 4 months ago, I'm so glad I didn't, looking at the iron panel results!

Sorry I'm burbling on here....😃

[greygoose in reply to Sneedle]

I'm afraid I know nothing about the availability nor quality of private testing in the UK because I don't live there. But I believe that zinc/copper testing is reliable, unlike magnesium testing.

As a rule of thumb you can take it that doctors know absolutely nothing about nutrition. They don't learn about it in med school. And I've never yet met a nutritionist that I would trust - they've told me some peculiar things in the past! Advice on here on that subject is far more reliable because we have researched it without any bias, with a view to saving our own lives! The incentive is far greater for us than for any perfectly healthy professional.

Are you saying that my low thyroid levels are impacting the folate and B12? Is that how it works?

Low thyroid levels will cause low stomach acid. That will mean that you have difficulty digesting food and absorbing the nutrients. Plus low B12 will also cause low stomach acid, so it's a bit of a vicious circle.

However, as you've been supplementing B12/folate, and levels haven't increased, it is probably a good idea to get tested for Pernicious Anemia, an autoimmune disease where the body is unable to hold on to B12 - although I don't know if that affects folate...

But, what's your diet like? B12 is only found in animal products. Folate is mainly found in leavy veg. If you don't eat either, that might have something to do with it.

[Sneedle in reply to greygoose]

Thanks Greygoose, it all helps. Information to get fed into the matrix.

I eat a lot of meat and red at least twice a week, ususally steak amd mince, I eat butter, eggs and use whole milk. I eat a lot of veg too, and usually grow my own in the summer, but it's easy to think 'Oh yes I eat that' but you've got out of the habit. So I'll go back and look at my folate veggies to be sure.

Low stomach acid is definitely happening for me.

Re B12, do you know if people here consider 500mcg a low, medium or high dose? I'm wondering if I should increase it. I will go to GP with PA question.

So with all this in mind, I'm wondering what will increasing my levo dose do to the picture?

Can you or someone else suggest the most beneficial and least confusing order of doing things? ie. first increase B12 or Levo, or Folate, all at once or all three, is this going to muddy the waters more etc.

At present I can rule out low iron, ferritin has improved, vit d is good, so those are successes. What next?

Cheers

[greygoose in reply to Sneedle]

We usually recommend 1000 mcg to begin with - sublingual methylcobalamin. Plust the B complex. Then, when the bottle of methylcobalamin is finished, continue with just the B complex as a maintenance dose. But,t hat wouldn't work for someone with PA. You would need regular injections of B12 plus the B complex.

I would say that increasing levo by 25 mcg should be the next step, whilst you sort out the testing for PA. Then address the low B12/folate both at once.