Approximately, on average, how much per month d... - Thyroid UK
Approximately, on average, how much per month do you spend on supplements to support or maintain your health?
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Nothing, but thanks to info on Health Unlocked I am now about to get my levels checked to check whether I need any supplements.
Usually about 35£ per month, but that's because I am also trying to conceive.
Try getting a Conceive Kit.They will show you your most fertile dates (they do work) I got the pee on a stick ones not expensive..also after each how'syafather!...do not go to the loo for a good few hours....good luck x
Thanks - did you vote as well as comment please? 
x
I did Louise
It's an expensive business trying to get well, trying to re-join the real world, when you have cfs, adrenal exhaustion, hypothyroid, osteoporosis, glaucoma, tachycardia, etc., - no holidays, few outings and no help from the NHS.
Oh, yes they will give me meds for osteoporosis, but they all contain aspartame, which always gives me a scary, vision disturbance - like looking through water.
So, I buy my own supps. and live with optimism that some things are improving a little. It is difficult, time consuming and expensive to keep up the supplement regimes - searching out the better ones and the best prices.
Interesting to note that you include Tachycardia as one of your symptoms. I have just been diagnosed with it too. I believe it might even predate my hypo diagnosis. What tests have you had and are you on any kind of treatment for it?
I have always had orthostatic intolerance but it has got much, much worse and I have passed out in a supermarket (embarrassing) and at home (scary - as I live alone). It looks as if I have PoTS but can I get a bloody diagnosis?
My friend 's son has Pots! She is also struggling to get the right treatment for him!! Xxx
When I went for my most recent ECG, I found a leaflet on heart rhythm in the waiting room produced by the British Heart Foundation (I think it was that leaflet). There is a section on tachychardia and a paragraph on PoTs. I could kick myself because I threw the leaflet in recycling. I wish I had kept it to take to my GP! It names the particular specialist that tests for and diagnoses PoTS. There is even a section on it at patient.co.uk which is an NHS site - so nothing remotely adventurous but it is an acknowledged condition, treated with beta-blockers. It is shocking how poorly informed GPs are - as was the General Physician who saw me at my local instant access clinic. I ended up walking out without getting anywhere!
Hi Whippetlover
I started having episodes of Tachycardia over 20 years ago. They became more frequent over the years - often scary. I never found out whether they were from a heart condition or perhaps, adrenaline. I was diagnosed (on holiday in Tenerife - in hospital for 5 days) with SVT and given Atenolol; back home NHS doctors couldn't agree - one said valves, one said a mummer, another said a bruit. I was prescribed Beta-blockers; my circulation was poor, and blood thick, (tested privately in London) so after taking them for some years I decided to wean myself off - it took a year of spiking Blood Pressures and scary episodes.
Now I don't take any meds as they all seem to have too many chemical additives for me.
Looking down to you next posts, I see you have POTS. I too suffer from this - particularly when my symptoms are really bad - not all the time. My local hospital haven't heard of it. Also I cannot stand for long. I seem to get very agitated/distressed inside. I have even sat down on a kerbstone before now.
For years I was focused on the heart symptoms and taking 'Dr Sinatra's' protocol.
Then two years ago was diagnosed with CFS (by Dr Sarah Myhill). She says CFS is a symptom of Mitochondrial dysfunction, and does a Test at cellular level, to prove it. (expensive £300ish but necessary).
Looking back I can see I had CFS twenty years ago - but it was not recognised as such, back then; and the Test wasn't available. I recovered somewhat, but never felt well.
Only in the last 3-4 years have I realised many of my symptoms are from struggling Adrenals and Thyroid glands.
I spend all my money on tests and supps. I throw everything I can at it, trying to regain some normality.
I am lucky to have a husband who does the shopping and I am now improved from bed-ridden to cooking meals and doing some housework - always interspersed with laying down and naps.
If you go onto Sarah Myhills web site, you can read the routines she suggests to support and strengthen your mitochondria.
