results back

[Judyrabbit]

ok bloods posted on My GP so these are my results. Theses were done at 9am with no Levo fir 24 hours.

B12 was 391.0 ng/L

SerumTotal protein was 64 gl

Hope you can give me any feedback on these results.

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

Can you add the reference ranges for each test?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Judyrabbit

Besides the reference ranges, can you tell us how you feel with these results.

Do you take any supplements at all? Your B12 is low and needs considerable improvement.

[Judyrabbit in reply to SeasideSusie]

My results do not have ref ranges but if I go on nhs sites the ranges are as below.

Serum free T4 level: 20.2 pmol/L ( 11.0-22.0)

Serum free T3 level: 4.8 pmol/L (3.1-6.8)

Serum TSH level 0.64mU/L (0.30-4.50)

Serum ferritin level 179ug/L (23-400)

Serum vitamin B12 level 391ng/L (197-771)

Serum folate level 8.4 ug/L (2.5-)

Last October my Vit D was taken

59.0 n old/L ( 50-150)

I have a few symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, dry skin, ridgesonnails and nails lifting etc but my worst symptom is burning and numb feet. I take no vitamins and would like advice on what, if anything to take

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Judyrabbit]

Sorry Judy, but you can't use ranges unless you know they are from the lab which did your test, this is because ranges vary from lab to lab even within the NHS. What was this NHS website, was it the hospital pathology lab that you know your blood is sent to?

I have no online access to my results so I have no idea how it works but when other members post theirs from their online access they always seem to have ranges with them.

What can be gleaned from your results without ranges is:

FT4 is likely to be in the upper part of it's range, I haven't seen a range that goes above 24 I think.

FT3 is likely to be below half way through range, probably in the 40%ish area.

If those assumptions are correct they can suggest poor conversion of T4 to T3.

Ferritin has quite a wide range (if range is correct) but this is not uncommon with GP tests. My GP range is 15-300 but most private labs are 13-150 for females. However, 179 is quite high and it makes me wonder if CRP was tested, this is an inflammation marker. If CRP is elevated this confirms inflammation somewhere, and ferritin rises with inflammation so we don't know if your ferritin level is a true level or falsely raised due to inflammation.

B12: 391ng/L is rather low. Do you have any signs of B12 deficiency:

Do you have any signs of B12 deficiency – check here:

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

b12d.org/submit/document?id=46

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 then you could take a sublingual methylcobalamin B12 supplement along with a good quality bioavailable B Complex to keep all the B vitamins balanced. I would suggest taking 1 bottle then retest. If B12 level has reached over 500ng/L then you can stop the B12 and just continue with the B Complex.

Folate: 8.4ug/L - folate is recommended to be at least half way through range. Where there is no full range (ie upper and lower limit) we suggest aiming for high teens or twenty. The B Complex mentioned above will help improve your folate level. B Complex supplements popular here are

Thorne Basic B (sometimes difficult to find and can be expensive).

More budget friendly but equally as good:

Vitablossom Liposomal B Complex (from hempoutlet.co.uk)

Yipmai Liposomal B Complex (from Amazon which is actually Vitablossom)

Pink Tribe Liposomal B Complex (from Amazon)

Vit D: 59n old/L (I think you mean nmol/L )

Vit D is recommended to be 100-150nmol/L by the Vit D Council, Vit D Society and Grassroots Health, with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health recommending at least 125nmol/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 59nmol/L = 23.6ng/ml

On the Vit D Council's website

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

you would scroll down to the 3rd table

My level is between 20-30 ng/ml

So now you look at how much is needed to reach 50ng/ml (which is 125nmol/L) and you'll see that they suggest 3,700iu per day. Nearest to buy is 4,000iu and cheapest to buy is 5,000iu and take for 6 days a week rather than 7 days.

Retest after 3 months to check your level.

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/

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.

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 (and maybe Ebay) 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.

Another "all trans" one worth considering if the others aren't availaable:

amazon.co.uk/Vitality-Biore...?

continued below due to character restriction.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to SeasideSusie]

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.

Burning feet syndrome can be a symptom of hypothyroidism, I have had it on quite a few occasions, not for a long time now though but I can't think what's different at the moment, my thyroid hormone levels aren't much different from before. Low Vit D can cause numbness in feet, also tingling.

[Judyrabbit in reply to SeasideSusie]

My Gp site doesn’t give ranges but when I go in the NHS app my information is all on there and the ranges I gave you are beside the results . Tge drs have looked at my results and have not been in touch so obv think they are ok. It is the burning feet that worry me as they are now numb as well. I have fought for this for 7 years and I really don’t know what to do next. Which vitamin do you think I should try first?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Judyrabbit]

OK, so it sounds as though they are the correct ranges.

Serum free T4 level: 20.2 pmol/L ( 11.0-22.0) = 83.64%

Serum free T3 level: 4.8 pmol/L (3.1-6.8) = 45.95%

so definitely showing poor conversion. I don't think an increase in Levo will help, FT4 is already at a very good level.

Which vitamin do you think I should try first?

First of all we need to establish if you have any signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency and whether you need to be tested for B12 deficiency and PA.

If you don't then I'd start with B12 sublingual. Wait 2 weeks, if all OK add in the B Complex and wait 2 weeks. If all OK add the Vit D and following this protocol add Vit K2-MK7, then lastly magnesium.

None of this is a quick fix. After you've been on the last of the supplements for a couple of months then I would get all key vitamins plus a full thyroid panel, you probably wont get all these done with your GP so you may have to consider doing it privately, either Medichecks Advanced Thyroid FunctionTest or Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold, discounts are available, see:

thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...

Your conversion may have improved, but if not once all key nutrients are at optimal levels then if conversion is still poor then it's time to consider whether you want to add T3.

[Judyrabbit in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you Seaside Susie will try the B12 first fir two weeks then add others later

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Judyrabbit]

But do you have any signs/symptoms of B12 deficiency, I gave you links to check. If you do you shouldn't be starting B12 you should be discussing with your GP and get further testing.