First of all, I'm so grateful for everyone who answers posts and explains things on this forum. I've benefitted immensely just by reading others posts.
I would like some help understanding my latest results before I go to my appointment. I'll give my back story for clarity and hopefully with your help I can be a bit more informed.
I first got diagnosed as borderline hypo in 2020, took 50mg and 2 months later got pregnant. During pregnancy and post partum my thyroid levels were fine and I wasn't taking thyroxine. It seemed to have self corrected and I didn't know much about it.
Fast forward 2022, I again was newly pregnant and my thyroid was very hypo (tsh was 13) so I got put on 150,which then sent my hyperthyroid, so reduced to alternate 150/100 and then settled on 100 until after giving birth.
I had a period of about a month where I wasn't taking my medicine regularly so at my appointment doc said stop it altogether for 6 weeks and retest to get a proper idea.
Tested after that, in September, and of course was hypo again, also atpo was around 300 so was diagnosed as autoimmune hypothyroidism aka hashis.
Was given 75mg thyroxine but after a month didn't feel it was enough so increased to 100. In hindsight shouldn't have changed the dose before testing.
that was about 2 weeks ago, which brings us up to my latest tests.
I did a fasting test about 24hrs after last thyroxine dose.
The results are as follows :
Tsh 0.5 (range 1-5)
Ft3 3.53 (range 4-6)
Ft4 15.49 (range 9-20)
Vit d: 25
B12: 251 (range 156-672)
Magnesium: 0.78 mmol (range 1-1)
Ferritin: 35 (range 10-291)
Iron 11.62 (range 9-30)
Hgb 12.6 (12-15)
Rdw 14.3 (12-14)
I did a load of other tests but they all appear within range, I also did the rheumatoid factor test and it was 10.
I know my vit d is low which explains why I didn't feel the thyroxine was working, since the symptoms overlap.
But not sure what my latest thyroid results mean.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Hybridfuj
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With serum B12 result below 500, (Or active B12 below 70) recommended to be taking a separate B12 supplement and a week later add a separate vitamin B Complex
Then once your serum B12 is over 500 (or Active B12 level has reached 70), you may be able to reduce then stop the B12 and just carry on with the B Complex.
If Vegetarian or vegan likely to need ongoing separate B12 few times a week
Igennus B complex popular option too. Nice small tablets. Most people only find they need one per day. But a few people find it’s not high enough dose
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 continue separate B12 until over 500
Post discussing how biotin can affect test results
Thankyou so much, I'll dive into all of these links.I've updated to add ranges. Unfortunately can't see my atpo results so will need to wait for apptmt.
I also added the hgb and rdw results as I'm not sure on this but combining these results with the ferritin and iron, it looks like I might be a bit anaemic?
No folate result available, maybe they didn't test me for it.
I'm not a vegetarian, I eat red meat about once or twice a week but admittedly I have a very poor diet made up mainly from whatever my toddler leaves on the plate!
at my appointment doc said stop it altogether for 6 weeks and retest to get a proper idea.
As someone who has had a TSH result of 13 in the past, telling you to stop taking Levo altogether was sadistic in my opinion. Don't agree to do that ever again.
Tsh (miu/l) 0.5
Ft3 (pmol/l) 3.53
Ft4 15.49
Vit d: 25
B12: 251 (pmol)
Magnesium: 0.78 mmol
Ferritin: 35 ng/ml
Iron 11.62 umo/l
Working on the basis of the most common ranges for the above, all of them except TSH are too low for good health. But to be sure, you really need the ranges supplied by whoever did the tests, since ranges can't be "borrowed" from other test labs.
Once you've supplied the ranges we can give more useful and tailored help.
Thanks, I've edited it to add ranges now, should be there.To be fair to the doc, my tsh wasn't 13 when he said that. The 13 was about a year ago. At the time I stopped, all results were in range but due to me being inconsistent with my meds in the month prior, he wanted a more accurate reading.
In all honesty every aspect of my health deteriorated in these six weeks, and that's starting from a baseline of in range results.
Regarding "in range" - this is used to save money at patient's expense.
Suppose three patients A, B and C have a ferritin (iron stores) test. In each case in this example the range is the same (10 - 150). Results are :
A = 10
B = 80 (mid-range)
C = 150
All of these results are in range so some doctors might say these results are all "fine". But in reality patient A will feel worst and patient B will probably feel best. So being "in range" is not the only factor to be taken into account. Where in range matters too.
To make matters worse, if a result is close to the bottom of the range but under it e.g. 7 in this example, some doctors think this is "close enough".
So beware of "in range". It definitely doesn't mean "optimal", although many doctors do appear to think that "in range " is the same as "optimal".
Vitamin D - Optimal for vitamin D is usually quoted as being 100 - 150 nmol/L in the UK. Note that the units of measurement matter. Some vitamin D tests are given in ng/mL and optimal is a different number (40 - 60 ng/mL). I would suggest that you need to supplement 5000 iU - 6000 iU per day of vitamin D3 (NOT D2). The best supplements are capsules containing only olive oil and vitamin D3, but I do okay with cheaper ones than that.
Vitamin B12 - The reference ranges used in the UK are remarkably low. It is not dangerous to have higher than top of the range B12 levels, although this is the only nutrient I know of that this is true for. Some links on the subject :
There are four different kinds of B12 supplements generally available and their pros and cons are given here. Personally I always stick to methylcobalamin and occasional use of adenosylcobalamin with a dose of 500mcg - 1000mcg per dose :
Your haemoglobin (Hgb) is within range but low in range. If your Hgb drops below range you will be officially anaemic, but you can feel awful before you reach rock bottom, and you aren't far off it now. Note the NHS usually uses ranges where the lower level of the range is 11.5. I think they have reduced it that low to save money, but then I'm a cynic.
RDW - In cases of anaemia, caused either by low iron/ferritin or low B12/folate RDW tends to rise. It means that your red blood cells have a greater variation in size than would be the case for people who aren't anaemic.
To reach optimal your serum iron would have to rise to 20.55 - 23.7 with the same range. I don't know if you are male or female. To raise your iron you would need to take iron supplements.
Optimal for ferritin is not given very precisely in the rt3-adrenals link, so this is an alternative :
Normal ferritin levels for women are between 20 and 200 ng/mL. According to some experts, ferritin levels of at least 40 ng/ml are required to stop hair loss, while levels of at least 70 ng/ml are needed for hair regrowth. The optimal ferritin level for thyroid function is between 90-110 ng/ml.
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Some popular iron supplements on the forum are described in these links :
That last link is quite old and I'd go with the two links with stars before trying iron salts.
Note that once people start taking iron supplements they need to do fairly frequent iron panels to check on what is happening to their levels. A couple of possible outcomes of taking iron supplements are :
1) Iron shoots up and ferritin stays low.
2) Ferritin shoots up and iron stays low.
Also note that depending on genetics some people actually absorb iron better if their folate levels are good. Good B12 might help too.
This was very clear and helpful, thankyou.So basically b12 is deficient, need to get over 500;
vit d is horribly deficient (my test was nmol)
And i am probably slightly anaemic or borderline anaemic, will need to get ferritin up to 80 or 90.
This on top of the autoimmune hypothyroidism-No wonder I feel so awful!
I've also suspected sjogren's syndrome and am waiting on the autoimmune test results, but knowing I'm deficient in all of this, it could be that if I get the levels in order, other symptoms disappear.
I've now got a great base of information to work from, thank you so much.
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