**** I have posted screen-shots of recent results from Aug 2024 in the comments.
Bit of a cock-up with timings - so it was a non-fasting, blood test taken about 7 hours after I’d had my levo (87.5mcg, been on that dose since April 2024. I’m also on HRT Evorel Sequi patches 50) - doesn’t seem to have affected my TSH as my last NHS tsh not so long ago in July 2024 was around 0.8 too. Interesting to see how high my t4 was at about 7 hours after taking the levo.
Past info below (new results in comments):
Last MMH thyroid results done before this new test done in July 2024 t4 17.3 Last t3 before this = 3.7.
Should I be worried about the high b12? I don’t take any b12 supplements at all or folate. I take a low dose vitd (with zinc, vit c, selenium).
My ferritin has gone up a bit!
(Past info below taken 10 Jan 2024with Medichecks:
ferritin 21.4 (30-264) (nhs test last year, prior to this Medichecks one was 30);CRP 3.6 (7);Active b12 >150 (37.5-188):Vit d 82.3 (50-250) )
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JoJoloveschocolate
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Thorne Basic B recommended vitamin B complex that contains folate, but they are large capsules. (You can tip powder out if can’t swallow capsule) Thorne can be difficult to find at reasonable price, should be around £20-£25. iherb.com often have in stock. Or try ebay
IMPORTANT......If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 5-7 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)
Post discussing how biotin can affect test results
SlowDragon, You've misread the folate result. It's actually very high. The range is >7 and the result is > 45.
Jojoloveschocolate : Do any of your supplements contain folic acid? What kind of folate are you taking - and in what form and dose? Your high levels suggests that your body might not be metabolising folate very well or that you are taking an overdose.
Folic acid is something that should be avoided because a lot of people can't metabolise it well, and high levels of unmetabolised folic acid in the blood stream are not a good idea. See this paper :
Your B12 is fine according to the range provided. Over the range levels are not a problem. The range is very low though, as is so often the case in the UK. Some links on the subject :
I read once that the Serum B12 range in Japan was something like 500 - 1300. People with levels below 500 in Japan are treated for deficiency. In the UK we're lucky if the top of the range even reaches 600.
The best form of supplement for B12 for most people is methylcobalamin although some do prefer one of the others. There are four different types in general use either in tablets/capsules or as injections.
I’m not taking any folic acid meds/tablets, HB. Do you mean like a multivitamin or tablet supplement type thing? The only multi i take is one with selenium, vit d, vit c and zinc. Why do you think the folate is high? Could it be something in my diet? Why is it odd - out if interest, please
The range is > 7. Your result is > 45.4 nmol/L. That is high.
Perhaps your result is high because you regularly eat some food which is fortified with folic acid, but I can't tell.
Doctors treat women who are planning pregnancy or are pregnant already or patients with a deficiency with tablets containing 5mg per day folic acid. But not everyone can metabolise folic acid - roughly 50% of the global population can't metabolise it very well, or they metabolise it very slowly, causing it to build up in the blood. Folic acid is artificial and was first developed in 1943. The human body was actually built to make use of folate not folic acid.
The reason I said that your high result is odd is because many people can't maintain a good level of folate because it is water soluble and needs to be eaten in the diet very regularly. The body doesn't have a place to store folate for future use so it must be topped up often.
Ah, ok. Thanks for all the help and advice.Should I change cereal to something else? It’s fortified gf bran flakes. I started it because it was gf and had iron in it too. SlowDragon humanbean
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.
Thank you, SD. I’m not vegan/vegetarian. I’m not sure where I am in the menopause. I think I might be post meno, but I have withdrawal bleeds from sequential hrt - these have been a lot lighter recently though. I’m not taking any iron supplements and was trying to address it through diet but that seems to have only shifted it up about 9 points from my last medichecks test. Do you think my t3 level is classed as very low then?
Thanks, SD. I was diagnosed hypo May last year and have been slowly increasing levo. Now up to 87.5mcg which has dropped my tsh to 0.8. I’m seeing a thryoid specialist at the end of the month and was thinking of asking for a poss trial of T3 along with my levo. Do you think it’s too soon to ask to try T3?
Ok. Will do. I’ll ask about the iron panel. I weigh 90kg. Lots of things are better with the levo and I do have some “good days” now when my energy is great, but then I seem to just run out of steam again. Also I have developed raynauds and it seems to be getting worse again even though the weather is still fairly warm here. People have said my conversion does not look great.
I’m seeing a thyroid gp at the end of the month so I can ask her about an increase. I’ll ask about iron panel re: ferritin level too. I better ask her about my high folate too while I’m at it! Can’t win. 144mcg! lol … probably take me twenty years to get there 🤣
Thank you ror all your help, SD. I really appreciate it. I have been thinking about Dio 2 gene testing. I’ll see what hapoens at my appointment and then go from there. It’s sooo hard trying to get everything aligned…tsh, t4, t3, ferritin, vit d, folate, b12, selenium, sex hormones, cortisol, diet, magnesium, iron, conversion, a good gp/endo, the moon and the stars!! 💫
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