Re: I need a medical Sherlock Holmes to look at these test results
Jo gave realy great info for you to check out, so rather than add loads to that and add confusion and MORE research i wanted to just say that what stuck out in your test results, except for the obvious that you've got some obvious imbalances and underfunctioning hormone system, is that your calcium level was right at the tip of high in the range...so almost out of range.
When looking at ranges it's best to be conservative...being in range does not mean everything is fine. WHERE in the range you are gives a better indication...and being outside the range obviously means there's a serious imbalance.
Ranges are taken from samples of a 'healthy population' - what that means these days is that, as most people suffer from 'niggly' health issues the ranges given are not from people in 'optimum' health states - so it's actually hard to know precisely what value of anything we should ideally have as we don't have hundreds of thousands of people of different ethnicities in optimum health to test from.
So, the upshot is the ranges given are from the 'average' person in 'average' health...being in the middle of the range isn't so bad...being high in range for things like B12 is what is preferred..aswell as vit D.
But for something like calcium, you're at the very top of the range...so that's a high calcium reading.
Parathyroid glands balance calcium in the blood/bones using vit D.
If you have a vit D deficiency, that balance can go out of whack leading to higher than ideal calcium blood levels.
Higher calcium symptoms do cause fatigue.
What is your Vit D status?
How do you react to vit D3 supplements?
Many folk say they get loads of sun so they shouldn't be deficient.
However, i work outside every single day for years and my recent blood vit D was low out of range deficient.
The skin should be able to make about 20,000iu of vit D in half an hour of sun exposure...in normal people.
Obviously i don't make that for *some* reason and am in a deficient state despite sun exposure.
When i took calcium supplements i felt on edge...i didn't know my calcium blood levels or D at the time, but i know suspect that calcium is high, i know D is low - so i need D for the parathyroids to put calcium on bones instead of having high blood levels.
If you're D status is healthy and NOT deficient and you still have high calcium blood values then that generally points to hyper-parathyroidism - which generally is attributed to benign growths on the glands that constantly pump out parathyroid hormone.
Learn more here:
http://www.parathyroid.com/
Especially read this page about calcium blood levels and hyperparathyroidism:
http://www.parathyroid.com/parathyroid-symptoms.htm
They consider anything over 10 to be indicative of a parathyroid imbalance.
The reason i guess why that result stuck out so much is that calcium is very important to be balanced and can throw off so many body processes when out of whack...thus leading to more issues the longer it goes on.
Your results show many imbalances and it must be hard to figure out what is the ROOT cause of it all...we've all been there and are still in the maze to a certain extent, the body is so complex :-)
As you didn't mention vit D , or maybe i missed that part...i thought i would throw that out there as something to consider.
Also, Vit A (retinol liver form) is important to make hormones...along with cholesterol, obviously.
It often is missed by many with hormone issues but when i'm topped up with A retinol form, i do better, as i don't convert carotenes from food to Vit A useable form very well.
I had/have vision issues that have got better with Vit A supplementation.
I consume tonnes of carotenes, but due to bad conversion i don't make the vit A i need from carotenes to maintain health without taking the active retinol form.
Always take the active form of supplements that the body can use straight away and doesn't have to convert many times into something the body can use.
B12 and B6 sensitivity could indicate methylation issues.
I get very cranky with both those supplements too as i presume they get the methylation cycle going.
I have MTHFR mutation, so know i have methylation issues and where in the cycle...taking supplements to get the processes happening again is not easy at all. High dose methylation supplements have me positively very nervous, anxious, manic and generally feeling extremely unstable.
However, AFTER dosings, the days afterwards...i feel an inner sense of calm i haven't felt in years.
I know the feeling of avoiding a supplement because it has such a bad effect - i think sometimes we should persist with such supplements when we have knowledge of deficiency too - as the processes the body can now undergo due to supplementing are essential for longterm health.
Tidying a room that hasn't been cleaned for years is going to create a dust cloud that would fill the room and make you feel ill...but eventually, with persistent cleaning the room will be dust-free, and clean enough to live in.
The body is similar when we have deficiencies. Many processes cannot happen..the body stores junk...it tries every angle to maintain homeostasis, and with continues deficiencies the system breaks down leading to disease.
When we suddenly start supplementing the body can now undergo processes it hasn't been able to - and that causes temporary havoc in the homeostasis of function.
The blood becomes full of toxic wastes...we feel brain fog and other herxheimer reactions.
It's a process we have to go through to regain full functioning.
It can be so difficult to do at times, that it's wise to do it in stages. 2 days on supplements...1 week off...then repeat.
OR start with extremely low doses.
When we have a bad reaction to supplements it could be because we are already high in that and are over-doing it.
That's why testing helps.
But if you have a bad reaction from a supplement and KNOW your level is low - then you KNOW that it's a detox reaction from yrs of being low and the body adjusting to the new 'fuel' it's been given to do some 'cleaning' it hasn't been able to do for years.
Knowing which essential processes you are not able to do well is one major step in knowing your OWN health status and how to maintain great health.
One last thing about calcium that i find interesting.
In the horse world and horse health, the calcium/phosphorus ration is the number 1 place to start with giving a horse a balanced diet.
All the best mineral supplements in the world mean nothing if the calcium/phosphorus ratio is not balanced.
THAT'S how important calcium/phosphorus is for that huge animal to maintain such a huge body, on mainly just grass/forage alone.
When they have health problems, ANY symptoms, most vets ask what the calcium/phosphorus ratio is. Most horse owners have no idea.
Most horse owners buy supplements for a specific symptom. It can cost hundreds in these supplements for a horse for 1 month.
The marketing of these products is similar to how human products are pushed.
But EVERY time...the calcium/phosphorus ratio is imbalanced, symptoms will appear.
When it is rebalanced, the symptoms go..and health resumes.
It's a very simple analogy but we are made of bones, muscle, organs just like the horse.
We have a large intestine compared to size of stomach, just like the horse.
We get HCL imbalances causing gut imbalance and ill gut health, just like the horse.
We can eat fibre, fruits, roots, seeds and even meat, just like the horse (yes horses will eat meat, horses have 'wolf' teeth incisors that the horse industry pulls out so that a bit for riding can be put in the mouth, so they can rip and chew meat physically but they are primarily herbivores)
Vetinarians are quick to look at mineral/nutritional imbalances in horses at EVERY single health problem a horse presents.
Doctors look everywhere BUT nutritional imbalances when a person presents with symptoms.
Equine health and medicine has developed so amazingly advanced in the past 20yrs, due to knowing more about nutrition affecting health and how to remedy the symptoms using nutrition balancing.
So start at the very top...are you getting all the essential oils, vitamins, mineral, proteins in your diet?
It's very easy to be missing a component...or several.
The health journey can be made as simple or as complex as we like.
Start simply looking at your TRUE ratio's of nutrition.
Wishing you the best of luck on your wellness path :-)