I always test low in certain minerals especially Red Cell Magnesium. I was slow to start taking supps. believing my doctor then, that I was wasting my money.
I think differently now; that Magnesium is the important one to take for heart symptoms.
I now take Magnesium chloride; Mag. Calm; mag. citrate; malate; rub mag oil onto skin and soak feet in Mag sulphate (epsom salts) - not all at once! but I take lots; - and the best quality I can afford.
I also add green powders/chia seeds/maca to plain organic yogurt, - especially if I'm too tired to make a nutritious meal. Cells can't make nutrients from biscuits!!!
It is hard work; I hope some of this helps, cos I want to hear you are back up on your feet, with your chin up
Stoneym.
Thanks Stoneym
I've had a ME/CFS diagnosis for over 20 years. Around 1994, I managed to get myself back to work, beginning with one day a week and gradually progressing to full time. I once again became the dynamic person I had been before and swiftly developed a successful career. I was well until a bout of shingles in 2005 which was misdiagnosed, mistreated with a med contraindicated in herpes zoster and under-treated with the right meds. That was the beginning of constant ill-health right up until today! I lost everything that I had worked so hard for and I don't just mean material things.
I've now crawled back to the ex-mining village that I was born in, been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and am three years in remission from breast cancer.
I'm familiar with Sarah Myhills research, lumbar puncture and evidence of possible empirical diagnostic markers for CFS and her treatment approach. For hypo, CFS, fibro and even cancer and autism - a lot of research points to mitochondrial dysfunction. There is also some evidence that the lack of killer T cells is significant and the theory that an as yet unidentified new herpes strain is at the bottom of CFS. I spend hours impotently reading everything I can find - doing what the medical profession should be doing but they are blinkered and led astray by big pharma.
I am stony broke stoneym and applying to a charity for a grant to pay to see somebody willing to take risks - maybe Dr Myhill if I can get there from Scotland. A friend also eligible to apply to the same charity got a generous grant for experimental treatment for fibro. It's a long form and the process is complicated so I have never got it done.
Thank you so much for your kind good wishes. We seem to have travelled down a similar path.
Now I must log off and somehow get to bed!
Great to find a kindred spirit.
Christine.
£51 - £100 because I have found a few key supplements that make a world of difference to me so I get the same every month.
Thanks - did you vote as well as comment please? x
Probably about fifty five. NDT , B12, probiotics, vitamin d3, magnesium, selenium, ferrous sulphate, high strength vitamin c, zinc etc. NDT/ cynomel is about thirty/ thirty five a month, other supplements are rotated so I buy a few each month, this equates to about twenty pounds worth. Its a nightmare, and it makes things financially difficult, but unfortunately its a necessity!
Thanks - did you vote as well as comment please? x
I buy Natural choice thyroid and adrenal supplements which costs around £60.00-£65.00, and now I have ordered Armour which has cost another £60.00, all this without the what I call normal supplements, which I hope to cut back on once I have started Armour.
can't afford so much but in the end it's worth it to feel well
Certainly £100 per month. Can't afford it, but it's worth it to feel well
I take a triple strength omega oil capsule. Vit C, B12 capsule and 1 drop of vit D oil in the morning. Not entirely sure why, just doing what I think might help me with my aching joints etc.
Louise, Tried a couple of times and I can't see the poll. There are eight posts from you saying nothing before MusicMonkey's reply.
Feel much better taking ,b12, vit d, omega 3' turmeric , gps don't advise us so we have to do the best we can to keep ourselves as fit as possible.
I eat healthily and very very rarely eat fast foods. I make my own soups from fresh veg etc., and prepare my meals from scratch. I know what some of you will be saying "I don't have time" - but I have worked very long hours when we owned our pub an I still managed to cook "proper" meals. If you take supplements my opinion is, you would have to take quite a lot of them to get results, if any, the food you eat if chosen correctly has all the nutrients your body needs - plus it is a lot cheaper. I also try to read up about foods which can help or aggravate a thyroid condition. Sorry to be a bore!!!!!!
May72, supplements aren't a substitute for good nutrition but people who aren't absorbing nutrients, perhaps due to malabsorption, often need to supplement to correct deficiencies and maintain levels.
Yes but many fruit and veg don't contain the vits they should e.g oranges sometimes have no vit C and wheat grown in UK will not have significant amounts of selenium. I buy and cook mostly organic fruit and veg but still can't survive without my my daily 4g dose of Vit C
In an ideal world, that's what I would do May72 but unfortunately I am more or less housebound and bed-bound 4-5 days a week. Before I got ill, I was a high flyer earning over £60,000 a year between stressful jobs and running a large house with up to six tenants. I'm truly happy for you that you are well enough to eat the way I used to - it didn't stop my thyroid from failing!
Now I rely on my 90 year old Daddy cooking a hot meal for me a few times a week. Other than that, it is bananas, yoghurt, porridge and biscuits. I was clinically deficient in Thiamine, Folic Acid, B12 and D3. However the supplements I do get on the NHS aren't at a high enough dose.
Probably will change when get my levels printed out as don't feel like I function at 100%.
I also spend £35 a session on BSR to keep me out of a wheelchair. I don't even know what my thyroid antibodies are as the rheumy won't test them.
Hi DonnaldIW - if finances permit, you can get your thyroid antibodies tested privately (am sure you already know, but wanted to say in case you didn't!).
Blue Horizon do it for £118.75 - they send you a kit and it's a fingerprick test that you do at home . You can also get £10 off the cost of the test, if you type TUK10 into the voucher code section.
I can't see the poll. This isn't the first time this has happened with polls. 
Ah Ha! If I click on this page :
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
I can then click on the link to the poll. And it works.
I'm spending about £50 but I would spend more because I know I need more supplements. There should be "how much can you afford to spend"
I can spend anything up to £100 per month. I am B12 subtle deficient but GPs will not help, and I also have a daughter who has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and is in bed most of the time so I buy her supplements as well to help - again no NHS help.
I am on pension but feel better for taking certain vitamins as GP won't prescribe them.
Vitamin d is free on prescription I also buy zinc multi vitamins and selenium and feel better on these
Your vit D might be free on prescription, but not everyone's is. My GP insisted that I had to buy my own even though my test showed I was deficient
I was very low the point that I was really ill my gp is not great but I see I have been lucky
I spent approx. £30 month on vitamin supplements.
My GP also gives me Vit D & Vit C on prescription, is great in some ways but I have a Thyroid test around once a year, I get no results/feedback, in fact, untill I found this website I wasn't aware there was anything to know I have been taking 150mcg each day for well over 14yrs. A big problem for me is that I have so many other probs & take so many tablets! I know it's a serious subject but I have joked at times that I could put my days worth of tablets in a dish, pour on the milk & call it breakfast!!!
I sometimes wonder if I could do without some of them but I was really ill on Thursday last, fell asleep & missed my last tablets of the day (I didn't wake up untill 5am so too close to next dose to take them). This was a serious mistake as Friday & Saturday were just 'cancelled' I could barely move due to stiffness & pain & didn't even manage to get dressed untill Sunday.
If you take a statin then you need CO-Q10, the complete form if over 35, Ubiquinol. Then there is fish oil, vit D, multi-vit, iron, calcium, turmeric, passionflower, chamomile, melatonin and magnesium. An aspirin a day. I get a lot from Swanson, here in the U.S.A. I`m guessing the pound is about $1.70. You need this when you have had heart by-pass. Also Thyroid removed during parathyroid surgery. Still have 2 of 4 parathyroids, regulates calcium. Of course you need to separate iron, calcium, and thyroid meds. Oh yes, there is the c-pap mask for sleep apnea and diabetes meds. The c-pap mask has been a life saver. Doing much better now. I take 150mg of Levo and 5mg twice a day of liothyronine.
Good poll Louise, thank you. I have voted but it's a bit of a guess and if I could actually remember what I've paid if could well work out more! I do worry though that not getting the right balance, sourcing the best ones etc and know I'm bound to be deficient as many food intolerances but I do know my levels are better since taking them.
thanks
Supplements
I only take Vit B forte and purchase it from Belgium, as it's a Brand.
i have lost my confidence in the Generics because of their side effects and contamination's (allegedly)
For anyone wondering where to get supplements, there are some ideas here:
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm...
Some companies offer discounts to Thyroid UK Members - thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/member... - and others give a donation to TUK when you order!
L
x
Thank you so much for the info, Louise!
I look for Solgar, Jarrow products selenium, Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin B Complex & C-Q10. I look for the special offers eg Solgar etc. I make homemade soup from fresh vegetables, try to eat clean, try to avoid processed foods.
Taking the basic amount of a couple of cheap supplements that aren't bioavailable and hoping they are a cure all and will help healing is a waste of £. Often we have become less than well over a period of years, gradually diminishing our nutrient level. Taking a certain amount isn't necessarily what the body gets. Availability can be a mere 4% with some mineral supplements. Getting only 4% of a £3 supplement makes it expensive. 98% of a comprehensive £40 a month supplement giving me the essential nutrition from 40 different fruits and veg in proper amounts each day is better value to me. I have had to learn that consistency taking supplements is vital too especially as I get older.
I take a broad spectrum trace mineral and antioxidant liquid, a resveratrol liquid, and a telomere supplement as well as Vit D3 with k2 and some others. i find it has been necessary to rebalance my thyroid and bring hyperthyroid levels down.
I have voted. I spend as much as I can afford on a range of supplements and always go for 'pharmaceutical grade' such as Solgar and KPAX. Some supplements I get from my GP but always at way too low a dose or in a format that I can't tolerate. I spend £50 - £100 a month at least without including NDT which at least stops me putting on weight while eating like a bird. Otherwise I haven't noticed much difference so far.
Being blunt while not meaning to offend, I would eat dog turd on toast if there was any evidence that it works. I have no life - couldn't even manage a 2 hour a week voluntary job at my local job club. I usually have 2 decent hours a week, but I couldn't guarantee that they would be the right 2 hours. I'm certain all my other conditions stem from the same dysfunction that knocked my Thyroid out. I believe the answer lies with the malfunctioning of the mitochondria - the part of every bodily cell which should produce the energy that cell needs to do it's job. What tiny amount of research there is points in this direction although from various angles for CFS/ME. Fibro as well as hypothyroidism.
I'm afraid that when my Dad dies, I will lose the will to continue living. I'm not being dramatic, I just honest. I'm praying (to my own concept of god) for a miracle.
Christine
Mine mainly goes on the Vitamin D as I don't store it so well and multi vitamin to boost what little i have in the form of vitamins and irons.
Comment deleted for adding nothing to the results of the poll.
I am surprised at the results. Hopefully I will join the majority who spend less than I do, at some point! I spend a fortune, as I am still unwell and trying different supplements. I have a cupboard full of stuff that has cost a fortune that I can't take. But with Nature Throid, B12 injections and lots of other supplements like B, D3, K2, magnesium, Folic Acid, iron, and the list goes on I spend a lot every month.
I voted at approx £21-30 but that is a vague guess, probably one that will change following my next round of blood tests. I have (finally!) persuaded my scathingly dismissive GP to test for this forums advised blood tests and saliva cortisol ("I have NO idea WHAT you think that will show" quote/unquote...)
Currently I take vitD, magnesium, glucosamine, cod liver oil and collagen.
I voted £101 - £200 because recently I decided I was getting nowhere and losing far too much weight so went to a nutritionist. She did loads of tests and then put together a diet and supplement programme for me and the first month's worth of supplements cost £127 It includes digestive enzymes, Vitamin K, