improved blood work, am I a good converter or do I need support?

[Jgoodwin977]

I’m still not out of the woods yet, but I’m happy to see some improvement.

Here’s my latest results.

The not so good news is d-dimer is still elevated but has come down, cholesterol is the same, but hasn’t got worse, my sex binding globe is still high, I’ve overdosed on vitamin D, and TPO has gone up.

The good news is the thyroid cancer has shrunk, TSH has corrected itself, TGAB has come down and have good full blood count, b12, folate, ferritin and parathyroid levels again!

I’m not taking any meds, just loads of supplements, but interested in LDN, T2 and T3.

Does anyone have any insight/ideas of what might help improve things even more?

Many thanks

TSH 2.38 mIU/L (0.27 - 4.20) 53.7%

Free T4 (fT4) 13.6 pmol/L (10.80 - 25.50) 19.0%

Free T3 (fT3) 3.6 pmol/L (3.10 - 6.80) 13.5%

T4:T3 Ratio 3.778 

Thyroglobulin Antbodies (TgAb) 88.1 IU/mL (≤ 115)

Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPO) 79 IU/mL (≤ 34)

Folate - Serum 18.5 ug/L (3.89 - 26.80) 63.8%

Vitamin B12 896 nmol/L (180 - 999) 87.4%

Vitamin D 218 nmol/L (50 - 174) 135.5%

Ferritin 134 ug/L (13 - 150) 88.3%

Cholesterol  5.2 mmol/L (3.30 - 5.29) 95.5%

LDL 3.12 mmol/L (0 - 3) 104.0%

[GlowCoach Administrator]

Vitamins are looking good but vit D is on the high side and thats not a good thing.

Suggest you reduce your vit D supplement. How much are you taking?

As you're not taking Levo then being a good converter or nnot isnt relevant as your body is doing what the body does naturally.

Both your FT4 & FT3 are too low and TSH is over 2.

Recommend monitoring thyroid levels over 3-4 months.

Recommended blood test protocol: Test at 9am (or as close as possible), fasting, & no biotin containing supplements for 3-7 days (Biotin can interfere with thyroid blood results as it is used in the testing process).

Testing like this gives consistency in your results and will show stable blood levels of hormone and highest TSH which varies throughout the day.

[Jgoodwin977 in reply to GlowCoach]

I was taking a lot as advised, due to a compromised immune system, having an autoimmune condition and cancer, so 5,000-10,000 iu per day. Have stopped since receiving the results on 20th July.

Yes, thanks for the heads up on consistency and biotin regarding blood work. I do this. Fingers crossed I don’t need to depend on Levo and continue to improve 🙏

Thank you

[DippyDame in reply to Jgoodwin977]

Fingers crossed I don’t need to depend on Levo and continue to improve

I'm sorry but with FT4 and FT3 levels as low as yours you are going to need replacement thyroid hormone(s)

Free T4 (fT4) 13.6 pmol/L (10.80 - 25.50) 19.0%

Free T3 (fT3) 3.6 pmol/L (3.10 - 6.80) 13.5%

We aim to have both Frees roughly approaching 75% through their respective ref ranges.... so your labs (above) are far from that level and are not supporting good health

Why are you concerned about Levo but interested in LDN?

Levo is a T4 bioidentical replacement thyroid hormone which, if T4 to T3 conversion is robust will ensure you have a good FT3 level which is essential for good health.

FT3 followed by FT4 are the most important results

For good health very cell in the body must be flooded with T3 by way of an adequate and constant supply .....you are not achieving this!

Re LDN

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

"The results of this study do not support claims of efficacy of LDN in hypothyroidism."

Cholesterol is too high but correct thyroid medication should see this fall to an acceptable level

High vit D is to be avoided to prevent toxicity, and can cause a build up of calcium in the blood

Your TPO Abs are high indicating Hashimoto's disease, a gluten free diet can help.

btf-thyroid.org/thyroid-ant...

TSH is still too high. Level should be less than 2 and preferably close to, or under 1

Suggest you consult your GP now with a view to starting thyroid hormone replacement in the form of Levothyroxine,

Starting dose 50mcg to be tested and dose increased after 6 weeks... continue increase/ wait 6 weeks/ retest until Frees increase and you are symptom free. GP should monitor this.

