Blood Work For The First Time Ever

[PeatInspired]

I have no idea what all this means... I also emailed RP. I'll let you know what he says-- but does anyone have any thoughts about my results?

*I eat mostly milk/cheese/meat/fruit/potatoes/cooked leafy greens (in butter).
*Supplements: low dose of thyroid, magnesium malate, progest-e, pregnenolone, 2-6 tbsp collagen hydrolysate, l-theanine, taurine

This blood work was done on 12 hour fast, on Day 2 of my cycle, after having gone supplement-free for 6 days prior!

"High" blood work results:

CHOLESTEROL, TOTAL high: 233
LDL-CHOLESTEROL, high: 158
NON HDL CHOLESTERON: 179
VITAMIN B12, high: 1178

Other results:

LDL/HDL RATIO: 2.9 (calc)
HDL CHOLESTEROL: 54
TRIGLYCERIDES: 103
CHOL/HDLC RATIO: 4.3
IRON, TOTAL: 104
GLUCOSE: 85
CHLORIDE: 104
CARBON DIOXIDE: 29
POTASSIUM: 3.8
SODIUM: 139
THYROID PEROXIDASE ANTIBODIES: 2
FSH: 9.2
LH: 8.3
PROGESTERONE: 0.8
T4, FREE: 1.0
TSH: 4.13
T3 Free: 3.4
ESTRADIOL: 25
FOLATE, SERUM: 10.5
VITAMIN D,25-OH,TOTAL,IA: 34
VITAMIN A (RETINOL): 43

 

[PeatInspired]

Ok, so RP said:
"I think high B12, when you aren’t taking supplements, suggests that bacteria might be thriving in your small intestine, and that’s usually from the slow transit, slow digestion, characteristic of low thyroid function"

Didn't mention the high cholesterol- anyone have thoughts on that?

 

[sweetpeat]

I think the reason he didn't mention the cholesterol is that he might not consider it all that high, even though the lab flagged it as high. But high cholesterol is generally also a marker for hypothyroidism.

 

[PeatInspired]

Thanks @sweetpeat! I was kinda thinking that as well.

 

[marteagal]

Seconding the previous posters, your cholesterol isn't that high. Taken from a post by Mittir:

Your total cholesterol is fine if you follow older version of reference range which was 160 to 200+age or 250.

And from a transcript, Ray Peat @ KMUD - The Heart 1, (2013)

HD: You recommend a cholesterol of 200, but you don’t have any problem with 250 or more, especially when over 50 years age?

RP: Yea. The Framingham study found that people over 50 who had at least 200 cholesterol or higher had a much lower risk of Alzheimer disease, because it’s brain-protective, as well as heart-protective.

Your TSH is higher than the recommended < 1.0. And I think, even in white coat circles, the upper border of the reference range is now 3.0. You mentioned taking a "low dose of thyroid" & going supplement-free prior to blood testing. Maybe the higher TSH reflected a rebound?

Experimenters using isotopes gave large doses of thyroid until the subjects' glands were completely shut off, and when they stopped giving the doses, everyone's gland returned to normal activity in just 2 or 3 days. The gland is extremely quick to adjust its activity, both up and down, except when it's inhibited by stress, or PUFA, or estrogen, etc.