I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of some horrible symptoms (dizziness, weakness, fatigue, feeling jittery, brain fog) and have resorted to a private blood test as not getting anywhere with GP.
test shows high FT4 under thyroid section and high cystatin C under kidney section (which I believe is linked to high FT4).
I do take a number of dietary supplements- multivitamin, B12, iron, ginkgo biloba and lavender. Anyone know if these might be causing the high FT4, just so I’m armed with info when I speak with my GP.
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Slinkyxx
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Can you share all of the thyroid results - TSH, FT4 & FT3, also include the reference range, numbers in brackets after your result.
Did you also hve thyroid antibodies tested - TPO & Tg?
I don't know a lot about iron, but your supplements need a serious over-haul.
For a start, multi-vits are not recommended on here, for many reasons. They usually contain things you don't need or don't want to be taking, like calcium and iodine. But the main reason is that if they contain iron, you won't be absorbing much of anything else. Iron binds to just about everything except vit C. And taking vit C with iron is essentail because it helps absorb the iron.
Iron should be taken at least two hours away from everything else - except vit C - and four hours away from thyroid hormone.
Cyanocobalamin is not the best form of B12 to take, it's not well absorbed and has to be converted in the body to methylcobalamin. So why not take methylcobalamin to start with? Also, just taking one isolated B vit won't do much for you because the Bs all work together. So, best to take a methylated B complex. You may or may not need extra B12, depending your your B12 level - same goes for folate.
Your FT4 is high because you are not converting it to T3, so it's just mounting up in the blood. The low FT3 could be the cause of your symptoms, but some of them sound like low nutrient levels.
There are so many different causes of poor conversion of T4 to T3 that you might never find the cause of yours. But optimising nutrients sometimes helps. And make sure you're consuming enough calories and carbs. You need both to convert. But, if all else fails, you are going to need to obtain some T3 to take with a reduced dose of levo.
One thing there, your RBC mean cell volume is over range which indicates that you have sufficient iron/haemoglobin to stuff your cells with, but not enough B12/folate to make extra cells. This tallies with the red cell count only just being in range.
We need B12 and folate to make the cells, then iron to make the haemoglobin to fill the cells. The above suggest you need more B12 and/or folate.
Ref your thyroid results, firstly your TSH would have been higher had you tested earlier in the day, so next time you test do so at 9am or before, fasting & stop B complex 4-7 days max before as it can affect results.
You cant be hyperthyroid as TSH is within range although higher than I would expect to see in an average person. Retest in 3-4 months as described.
I'd skip the ginkgo biloba - there are many possible issues taking that. Including depletion of vitamin B6. That is not me being anti-ginkgo biloba - it might well be beneficial. But you have an issue and it needs looking at.
You need folate and B12 tested and, likely, supplementation. If your B12 is in a multi-vitamin, it is likely at a low level.
Mean Cell Volume being high almost certainly implies low folate and/or B12.
There are many options for both. Folate can be in the form of methylfolate, folic acid or folinic acid. But you do not want to over-do supplementation.
B12 is available in four basic forms and a vast range of dosages and mixtures. But if your B12 is very low, it would be advisable to consider the possibility of Pernicious Anaemia.
I failed to emphasise that low B12 or low folate can, on their own, make people feel dreadful. Even if every other aspect of your nutrition is excellent. Even if you have no other health issues.
I wonder if Randox produces a high Cystatin-C result (mine was 1.63). That said your creatinine-based eGFR looks OK.
You can add the cystatin-C figure alongside the creatinine figure in an eGFR calculator to see the full impact on your kidney function - it might reduce your eGFR a bit - kidney.org/professionals/gf...
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