So…. For the last 11 years I have been back and forth to the gp with symptoms of weight gain, tiredness, low blood pressure, low pulse, thinning hair, thinning eye brows, swollen joints, recurrent sinusitis
I have had persistent low TSH sometimes out of the range, sometimes as today on the lower end 1.01 (0.27-4.4)
T4 - 14.8 (12-22)
I have attached a pic of my results over the years.
can anyone recommend as the doctors just say they are fine !
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KC0587
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Us Hypo's tend to suffer with low ferritin amongst other things, think it comes down to the low stomach acid so we don't tend to absorb things very well
Thank you for all of this information. My ferritin has been at the bottom of the range for years. Just tested again this week and is sitting result - 18 (13-150)
vitamin D - 49.1 (below 50 is ‘may be inadequate for some’)
My doctors surgery is very difficult to get to do other testing. I will definitely look into the private testing. I don’t seem to be getting anywhere and this has been ongoing for 13 years
I think your symptoms are more than likely your low ferritin (iron stores) and low Vitamin D…. Without testing T3 its not the full picture…
I would definitely start on some ferrous fumarate 320mg of iron tablets u can buy these over the counter at any pharmacy take with some vitamin C that’s a must! also I would buy the better you brand of vitamin D spray with K2 as sprays and drops get into the body easier by bypassing the stomach… and see how u feel in a couple of months… I think u will notice the difference for sure 😌
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 264l
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.
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