Yet Another Interpret My Labs Post

[IzumiCurtis]

Hi all,
I'm brand new here. Just posted an intro post over in the introduction section. I'd like to ask for some help interpreting my labs. I know there are a lot of "interprey my labs" posts here but I haven't seen anything quite like mine and I'm hoping someone will have some input as to what could be going on.

A list of my symptoms and some of my background health info is in my intro post.

My Stats

I'm 29 yrs old, 5'4", female, currently 118lbs (I'm usually around 109 and this is the most I've ever weighed in my life).

My diet

Not currently strictly Peating.

I wake up too late for breakfast (I need 10-12 hours of sleep to not feel useless all day) so I just have a cup of coffee with whole milk, a glass of OJ, then go to lunch.

I'll have rice or potatoes with chicken or grass fed beef for lunch with a glass of milk or a cane sugar root beer or an Izzy.

Snacks are fruit, surf-sweets organic gummy bears, Hagen Daz a couple times a week (vanilla or chocolate), more juice with great lakes gelatin.

For dinner I'll have the same rice or potatoes with chicken or beef.

I can't tolerate a ton of milk yet, but I'm trying to get a glass a day plus some cheese or other dairy product. Haven't been doing carrot salad.

Taking aspirin almost daily, from 650mg - 1300 mg a day.

Trying to avoid tons of PUFA (no fried food or foods that contain vegetable oils) but not being as strict as I could be.

I'm gluten intolerant so never eat bread or anything with gluten in it. I do eat gluten free pizza sometimes, lately more than I should. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week for lunch instead of the lunch listed above.

I was eating liver a couple times a week, but haven't in a while. Was eating shellfish once a week, haven't done that in a while either.

I'm probably not eating enough. I'm gaining weight like crazy lately (I'm not pregnant) and I have really bad cholesterol so I get worried about gaining more weight or eating a lot more food.

I haven't been tested for anything until now. Just had my first thyroid blood work done, and surprisingly it looks strangely good (I think?):

• TSH- 1.23 (range= 0.35-4.94 iIU/mL)
• free T3 - 3.16 (range= 1.71-3.71 pg/mL)
• total T3 - 119 (range= 58-159 ng/dL)
• free T4 - 1.18 (range= 0.70 - 1.48 ng/dL)
• total T4 - 8.3 (range= 4.87 - 11.72 ug/dL)
• parathyroid - 18 (range= 15- 65 pg/mL)

Didn't have reverse T3 checked, and didn't have any antibodies for Hashis checked.

My Dr is treating based on symptoms instead of the #s, and I just started on 1/4 grain of Armour yesterday.

Other blood work:

Cholesterol -

• Total - 257
• Triglycerides - 189
• Total LDL - 155
• Total HDL - 55
• non-HDL cholesterol - 202
• LDL-P - 1589

Other:

• Sodium - 139
• Potasium - 3.7
• Chloride - 103
• Carbon Dioxide - 23
• total protien - 7.4
• albumin- 4.7
• Alkaline Phosphate- 41
• Ferritin- 20
• Magnesium - 2.2
• Vitamin D - 27 (range 30-98 ng/mL) - insufficiency
• Calcium - 10 (range 8.5-10.6mg/dL)
  
• Homocystine - 10.3 (this is high I think - they want it under 10.4)
  
• Hemogolbin - 15 (range 11.1-15.7 g/dL) this is high-ish
• Hematocrit - 45.7 (Range 33.0-45%) this is above range
  
• Prolactin -15.3 (range 5.18-26.53)

Anyone have any ideas why my thyroid labs look normal, but I still have all these symptoms? Thankfully my Dr is trying out a quarter grain of Armour to see if my symptoms improve, but I'm still confused as to what would make my labs look like this. Doesn't look like any of the typical hypothyroid "patterns" I've read about.

Thank you for your help!!

 

[CellularIconoclast]

Is your blood pressure elevated? When you eat the pizza how do you feel afterwards and what happens to your pulse and body temperature? What are your pulse and basal body temperature?

Did any specific stressful events happen around the time your weight went up? Did you change diets?

 

[IzumiCurtis]

They told me my blood pressure was very good (they tell me this every time I do to the Dr.) but I don't know the #s.

Haven't checked pulse and body temp specifically after eating GF pizza. I will next time. I generally feel the same after eating it. Doesn't give me any bloating, and I don't feel either more cold or more warm after eating it. Occasionally eating carbs, I'll feel very out of breath while eating and my heart will pound, but that hasn't happened in a while.

Pulse ranges from 62-68 first thing in the morning. BBT is from 97.0-98.0 first thing but normally on the lower side of that range.

More specific info including a long (but not exhaustive) list of symptoms is in my meet and greet post but I will happily re-post anything you need to know here. Just didn't want this first post to get any longer than it already was.

Life hasn't been really any more stressful than normal. My life is generally low-ish stress esp when compared to the average working class American. However, I do not handle stress well and I think I generally feel more stressed out than is warranted by my actual circumstance.

