Blood test results for fatigue and no energy

[Shepherdspy83]

Hello can anyone help shed some light on blood test results.. doctor tested after going in complaining of fatigue. I've had it for years, as long as I can remember really but always put down to fact I ate crap/stressful job etc. Now my job is better & I eat properly but constantly feel just as knackered, no energy, brain fog.

Tests come back with vitamin d deficiency which I'll get some supplements for & also low monocytes. Everything else in range, with some things at the lower end of range.

I think my question is would vit d deficiency impact monocytes or does that suggest another (maybe b12) deficiency even though it's in acceptable range. Or is low monocytes the sort of thing that can just be low as a blip. I do have an appointment to see GP about results later in week but would welcome any pointers in what I need to cover in that!!

Thanks

Ferritin could be better tbh, usually over 70 is considered normal but they don't tend to treat till v low. I think b12 and folate could go higher too.

Thyroid is slightly up but in range; more iron might help a bit. There's a link with vit d but they're not sure how that works.

Do you eat dairy and white fish?

Thank you.
Yeah I eat dairy but tend to go for salmon if eating fish. Just been reading that tea/coffee inhibit absorption too. I had no idea I'm always drinking those with meals so will cut back on that.

Asking about dairy and fish for iodine, but you will be ok if you have dairy. Iodine helps thyroid function, needs iodine, iron and selenium

Tea and coffee and milk can inhibit absorption of iron.

I would suggest that if you don't any better after improving vit D (with high dose supplement), get a full thyroid test done ie. including ft3 and antibodies. Tsh and ft4 is only part of the thyroid picture.

Thanks all, I'll try up the iron & see how I get on with vit d.

Your ferritin and folate could use improvement too.

They should have checked your B12. It's pointless leaving it out as it's hardly a rare thing to be deficient in, especially as B12 and folate work together... A deficiency in one can mask a deficiency in the other.

they did check b12. its 317ng/L

i agree your folate and ferritin are on the low side, but your haemoglobin, MCV, haematocrit are all within range, so i doubt thats causing your symptoms. definitely sounds like vit D is your problem.

your monocytes are 0.01 below range, so not particularly low. low vit D can affect immune system - so that might be why.

Oops sorry!

B12 is said to be optimal over 500+ and symptoms have shown to appear ~550 from what I've been reading over the years.

So it should be worth upping your iron and taking a good B-complex supplement, as well as the vitamin D to cover all bases. Hopefully you feel better soon.

If not, I'd get a full thyroid panel done (and as early as possible in the morning).

Apart from that I can only suggest something like a gluten intolerance, low cortisol or mild sleep apnea.

Good luck!

Some people feel better with a higher ferritin level - essentially iron deficiency rather than anaemia. The heam level is usually normal.

I certainly can tell if my ferritin is edging towards 50 now. But might just be me. Anecdotally a lot of women seem to feel better over 70.

patient.info/doctor/non-anaemic-iron-deficiency

But I agree b vits and d may help. Thyroids function best with good iron levels, so iron might help

I went back to docs & she said vit d deficiency shouldn't cause fatigue but she'll give me prescription to get it up to normal anyway. She also suggested that perhaps working just didn't agree with me (when I explained I've felt like this my adult life). Great.. cheers for that.

Anyway got vit d tablets now thanks all 😊

Vitamin D deficiency can make you feel like holy hell! She's not correct imo.
Did they give you D2 or D3?

I was really struggling at the start of this year with low iron and vitamin D deficiency. I was prescribed both and felt much better after taking the supplements. Definitely recommend cutting down on caffeine, especially with meals as it inhibits absorbtion. Generally eating a bit better, with more fruits, veggies and iron rich foods helped me as well.

Vitamin D tablets even the prescription strength ones are very reasonable in price.

If you pay prescription charges then it may be cheaper to buy the tablets yourself.

I would urge you to read this well written and evidenced and be cautious of high dose vit D supplements. www.google.co.uk/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/vitamin-d-a-pseudo-vitamin-for-a-pseudo-disease-101907

L238 that article is mainly about fractures with a small mention of CVD.

vitamin D is involved in more than just bone health.

esk1mo it also talks about there not being a consensus about what level clearly defines deficiency and about patients with vitamin D toxicity from high dose supplements

There are no actual facts or studies about toxic overdoses other than vague references.

Well, there won’t be any studies about toxic overdoses as that would be unethical...

this is pretty factual to me “Patients with very high vitamin D blood levels (over 100nmol) are becoming routine in my clinic and elsewhere, and toxic overdoses are increasingly being reported”

Your GP is misinformed. One of the key symptoms of Vit D deficiency is chronic fatigue.

thats anecdotal. you could quite easily collate information on numbers of people who have been diagnosed with vit D toxicity.

esk1mo yes, one could collate the data and I hope these clinics do so and publish their findings. There is a case series from India here
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3191699/

that article is 7 years old and only reports 10 cases.

Perhaps you’ll enjoy this one; a nice chunky meta analysis published this year. bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/bcp.13573