After 8 weeks on the same levo dose, and taking daily vitamins per your advices in the past, I finally got an appointment for a blood control. I am still suffering with difficulties to sleep in the night, and my ''low'' ferritin is giving me a hard time. I see more and more allergies on food suddenly, and I had discovered a potential cause to my dizziness which still goes strong. Have anyone suffered with SCM (sternocleidomastoid muscle) after radioactive iodine therapy?
I am posting my blood results, and I'd appreciate your advices. So far, you have done magic!
TSH: 1.62 mIU/ml (0.27-4.20)
T3: 3.13pg/ml (2-4.30)
T4: 1.68ng/dl (0.90-1.90)
Antibodies: + 4.62 which keeps decreasing
B12: 877pg/ml(197-771) - rather high
B6: 46.6mg/l
Folic acid: >20 ng/ml(3.9 -26.8)
Ferritin: 55ng/dl (15-150)--- still puzzled why my ferritin is low, while iron is on a very good level
Iron: 113 mg/dl (37-145)
D3: 42 ng/ml (30-100) -- I recently started a D3 with K2 daily dose
I was adviced to stay on the same dose and have another control in 6 months which seems a bit long to me given my histrory.
Look forward to your advices!!
Warm wishes for a happy new year
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Gigi1806
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Keep going with everything, especially the D3 with K2.
Ferritin low and iron normal is IDWA, ( iron deficiency without anaemia), a condition in its own right. It means you are low on the storage iron that your body draws from, symptoms are pretty much the same as for anaemia and treated the same. I found Three Arrows Simply Heme really helpful. Comes from US but quick to arrive.
Thank you Regenallotment. My problem is that the doctors keep telling me that my ferritin is absolutely fine and IDWA is not acute. They refuse to prescribe me any medication as my ferritin is indeed low but in the range and the symptoms are not associated with that per the doctors!! How are you taking ferritin pills everyday as you need to keep a fair window btw levo and ferritin? Regenallotment
Is it an under the tongue spray ? VitD is fat soluble so if you are taking a tablet then it needs to be taken with good fats. I take 8000iu's daily - a gel capsule containing olive oil. Do you take magnesium - also needed with VitD. A recent bloodtest revealed my VitD is not optimal - sigh !
Its a pill which I take after lunch, which is usually my daily proper meal. Seems like I need something more proper as my pills are from the german version of uk Boots?
I take magnesium in the night and vitamin C and folic in the morning before breakfast
Was there any investigation into your under range cortisol as detailed in your previous post - some 3 months ago ?
Your T4 is now tracking at around 78% with your T3 tucked in behind at around 49% through the ranges - so these have improved with time and hopefully as your ferritin rises to over 70 - your conversion of the T4 into T3 will improve further as will your health and well being.
I do not know about SCM and can't find any details of it being a consequence of RAI thyroid ablation - but in all honesty - that doesn't mean much anyway.
As previous detailed RAI is known to trash vitamins and minerals and your supplementing is paying off - I now aim to maintain ferritin at around 100 - folate around 20 - active B12 around 125 ( serum B12 500++) and vitamin D up at around 125.
Which anti body are you referencing and what is the range ?
I do not know about B6 - just aim for a good 50% through whatever the range is - and with all the B's if taking too much you'll excrete any excess - but if supplementing cut back a little and save a few pence !!
A fully functioning working thyroid would be supporting you on a daily basis with trace elements of T1. T2 and calcitonin + a measure of T3 at around 10 mcg + a measure of T4 at around 100 mcg .
T4 is a pro-hormone and needs to be converted in the body into T3 which is the active hormone that runs the body and said o be around 4 x more powerful than T4- Levothyroxine.
Optimal conversion of T4 into T3 needs optimal core strength vitamins and minerals as detailed above and conversion can also be down regulated by inflammation, antibodies, any long term physiological stress ( emotional or physical ) depression, dieting and ageing.
Some people can get by one T4 only thyroid hormone replacement.
Others find that T4 seems to stop working as well as it once did and that by adding in a little T3 - likely at a similar dose to that their thyroid once naturally supported them with - they are able to restore T3/T4 hormonal balance and feel better -
Some can't tolerate T4 and need to take T3 only - as you can live without T4 but you can't live without T3- Liothyronine.
