I have posted a chat on here previously about having half my thyroid removed and how I am free so tired all of the time and putting on weight and struggling to lose it I have now found my blood results and can anyone give me advice on these as I really don't understand them and thank you for all your replies to my previous message I feel better knowing I have support with this and I am not alone 😊
THS 3.16Ferritin 55
Vitamin B12 321
I'm not sure what they should be
Results taken from separate post and added by Admin to keep all information together.
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Rocksonfire
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A normal healthy person with no thyroid condition would have a TSH level no higher than 2, often around 1, so your TSH is high.
You really need at least FT4 testing, preferably FT3 as well, these are the thyroid hormones. If these are low then it's more evidence that as you only have half a thyroid it's struggling to maintain decent thyroid hormone levels and you should be considered for thyroid hormone replacement. However, your GP may stick to guidelines and require you to have TSH at least over range, and possibly over 10, before prescribing Levo.
Thyroid tests should be done no later than 9am as this is when TSH is highest and you need TSH as high as possible for diagnosis. Also best to have water only before a test as some foods and drinks can affect TSH.
Ferritin 55
This is quite a low result. As ferritin can be falsely raised when inflammation is present, it's always preferable to have CRP, an inflammation marker, tested at the same time so that it can be established whether your ferritin result is a true level or not.
Some experts say that the optimal ferritin level for thyroid function is 90-110ug/L.
You can help raise your level by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet
Don't consider taking an iron supplement unless you do a full iron panel consisting of serum iron, total iron binding capacity, transferrin saturation percentage and ferritin. If you already have a decent level of serum iron and a good saturation percentage then taking iron tablets can push your iron level even higher, too much iron is as bad as too little.
Vitamin B12 321ng/L (ng/L is the same as pg/ml mentioned below)
This is low. 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."
Some people with a level in the 300s have been found to need B12 injections.
Do you have any signs of B12 deficiency – check here:
If you do then list them to discuss with your GP and ask for testing for B12 deficiency and Pernicious Anaemia. Do not take any B12 supplements or folic acid/folate/B Complex supplements before further testing of B12 as this will mask signs of B12 deficiency and skew results and if you have B12 deficiency and it is not detected and treated then this could affect your nervous system. B12 deficiency should be treated before starting folic acid because folic acid can sometimes improve your symptoms so much that is masks B12 deficiency.
If you don't have any signs/symptoms you could supplement with sublingual methylcobalamin B12, use one bottle along with a good quality, bioavailable B Complex to keep all the b vitamins balanced, then retest. Once you reach about 500-550ng/L you can stop the B12 and just continue with the B Complex.
When taking B Complex we should leave this off for 3-7 days before any blood test as it contains biotin which gives false results.
Good B Complex brands to consider:
Thorne Basic B
Vitablossom Liposomal B Complex (from hempoutlet.co.uk)
Yipmai Liposomal B Complex (from Amazon which is actually Vitablossom)
Thank you so much 😁 this has been such valuable information for me I have a phone appointment with my doctor next Friday so I can discuss this with them now I really appreciate your kindness I don't feel alone with this now
The half that is left is not producing enough thyroxine so I have to take levothyroxine everyday. A year post op I’m still trying to get the right dose. I put on 10kg and am struggling to lose it.
Everyone else has given good advice but I wanted you to know , you aren’t alone in this.
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