Good morning, I have my results back from a private test I took due to the advice of this lovely group (thank you). I had bloods done with my doctor on 16th Nov (due to feeling terrible and irregular periods) and my tsh level came back at 9.5, they said to come back in 2-3 months for repeat to check level and if still high they would think about starting me on medication.
I have attached my results and I am looking for some more advice on what to do with these (will my doctor accept these or send me for more tests), my next steps.
Thanks again for all your help.
P.s. I couldn't figure out how to attach more than one picture so had to make a collage, hope you can figure them out.
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Emt81
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Ok - so that is the range - and probably too wide to be sensible - I
if your ferritin is at 18 - you need to see your NHS doctor immediately -
I think under 30 - the NHS wake up and are obliged to run further tests to rule out iron defiecient anemia and I had to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy when my ferritin was found to be down at 22 :
I can't see these graphs well enough - so just for reference - I am tapping in where I now aim to maintain my core strength vitamins and minerals -
ferritin at around 100 - folate around 20 - active B12 75++ ( serum B12 500 ++ ) and vitamin D at around 100:
I had some tests in November and my ferritin was low my doctor didn't seem concerned about this and only mentioned my tsh level. Is there anyway I can increase this without help from doctor such as a vitamin??
Serum ferritin level is the biochemical test, which most reliably correlates with relative total body iron stores. In all people, a serum ferritin level of less than 30 micrograms/L confirms the diagnosis of iron deficiency.
Never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first and retest 3-4 times a year if self supplementing. It’s possible to have low ferritin but high iron
Test early morning, only water to drink between waking and test. Avoid high iron rich dinner night before test
Eating iron rich foods like liver or liver pate once a week plus other red meat, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily orange juice or other vitamin C rich drink can help improve iron absorption
This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.
Thank you for your incredible patience while you have been awaiting the outcome of our ferritin reference range review. We conducted this with Inuvi lab, which has now changed the reference ranges to the following:
Females 18 ≤ age < 40 30 to 180
Females 40 ≤ age < 50 30 to 207
Females 50 ≤ age < 60 30 to 264
Females Age ≥ 60 30 to 332
Males 18 ≤ age < 40 30 to 442
Males Age ≥ 40 30 to 518
The lower limits of 30 are by the NICE threshold of <30 for iron deficiency. Our review of Medichecks data has determined the upper limits. This retrospective study used a large dataset of blood test results from 25,425 healthy participants aged 18 to 97 over seven years. This is the most extensive study on ferritin reference ranges, and we hope to achieve journal publication so that these ranges can be applied more widely.
So I finally had an appointment with my doc yesterday regarding these results. My doctor told me that he would need to run the blood tests again due to other labs having different ranges/ not as accurate. This can not be done for another two weeks!! Then I'll be waiting at least another 2 weeks for an appointment with my doc!! It is so frustrating and I am so exhausted..I mentioned having the test for celiac, he asked me to explain and I did if said he didn't think it necessary as it causes weight loss not weight gain but he would put it down anyway to be tested. Y do these docs not know anything..
Thank you for this, he wasn't my usual doctor and pretty much laughed at me. I have had an eye twitch which had been ongoing everyday for approximately 6weeks, I get its pro. Nothing but he basically said oh yeah that happens to me too! I was prob In the room no more than 5mins.Hoping to start feeling better when the vitamins /supplements kick in.
I'm thinking eye twitching is down to low B & D vits so you can take a loading dose to bump things up and I think magnesium (tends to cause twitching as does stupid GP's) so hopefully you'll have that sorted by the next blood test 🤗
Eye twitching was one of the annoying symptoms that resolved for me just with appropriate thyroid medication. Wasn't supplementing any vits at the time.
I think ' at some level ' there is a method in my madness :-
As when you need to actually read to type in the results against the ranges -
you can't help but realise how some results seem much too low or too high - in the ranges - which then in turn starts the thought process to question same and to seek out considered opinion.
I am not trying to but if I have an underactive thyroid I obviously want to be treated for this. I had blood tests in November with a tsh level of 9.5 my doc wants me to have more blood tests in a few weeks (2-3 months after first TEST) If tsh come back high she said she would consider medication.
Hey there - yes - I've just been reading your first post from last November :
OK - so it looks as though your TSH is even higher now and shouting out for help -
I'd go back to the doctor as for any thyroid hormone replacement to work well we need optimal core strength vitamins and minerals of ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D .#
I see you had extensive replies and recommendations on all these in your first post so if your doctor can't accept these private tests it should at least force the hand to retest on the NHS and start things moving in the right direction for you.
Thanks for this I have contacted my doctor and informed them of my latest results. Im hoping they offer some help, haven't felt myself in a long time.Thanks for responding x
had blood tests in November with a tsh level of 9.5 my doc wants me to have more blood tests in a few weeks (2-3 months after first TEST) If tsh come back high she said she would consider medication
Bloods should be retested 6 WEEKS after first abnormal thyroid results
Book early morning, ideally before 9am, only drink water between waking and test
With TWO tests with TSH over 5 and high thyroid antibodies and symptoms you should be started on Levothyroxine
Even if we frequently start on only 50mcg, most people need to increase levothyroxine dose slowly upwards in 25mcg steps (retesting 6-8 weeks after each increase) until eventually on, or near full replacement dose
In the majority of patients 50-100 μg thyroxine can be used as the starting dose. Alterations in dose are achieved by using 25-50 μg increments and adequacy of the new dose can be confirmed by repeat measurement of TSH after 2-3 months.
The majority of patients will be clinically euthyroid with a ‘normal’ TSH and having thyroxine replacement in the range 75-150 μg/day (1.6ug/Kg on average).
The recommended approach is to titrate thyroxine therapy against the TSH concentration whilst assessing clinical well-being. The target is a serum TSH within the reference range.
……The primary target of thyroxine replacement therapy is to make the patient feel well and to achieve a serum TSH that is within the reference range. The corresponding FT4 will be within or slightly above its reference range.
The minimum period to achieve stable concentrations after a change in dose of thyroxine is two months and thyroid function tests should not normally be requested before this period has elapsed.
Will increasing vitamin level help thyroid work better or decrease TSH level, sorry if this sounds stupid I get that poor thyroid function decreases the absorbtion of vitamin and it is important to have them at healthy levels for odvious reasons.
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
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
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Symptoms v’s blood test
'Nomal' blood test results
Hashimotos + blood test results
A blood test required 