Whilst others find themselves improved taking Natural Desiccated Thyroid which is the original effective treatment for hypothyroidism and derived from pig thyroids, dried and ground down into a powder which is then made up into tablets referred to as grains with each grain / tablet containing trace elements of T1. T2 and calcitonin + a measure of T3 and a measure of T4.
Currently the NHS starts everyone off on the easiest and cheapest treatment option T4 - Levothyroxine and your doctor can only prescribe Levothyroxine and anti-depressants -
and there is something of a T3 post code lottery throughout the country - with some CCG / ICB areas and hospitals working to financial constraints rather than treating patient medical need.
Gigi1806 As pennyannie said, your previous low cortisol result is significant. I have just commented on your old post with a bit more info about that. Note that both levothyroxine and NDT are contraindicated in patients with uncorrected adrenal insufficiency, so following up on that low cortisol is a priority.
thank you jumpliving, my cortisol was measured a month after and it was at 15mg/dl opposite of 8.3 which was indeed low. The doctor said that this must had happened as I gave blood at 9am and not at 7am, so was expected to be low
Gigi1806 Unless you have seriously disrupted sleep patterns (shift work, severe insomnia, jet lag) your doctor was incorrect. Keep an eye on your cortisol level, preparing properly for the test each time (avoiding steroids, coming off HRT and OCP, avoiding liquorice, ashwagandha)
I an also not sure about the impact RAI has on SCM but my left side is very tense and stretched and my physio said that it could be that a thyroid tissue which dissolved during the therapy, blocks the muscle and causes dizziness. Far fetched, but I an desperate to get my life back 😒
I meant the anti- TSH receptor anti bodies. At the moment I only take levothytoxin 50 daily and every other day I increase it to 62.5 but the doctor didnt seem to be open for any t4 separate dose as he found my values perfect and all symptoms are psychosomatic or unrelated to endo - puzzled by this approach but is almost improssible to find a endo in Germany at the monent. They all have a waiting list of 5 months
It is essential that you are dosed and monitored on your Free T3 and Free T4 readings and not the TSH - hopefully the disparity between your T3 and T4 readings will close - moving your T3 further up its range as your core strength vitamins and minerals improve - especially your ferritin and vitamin D levels.
Your HPT axis - on which the TSH relies on as working well - has been down regulated as there is no functioning thyroid in situ and your internal TSH feedback loop system now broken - and your TSH a very unreliable measure of anything -
The RAI is a slow burn - but most people 6 months post RAI will need a full replacement dose of thyroid hormones so continue to work on building back your core strength vitamins and minerals.
RAI is known to also cause increased antibodies - so hopefully these will subside in time - but without a fully functioning thyroid to attack - the effect of these abs should not be of concern.
You might like to dip into - Barbara Lougheed's book - Tired Thyroid - from Hyper to Hypo to Healing - Breaking the TSH Rule -
i think I already sent you a link to Elaine Moore - who has been this process and now devoted the rest of her life to research of Graves and AI - Disease - books and website - elaine-moore.com -
Hi. Firstly, just want to note I'm not experienced with Iron related blood measurements, so not the best person to answer this.
Having said that, your results look okay to me. I don't believe they suggest Iron deficiency (IDWA) because you would expect TIBC to increase as the body tries to compensate, and the result of this is usually a decrease in trans saturation, but yours are good. I would suggest continuing to increase through diet, although it can sometimes be a long and slow process.
Serum Iron is healthy as well. Bear in mind all of these iron tests assume the Liver is behaving itself indirectly controlling Iron metabolism, but there's no evidence that yours isn't as transferrin is at good levels. Ferritin isn't always reliably measured, it can be affected by other factors.
Your blood results look pretty good. Keep going with it. Ferritin needs improving and Vit D should always be above 70. Don’t be concerned about high b12 if your supplementing as that often occurs. It’s soluble and your body rids any excess.
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Comments on my TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 please
1 month post op blood results. Feedback please.
Test results from lab:
