Alk Phos Level - Question and Answer Forum - Elaine Moore Graves' Disease and Autoimmune Disease Education

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Wednesday, February 08, 2012

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Welcome to The Q&A with Elaine Moore. Registered members are invited to ask any question of Elaine Moore on autoimmune diseases, Graves' disease, other thyroid diseases and subconditions, laboratory work, traditional and complementary medicine, triggers and environmental influences, thyroid and immune disorders in pets and animals, and other relevant areas of inquiry.

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Questions are answered solely by Elaine Moore, a medical writer and clinical laboratory scientist, MT, CLS, with more than 30 years of experience in immunology. Moore has also authored and edited over a dozen books in the area of health sciences and is an editor for McFarland Publisher's Health Topics Series.

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The Q & A with Elaine Moore

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6/19/2010 10:45 AM

CarolR

Joined: 6/19/2010

Posts: 1

Alk Phos Level

Hi Elaine,

You stated on this forum that slightly raised alk phos level (below 450) wasn't really significant. I was wondering where you got this info. from? I recently had blood work in Jan 2010 and my alk phos level was 224. They did a fragmentation and it was bone specific. Here are the numbers:

Liver 80 Range 0-94

Bone 143 Range 0-55

Other 0

All other blood work normal. I had a bone density scan and I have advanced oteoporosis. The Osteo doc said that osteo could cause slightly raised alk phos levels but I've read differently. I had another blood test done in April 2010 and alk phos level was 171. Also, a normal alk phos level can be up to 150. I keep reading on these forums where the normal levels are no higher than 115.

I was put on Armour thyroid 3 years ago...went to an alternative medicine doc who did not do blood work but had me blow into some machine...said my metabolism was low and only one thing could cause that...hypothyroid...she had me taking 225 mg of Armour. I believe I've been hyperthyroid for the last 3 years as my family physician looked at blood work prior to me going to this doc and said I didn't need thyroid medicine. I've also read where hyperthyroidism can cause raised alk phos levels and cause bone loss. So, I've taken myself off the Armour and after several months, I'm going to have my levels checked again. I think it was drug induced hyperthyrodism...as my tsh level on my last test was .003. Do you think my thyroid will start to work again on it's own?

I appreciate you opinion on the alk phos level and the thyroid.

Carol R

6/21/2010 1:58 PM

Elaine

Joined: 8/1/2008

Posts: 3174

Re: Alk Phos Level

Hi Carol,

A slightly elevated alk phos isn't significant in regards to medications, such as statins or ATDs or hyperthyroidism. The general rule is meds shouldn't be stopped unless levels become 4-5 times higher than the upper end of the reference range. I'm a clinical laboratory scientist and trained to interpret lab results. If you weren't on any medications including estrogens that typically cause an alk phos elevation then a slightly increased level would be repeated a few weeks later. The fractionation test is done when alk phos is elevated to help tell if the elevation is due to the liver (including drug metabolism) or bone. Certain bone diseases can cause an increased alkaline phosphatase level. Although higher levels are seen in osteomalacia, other bone diseases can cause slight elevations.

All lab tests have a reference range and this varies depending on the testing method and the units of measurement. Your result has to be interpreted along with the reference range for the testing lab.

You were taking more Armour than I've ever taken and I have no remaining functional thyroid tissue. This exogenous hyperthyroidism could have triggered your osteoporosis. The normal feedback between the pituitary gland, hypothalamus and thyroid gland is affected by replacement hormone. It can take a while before your thyroid gland starts secreting hormone on its own. It would be a good idea to have thyroid function tests to see where your FT4 and FT3 levels are at. If they're low you may need to use a low dose of Armour like 1 grain (60 mg) and gradually wean off of it. Because of the axis being off, your TSH level may remain suppressed for some time, and this level may not be reliable. It's better to look at your actual thyroid hormone levels. Best, Elaine

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