# New labs look pretty normal. Any thoughts?



## lalalalarkin (Aug 20, 2016)

I had my most recent round of labs run and, for the most, they look pretty normal. My doctor said everything looks good except that my Ferritin is on the low side (she likes to see 50-100). She recommended trying to eat more iron-rich foods. See my signature for past labs for comparison. My current doctor had me take Thyrodex (natural supplement to help with hyperthyroid) for about a month to see if that would stabilize things before running these, and I'd been off of it for about 3 or 4 days before having my blood drawn.

Here are the numbers:

*TSH *at *.44* (.33 - 4.7) borderline low; was formerly low
*FT4* at *1.27* (.89-1.76) mid-range; was formerly borderline high
*FT3* at *3.4* (2.3-4.2) mid-range
*Thyroglobulin Ab* at *<0.9* (<=4.0) normal
*TPO Ab* at *1.1* (0.3-9.0) normal
*Ferritin *at *13* (10-291) borderline low
*B12 * at *669* (211-911) normal

I also had a Complete Metabolic Panel done, but it included a whole lot of stuff and I didn't feel like retyping it all. Let me know if there's anything from that that might be useful and I can add it. 

I'm glad my numbers seem more normal, but also a little annoyed as I do still occasionally wake up in the middle of the night feeling overheated/heart racing/etc., and occasionally feel like my heart is pounding. Overall, I have been feeling better over the last 6 months than I was when the last round of labs were taken (less anxious, etc.), but there was still enough going on that I thought maybe it was thyroid related. My thyroid is enlarged (confirmed by doctor) to the point that I can feel it when I swallow, but it looks like maybe my levels are fine despite that.

Now I'm thinking maybe I really do just have anxiety or something else going on... but I'd be interested to get insight from some other folks who are experienced looking at thyroid labs. I did realize that the antibody for Graves is TSI, which she didn't test, but with fairly normal labs it seems like maybe that would be unnecessary anyway.

I will say that my B12 looks much better than the last time I had labs done (I was borderline deficient then, in the 300s). I've been taking supplements since the beginning of the year, so it's good to know they're working. That might be part of why I'm feeling somewhat better...

Any thoughts? Do these look good to you? I don't want to focus on it if I'm fine, but I don't want to miss anything either.

Thanks!


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> *Thyrodex *for approximately one month beginning in July and ending ~3 or 4 days before blood draw on 8/20.


This supplement contains freeze dried thyroid among other things. That I believe could impact your lab results - you took it for a month and stopped 4 days prior to your draw.

In my opinion, your labs would not be an accurate reflection of where you would be without any supplements.

I would suggest having TSH, FT-4 and FT-3 labs run every few months to see if your situation changes. Due to your lower end TSH and complaints of anxiety , if it were me, I would insist they run a TSI antibodies test. Ultrasound would also help rule out nodules causing transient thyroid hormone spikes which could contribute to anxiety symptoms.


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## lalalalarkin (Aug 20, 2016)

Lovlkn said:


> This supplement contains freeze dried thyroid among other things. That I believe could impact your lab results - you took it for a month and stopped 4 days prior to your draw.


Interestingly, it looks like there are two different supplements called Thyrodex! I was on this one from Evergreen, which is meant to help with hyperthyroid and does not contain freeze-dried thyroid. It still may mean that my results weren't really accurate, though, since I'd been taking something to calm my thyroid down that I'm no longer taking. That's one of the things I was wondering. I'd be shocked if taking a supplement for a month fixed the problem, since I've dealt with most of these symptoms since I was in high school (and a couple of different tests, one of which was over a decade ago, showed my hormones were off). I have been feeling generally less awful, though (but still not 100%)... so it did probably help balance something out.

I'm going to try the iron supplements my doctor suggested to see if they help. It looks like iron deficiency actually manifests with a lot of the symptoms that I'm dealing with (heart palpitations, anxiety, weakness, exhaustion, bruising, etc.), so maybe that's what's causing some of the lingering problems. Once I see if the iron helps, and have given the Thyrodex time to fully stop influencing my system, I'll see if I can get another test that also includes TSI.

Thanks!


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

Have you by chance had your Vitamin D tested? Being low in that also contributes to fatigue and alot of people are deficient in D as well.


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## lalalalarkin (Aug 20, 2016)

I had it tested last fall (it was in-range low at 32, with a range of 30-100). My new doctor looked at the old test and immediately put me on supplements, which I've now been on for about three months. I have felt a bit better recently, so some of the issues may very well have been related to vitamin deficiencies. For what it's worth, I'm also breastfeeding an almost-two-year-old, which I suspect has taken a toll on my vitamin stores.


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