Why do I feel like shit?! (Blood test results included)

[NumberTree]

In a nutshell, I feel like shit all the time. Tired, jittery, anxious, cold, achy, like I'm coming down with a cold every single day. I finally went to the GP about it.

My bloods came back "normal, no further action required" -
B12 - 533
Ferritin - 26
Folate - 4.7
TS4(? She told me over the phone, I don't know if I heard correctly) - 16.4
TSH - 2.81

Now I've been googling and I've gathered I should probably get my ferritin and folate up. But I do not understand my thyroid results at all, the TS4(?) one is higher than the normal range, but I've been told no further action is required. Can I bring it down with diet?!
I feel silly making another GP appointment to discuss it as they've said they don't need to follow it up, but I feel like shit and I want to know how I can change that! 😩

Yes, Lots of women are fobbed off with ‘ferritin is normal’. However, many women would feel better with levels over 50. It’s got to be above 70 for healthy hair growth and Nice guidelines say to treat if under 30. Get some high strength iron bisglycinate, it has better bioavailability than prescribed iron and you avoid all the awful side effects. You could feel miles better just getting that increased.
Vitamin D deficiency can also leave you exhausted and many people are on the low side due to U.K. weather but it often isn’t tested.
Your B12 is in the middle of normal based on our labs reference ranges, you might feel better if it was a bit higher.
Iirc folate for our lab is normal above 3, but you could really do with seeing what your local labs reference ranges are. If you are in England you might be able to see these results and the reference ranges on your NHS app. I’m useless at TFT, despite having hypothyroidism, it just totally confuses me.

To me your thyroid is edging towards under active (fellow thyroid patient here) but not enough for most people to treat it unfortunately. Thyroid care is a bit shit tbh. I am at the point where I monitor my own levels and buy my thyroxine in the EU over the counter. But obviously I am not recommending you do that. Look into thyroid levels very carefully. Mary Shomon online is a good start. I certainly feel much better when my TSH is around 1, anything over 2 and I start to feel sluggish. Like @AllFunAndGamesUntilYoureRunningForTheLastTrain says I too am useless at TFT but my TSH seem to be quite a good indicator for me and at 2.81 I would definitely be feeling underactive.

I'd feel rubbish with ferritin of 26

Your TSH looks in normal range and FT4 high. I think that might point more to hyper thyroidism (which can also leave you feeling shit but definitely won't be helped by levothyroxine). You also may not be converting T4 adequately, which can have a number of causes but one of which is low iron. Maybe start iron supplements and see how you feel with that?

Thanks @LineDriedSheets, I was confused by the two (T4 and TSH) conflicting each other. I will definitely get some supplements and eat more meat and vit C.
Do I want to be avoiding iodine too with those levels?
This is the first time I've ever looked into anything thyroid related and have no idea what any of it means or what to do about it! Google is giving me all or nothing examples

Iron does take a while to work. My ferritin is 5 and I'm on the floor. It does affect people differently though. Horrible feeling awful and not knowing why 😔

@Morefromiran 5!! Crikey, that's awful. Mine dropped to 8 after the birth of DD and it was the worst I'd ever felt. I could barely stay awake and was gasping for air. I hope it improves quickly for you. X

Your levels aren't drastic, I wouldn't go messing about with avoiding iodine or supplementing iodine or anything like that at this stage. Try the iron and see how you feel.

Thank you, I'm in bed atm, flipping thing is just too dull for words

Do you smoke? Apparently nicotine suppresses TSH. Before I gave up smoking, mine was around 3, afterwards it was 43! My mum had a similar experience.
Also, Although NHS says otherwise, I've been told TSH is at its highest early in the day, so it's advised to test as early as possible.

Has your Vitamin D been tested? That can cause aches and fatigue.

@LineDriedSheets Fab, thanks for that, I had to take a breather when it said to avoid cheese and dairy!

I’m experiencing similar - just placemarking so I can find this thread again while watching ds at football 🤣

My results are similar to yours @NumberTree, my thyroid is bobbing around between sub clinical and normal. My ferritin was 90 two years ago and is 30 now, again it’s ‘normal’ but the normal range is something crazy like 15-350, so 30 is right at the low end of normal. I’ve got all the symptoms- tiredness, palpitations, breathlessness, brain fog… I saw the cardiologist today and my resting heart rate in a 24 hr trace went as low as 31 bpm….
And all my results are normal! No treatment as I don’t meet thresholds. They’ve offered me a mirena coil but that will affect my HRT 🤷‍♀️

if anyone could suggest an iron/ferritin supplement that actually helps I would be very grateful.

and solidarity to you all, it’s miserable. I am
so tired of feeling tired all the time. 🌷

Thanks so much for this thread OP. I am going to GP next week to ask for bloods for similar reason, and this thread will be so useful for helping me to understand the results and what to do next : )

Mirena coil is brilliant for heavy period related blood loss in my experience and I’m sure you can just supplement with oestrogens from the GP?

I didn’t even realise the impact heavy periods were having on me, I didn’t really have any major symptoms of tiredness or fatigue. However since the heavy periods stopped I have literally twice as much hair on my head. I can tell when I scrunch it up into a ponytail.

having said all that, if you’re not feeling well and blood tests to date haven’t provided the answer then I think you should go back to the GP. There are other physiological things they could test for including Vit D deficiency, diabetes, heart disease, menopause needing tweak of HRT or whatever, as well as stuff diagnosed on basis of symptoms. It’s not ok for you to be feeling permanently shit.