Help with tests will only test TSH

[Maryloo03]

Biochemical Investigation of Anemias and Iron Overload

Range

Iron -7.6 10.6-33.8umol/L

Transferrin - 2.45 2.00-4.00g/L

Iron Saturation- 0.12 0.13-0.50

Vitamin B12 - 285 153-655pmol/L

Thyroid Function

TSH- 0.43 0.32-5.04 mU/L

[Rapunzel]

Hi Maryloo. You need FT4 & FT3 testing as well. Can you get private tests done? I can see you're in Canada but I can't imagine that your health provider has a monopoly... get these done and check again; we may be able to help based on a fuller picture 🙂

Iron -7.6 10.6-33.8umol/L

Transferrin - 2.45 2.00-4.00g/L

Iron Saturation- 0.12 0.13-0.50

Your iron very low and may be the reason why your meds aren't working as they should.

[Maryloo03 in reply to Rapunzel]

Thank you . I’ll have to go to a naturopath path and freeT’s checked. Do you think I’m hypo?

[Rapunzel in reply to Maryloo03]

Do you think I’m hypo?

No-one, including your doctor, can say that you're hypo based on the TSH alone. I can see from your previous posts that you've tried synthroid and NDT. What are you taking at the moment?

Surely, there is no need for the additional expense of a naturopath consult. If the UK can offer blood tests alone, without a professional's input, surely Canada can.

[Maryloo03 in reply to Rapunzel]

Total Thyroidectomy on 205 mg NDT

[Rapunzel]

Get proper bloods done, include tests for vitamin D and B12... NDT seems to come in grains, not mg, how many grains do you take and what brand?

[helvella Administrator in reply to Rapunzel]

Some desiccated thyroid is dosed in milligrams - typically 60 or 65 milligrams is taken to be one grain. But it is difficult to reach 205 basing it on that arithmetic!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Your iron is below range

No ferritin result

No vitamin D or folate either

B12 is too low

What vitamin supplements are you taking

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after each dose change or brand change in NDT

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested

Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year minimum

Low vitamin levels are extremely common when hypothyroid, especially with Graves’ disease

Recommended that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

NDT ….day before test split as 2 or 3 smaller doses spread through the day, with last dose approximately 8-12 hours before test

Post all about what time of day to test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

as you have Graves’ disease are you on strictly gluten free diet

[Ana_conda]

YIKES!!! Your B12 is in the DANGER ZONE.

Try supplementing first with oral B12 methylcobalamin and methyl folate (not folic acid) tablets .

I highly recommend visiting the Pernicious Anemia group here and educating yourself about the symptoms of B12 deficiency.

Good luck!

[Maryloo03 in reply to Ana_conda]

Thank you so much!When do you recommend taking the B12& MF?

The MF bottle said it may mask the B22 deficiency

[helvella Administrator in reply to Maryloo03]

Folate masks B12 deficiency by avoiding macrocytosis - enlarged red blood cells.

It doesn't mean that a B12 test won't report correctly. But "normal" red blood cells might put someone off from even looking.

[Ana_conda in reply to Maryloo03]

You should always take them together- whether you are injecting B12 or using tablets.

The "warning" on the MF does not apply to you... so feel free to ignore it.

What you should worry about is getting a proper diagnosis for the CAUSE of your B12 deficiency.

Unfortunately, getting a proper diagnosis for thyroid disorders is a walk in the park compared to diagnosing B12 deficiency.

The two disorders frequently appear together and many of the symptoms overlap; which makes it even harder to know if you have Pernicious Anemia in addition to hypothyroidism.

While your GP will probably tell you to stop surfing health sites on the internet and suggest you just "wait and see", once your levels are as low as yours , too much waiting will kill you if you really have Pernicious Anemia!

The only blood tests which are of any use at all are:

1. IFab (tests the presence of antibodies against Intrinsic Factor) and

2. Elevated levels of serum methylmalonic acid.

Only IFab is specific to Pernicious Anemia, while the second test can act as a backup.

The good news is that any level of IF antibodies at ALL is indicative of Pernicious Anemia.

The bad news is it tends to produce a lot of false NEGATIVE results. Ask your doc to order the test a second time if the first comes out totally clean.

All of the UK guidelines for diagnosing PA can be found on the PA Group page.

You don't know how lucky you are to live in a country that has guidelines for diagnosing Pernicious Anemia. As far as I know, the UK is IT.

No more PA in the rest of the world, I guess... 😏

Say what you will about your national health care system - at least the MDs there are expected to know that such a life threatening condition exists!

All the best!