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Friday, April 04, 2008

The Vampires' Results

The results from the rest of last week's bloodwork have come in. Except for the karotyping; that will take 6-8 months apparently. Anyway, I picked up copies this afternoon; I will need a copy to see the RE here next week.

Anyway, the results are as follows. Normal values and details in parentheses.

Tests from March 24
CD4, synthroid (25 mg)
TSH - 3.24 (0.3-4.7)
T4 Free - 14.0 (9.1-23.8)
T3 Free - 4.3 (2.5-5.7)
LH Serum - 1.3 (follicular = 2.4-6.6) **LOW**
FSH Serum - 4.4 (follicular = 3.0-22.0)
Testosterone 1.9 (adult female = 0.3-4.0)
Estradiol - 181 (follicular = 0-921)
Prolactin 7.6 (3.3-26.7)

Tests from March 25
CD5, synthroid (25 mg), 12-hr fasting (unless indicated)
Insulin Fasting - 180 (40-190)
Insulin 2 hour - 1290 (120-1240) **HIGH**
Glucose Tolerance Fasting - 5.0 normal (3.6-6.0 normal; 6.1-6.9 impaired; >6.9 possible diabetes mellitus)
Glucose Tolerance 2 hour - 7.7 normal (3.6-7.7 normal; 7.8-11.0 impaired; >11.0 possible diabetes mellitus)
APTT - 34 (26-37)
INR - 1.0 (0.9-1.3)
Homocysteine - 9 (5-15)
Anti dsDNA - 5.0 (0-19.9 negative)
Antinuclear AB (ANA) - 1:40 **POSITIVE**; Titre - 1:40, Pattern - homogeneous, speckled
Anti-Thyroid peroxidase - negative
Anti-Thyroglobulin - negative
Lupus anticoagulant - negative
Russell Viper Venom - negative
Protein S Free - 1.04 (>0.40)
Protein C Function - 1.35 (0.75-1.60)
Act. Prot. C Resist. Ratio - 2.8 (2.3-3.6)

Here is what I draw from these results:
  • The high insulin resistance is PCOS. Even the fasting levels are high in the normal range, so to me, it's rather obvious. I expect that this will require Metformin again, likely at 1500 mg/day, whereas all my previous doc would prescribe was 500 mg/day. NOT enough. This might help us in quite significant way.
  • The Positive antinuclear AB (ANA) test indicates autoimmune disease. With the other tests, lupus and a variety of other things are ruled out. I think it hearkens back to the thyroid and it might even indicate Hashimoto's Disease. I expect that the RE will want to increase my dosage of synthroid, likely up to 50 mg/day.
  • My TSH is still over 3.0. Again, I was told that they wanted to see it at 1.0 to get and maintain a pregnancy. So... yeah, synthroid (see above).
  • LH levels are way low. Thank heavens for Clomid and injections; that ought to correct that problem.
  • At least my FSH levels are good. That's nice to know.
Anyone else have thoughts? We'll know more after seeing the RE on Tuesday. I may need to be seen by a simple endocrinologist as well. That will be determined next week.

8 comments:

Kate said...

I agree with your ideas. The FSH level is really good news!

OHN said...

Doesn't it feel good to have some concrete numbers to help figure things out?!

Dagny said...

Yes, I was very happy to find my fsh numbers were much better than I had thought.

Glad you have some info!!!

Aurelia said...

Hmmm, I think the ANA levels may require baby aspirin every day to maintain a pg, even if your thyroid levels are lowered, and yes, I agree that they should increase your synthroid.

I'm not thrilled with the FSH, only because your E2 should be under 100 with that FSH....but it may those lab levels are done differently than mine in TO like before, so who knows?

6-8 months for a karyotype? That's ridiculous. Is that being done at Montreal or in Ottawa or TO?

Gil said...

So far Aurelia, neither RE has seen an issue with my FSH or my E2 levels. We'll see what the other doc says tomorrow.

As for the karotyping, we were told in MTL that it would take 6-8 months. We were told in Ottawa that it would take 6-8 months. I called Toronto and got the exact same response; 6-8 months for karotype results. There you go.

Alacrity said...

Hi gil -

Thanks so much for your comment on my blog...glad to know that people are reading it, and that it might help someone else navigate this situation...

So I looked at your test results...I ended up on synthroid as well, and I am still taking it - grrrr.

I don't actually think that LH looks low for CD4. I have had it anywhere between 1 and 5 for CD 2 - 4. The number that caught my eye is the Estradiol - seems high for CD4, unless you are on stims. FSH looks nice though!

Good luck with all of this!

Gil said...

As a point of reference as well, Canadian and American E2 levels are measured differently.

********
How do I convert my Canadian Estradiol (E2) numbers to American measurements?

In Canada, E2 levels are measured in picomols and in the United States E2 levels are measured in picograms. If you want to compare numbers, here is how to convert them:
Canadian E2 ÷ 3.67 = American E2
American E2 x 3.67 = Canadian E2

Anonymous said...

This is some good information to pass along to others -- I recently came across this site which features an article on the so-called "Fertility Diet." It includes eating foods high in unsaturated fat, protein (from vegetables), iron, and high-fat dairy foods. It's also supposed to contribute to those who have poor blood sugar control due to insulin resistance. Some examples the article gives of food that promote fertility in women are canola oils, veggie proteins (tempeh, tofu) butter, cheese, legumes, and meats!