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Here is a comparison of last year’s lab results to this week’s results, with my interpretations.

February 2009 context

• General blood test
• Very high stress in my life
• Diet is a standard American diet, with undiagnosed gluten, casein, and other intolerances, and constant food allergies.
• 12 hours of fasting, except for eating 3 eggs six hours before the test, and I’m allergic to eggs (itchy skin, mild rash, adrenal response, etc).
• Due to the diet, stress, and immune response to eggs, I consider some of this test’s results skewed, but also informative of my conditions prior to improving my diet.

April 2010 context

• It was taken two weeks after I had reduced my stress significantly, after a 12 hour fast, and after one week of a 100% pure meat diet, during a time of zero digestion problems or allergic reactions.  I have been on a mostly-meat diet for a few months.
• It was taken 5 days after a high intensity, muscle exhaustion, workout.  I was not feeling sore at the time of the test.
• I have been supplementing 1 teaspoon of salt daily.  I stopped 24 hours before the test.
• I have been taking ~20mg cortisol daily (as Isocort – the whole adrenal complex) for several months.  24 hours before the test, I stopped supplementing, except for a 3mg dose 12 hours before the test (because the adrenal gland in my chest started to feel sore).
• I had been taking 3-4 grains prescription desiccated thyroid daily for the past month, but lowered this dose to 1 grain daily, two weeks prior to the test.  I stopped supplementing 24 hours before the test.

Results

Interpretations

These are my interpretations as a self-educated layman.  I’m not a medical professional, so I could easily be wrong, but I stand by my judgments, and I’m always open to new information.  Sometimes I make guesses, but I try to be as informed as possible.

It’s important to remember the huge changes I’ve undergone in the past year: Vastly less stress, complete removal of caffeine, change to a low/no-carb meat diet that eliminated the effects of chronic food intolerances and allergies, micronutrient supplementation, a recent increase of exercise in the form of weekly high intensity workouts, and recent adrenal and thyroid medication.  Because so many factors have changed, comparison between tests is risky.  The most recent test is the important one.

TSH – Doubled, still on the low end of normal.  I think this could be due to increased pituitary function, or a response to the 24-hour desiccated thyroid removal prior to the test.  Rising TSH means rising pituitary signaling for thyroid hormones.  It’s unlikely to be a long-term response to lowered thyroid hormones, since I’ve been medicating thyroid.

Free T4 – This is on the low end of normal.  I think this suggests primary hypothyroid. or a response to the two-week lowering of desiccated thyroid.  The half-life of T4 is about a week, so there would be plenty of T4 if my desiccated thyroid medication were sufficient, and too much T4 if my thyroid was also functioning normally.  However, it’s possible that the T3 or T4 in desiccated thyroid has suppressed normal thyroid function.

Free T3 – Same story as Free T4.  The half-life of T3 is about one day, so I think this in-reference result suggests that I’m producing a fair amount of T3 naturally.

Reverse T3 – This is within reference but high.  I have read that the (FT3/RT3*100) ratio should be above 1.0, mine is 0.91, slightly indicating excess RT3.  A solution to this could be replacing some desiccated thyroid with synthetic T3.

Renin – Way above reference.  This was measured upright, at noon, after 24 hours of stopping salt supplementation, with plenty of hydration.  Renin regulates the release of aldosterone.  This indicates that my pituitary function is more than sufficient.

Aldosterone – Way above reference.  This renin/aldosterone result is a bit confusing to me.  I think it indicates that my adrenal function is more than sufficient, and/or that my adrenal supplementation is excessive.  Maybe instead it’s a result of my diet, or my test preparations like 12-hour fasting?  Also, I’ve read that high results here can be due to exercise (again, my workout), and due to adrenal supplementation.

Protein, Total – Perfect.

Albumin – Good.  High level indicates against liver disease, inflammation, bad digestion, and malnutrition.

Bilirubin, Total – Above reference.  This could indicate liver disease.  However, it could also be a result of hormone medication, or of stopping adrenal supplementation prior to the test.

Bilirubin, Direct – Good.

Alkaline Phosphatase – Good, down from last year.  This indicates against liver disease.

AST – Above reference and higher than last year.  This could indicate liver disease, but this test is affected by echinacea, which is included, unfortunately, in the Isocort I’m supplementing.    It can also be affected by exercise (again, my workout).  I don’t trust this result.

ALT – Normal and down from last year.

A few disconnected things not in the test – A pupil dilation test indicates a problem.  My blood pressure is typically low, averaging 100/68.  My ferritin test result is high.  My body temperature averages 97.7 now, and I often feel cold.  My weight is 148 pounds.  I don’t crave salt.  I supplement salt, iodine, selenium, magnesium, a B-complex, and a multivitamin.

Questions

• What is the meaning of high renin combined with high aldosterone?

Future

• Reduce adrenal and salt supplementation.  Replace Isocort with something more pure.
• Increase thyroid medication back above 1 grain, and look into a synthetic T3 prescription.
• Re-test renin and aldosterone without a recent workout and with less adrenal supplementation.
• Re-test liver without echinacea and without a recent workout.  Get a more complete test, if possible.
• Continue supplementing selenium, B complex, iodine, and multi, in order to help T3 conversion.