Change in diet is going from low carb paleo last year to eating just whatever gluten free food I wanted (didn't gain much weight doing that) but started gaining weight when eating a more peat style diet (more OJ, more carbs in general, added dairy back in...)

 

[Stilgar]

Get that vitamin D up!

 

[IzumiCurtis]

LOL, yes Stilgar! Dr. prescribed 5,000 IU of D daily. I do try to get some sun, but my skin is so dry I wonder if it's possible that I don't have enough cholesterol in my skin to synthesize D properly? Seems like all of my cholesterol is in my blood

 

[CellularIconoclast]

Too much liquid can be harmful with a low metabolic rate as glomerular filtration is impaired and your kidneys can't get rid of the water. A liquid only breakfast could be problematic.

It looks like you have okay thyroid hormone levels but maybe you're not eating enough food to support a high metabolism without stress? You could consider adding a big breakfast with something like a stack of potato pancakes with real maple syrup and a bunch of eggs covered in melted cheese.

Needing 10-12 hours of sleep could be a sign of sleep apnea.

 

[j.]

Too much liquid can be harmful with a low metabolic rate as glomerular filtration is impaired and your kidneys can't get rid of the water. A liquid only breakfast could be problematic.

Forget all this theory. You don't need to think about the amounts of liquids or its processing. You just should let thirst be your guide to liquid intake.

Some people had problems that are specific to them and think they apply to everyone. When I was extremely hypothyroid I had all sorts of problems, but I could have an almost pure liquid diet with no problems from that. Many other members reported the same thing.

 

[j.]

A liquid only breakfast could be problematic.

Ridiculous advice unless there is a specific reason that applies to the particular poster. When you wake up your blood is thick and it's good to have liquids.

If you felt naturally inclined to have a pure liquid breakfast it probably was the right thing to do. It's not hard to add solids if you fee like, like eggs or a fruit, so the body almost always craves the optimum liquid/solid ratio, even if it's pure liquid.

 

[CellularIconoclast]

If you felt naturally inclined to have a pure liquid breakfast it probably was the right thing to do.

I agree that thirst is a reliable indicator of water needs- I think it's only potentially problematic if you go beyond that.

Edit: Why are you attacking me for mentioning a serious health problem that I and many other people first trying this stuff have had?

 

[j.]

I'd like people to focus on the important things, that are universal, such as low pufa diet, good protein intake, not the things that are very unlikely to be their problems, so I just gave a different view. The OP can follow your advice, my post isn't going to stop that. I'm not attacking you.

 

[IzumiCurtis]

Thank you both for your input. I've read that some people have a problem with too much liquid, but all of my symptoms started long before I started drinking OJ and milk. I also don't drink that much liquid relative to some Peaty folks who drink a quart or more of milk and a quart of OJ every day. I drink between 1 and 3 glasses of OJ a day, one cup of coffee, a glass of milk, plus maybe a soda at lunch. When I feel very thirsty (when I PMS and I'm retaining water this happens) I'll drink more OJ.

My all liquid breakfast comes about 45 minutes to an hour before lunch (I drink my OJ and coffee for some quick energy while I get ready to leave the house), meaning my breakfast almost runs into lunch. I've tried to increased my salt intake to help balance out the extra OJ I'm drinking. I was taking a few doses of 1/4 tsp each of salt every day (I think I mentioned that above) but I had reason to believe the positive effect I was getting might have been placebo so I've switched to just liberally salting my food.

I'm pretty sure I don't have sleep apnea - I very rarely wake up in the middle of the night and when I do it's almost never with that choking/stopped breathing sensation, I don't snore, and I don't usually sleep on my back.

I'm strangely not sleepy during the day, at least not often. Once I'm asleep I want to stay asleep forever, but then when I wake up I don't really want to sleep. The typical description of hypersomnea and the sleepiness associated with sleep apnea (excessive daytime sleepiness and need for 10+ hrs of sleep) only partially applies to me. On occasion by 10:30-11:00pm I'll feel sleepy and want to go to bed, but often enough I can stay up very late without wanting to sleep. I feel the need to sleep 10+ hrs whether or not I've gone to bed late, and regardless of other sleep cycle changes.

Fair point about not getting enough calories. I would guess I'm between 1800 and 2,300 calories most days (I've tracked a little on chronometer and can give more precise #s soon). I walk a mile or two most days, and sometimes I'll go for longer walks of 5-10 miles. I don't exercise at the moment so I'm not sure what my calorie intake should be with that activity level.

1/4 grain of thyroid might be helping a bit but it would be a very small improvement so it's hard to say. I've shed a pound or two of water weight over the past week but this could be due to getting my period. I feel slightly less inflamed, and maybe a little more energetic? Not sure. I'm guessing this dose is too small to notice much of a difference. My basal temps are about 97.7 right now so there may be a slight improvement there, but it's still not optimal.