[Jgoodwin977 in reply to DippyDame]

but it looks like I’m not a good converter of t4 to t3, so wouldn’t it be better to just get t3 of even t2 to help support the matter?

LDN is said to be good for thyroid cancer and hashimotos

I don’t have hypothyroidism yet and they say optimal range is up to 2.5, so that’s why they haven’t put me on Levo

My symptoms are, insomnia, constipation and my toe nails have stopped growing, but otherwise feeling fine.

Thank you so much for your incite and help!

[DippyDame in reply to Jgoodwin977]

All I can add is to reiterate that with your miserably low Frees you need to introduce thyroid hormone replacement

In Hashimoto's disease, immune-system cells lead to the death of the thyroid's hormone-producing cells. The disease usually results in a decline in hormone production resulting in hypothyroidism and a shrinking/dying thyroid.

When were you diagnosed with thyroid cancer? You say it has shrunk.....could it instead be Hashimoto's?

What are you referring to when you say "optimal range is up to 2.5"?

Your Frees are abysmally low so hypothyroidism is indicated.

Some people with a form of Thyroid Hormone Resistance need to have T3-only....but that is the last resort. T3 has a shorter half life than T4, which is the storage hormone, and waiting in the wings to be available as back up. There is no back up with T3

In your shoes I'd be asking more questions of your medics.

[Jgoodwin977 in reply to DippyDame]

I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2022 with two biopsy confirmations.

They said the hashimotos wasn’t looking as bad on the ultrasound scan, which correlates with my antibodies coming down to double figures.

Dr Isabella Wentz who specialises in hashimotos says optimal range for tsh is 0.5-2.5

Thanks for the heads up about t3, I guess I can only try Levo and see if I’m a good converter to t3 first. I just thought I’d cut straight to the chase.

My doctor said with my numbers still just within range, using Levo would be like using a sledgehammer to crack open a nut.

[FallingInReverse in reply to Jgoodwin977]

If helpful for reference understanding your TSH. This chart shows the distribution of TSH in healthy people (ie no thyroid issues).

You can see that only about 3-4% of people without thyroid issues have a TSH that high.

Of course TSH alone is insufficient, and a single TSH at one point in time is not enough to diagnose and treat our thyroid issues. Each number and in combination over time helps us do that. But do keep the above in mind. Statistically there is a very low chance your thyroid is functioning.

Then you’d ask Why. There are different reasons why.

But with your antibodies - for diagnosis it doesn’t matter if they fluctuate up and down - they always do, and when managing this disease there’s benefits to monitoring them. But for diagnosis, a single above range AB test is enough to conclude your thyroid issue is of autoimmune cause.

Autoimmune is not curable or reversible. Your thyroid will continue to be attacked and lose function. That’s important to know since it’s not a matter of if, but when, you decide to begin replacing.

Without replacing your thyroid hormones, you might not feel the impact right away - you have some symptoms but generally feel fine. Great! That’s because the rest of your body is compensating. Including your adrenals. If your thyroid is your engine. Then your adrenals are the turbo boosters (like cortisol and adrenaline). These will get you where you need to go, but it’s not what they are designed for. Until the whole system burns out.

At least, monitor like Jaydee says. if you get new bloods def share.

When you get comfortable and learn up on your situation, the replies above all give rock solid collective wisdom for how to think about it and what to do.

What treatment did you get for your thyroid cancer?

TSH

[Jgoodwin977 in reply to FallingInReverse]

thank you for this incite, yes I’ll share my October results with you.

I’m trying the holistic approach with the cancer first before thinking of surgery, I have managed to shrink it and get my antibodies down to 36, so nearly in remission. My hair has now grown back and I don’t have anxiety/depression or heart palpitations anymore, so I feel I’m making some good progress and gonna try to heal myself despite the odds.

My next step is to see a functional medical doctor to find the root cause

[FallingInReverse]

T2 also is not a thyroid treatment. T2 is marketed and studied as a weight loss and workout supplement, and probably has other vitamins or herbal extracts of unregulated quality & quantity. Even the most glowing of recommendations note these are completely untested, inconsistent and have side effects and risks that are unknown whether they outweigh any benefits there might be.

Anecdotal benefits aside, t2 does impact the HPT axis in unknown ways but likely by suppressing t4 and t3.

[Jgoodwin977 in reply to FallingInReverse]

Thank you for the insight, most appreciated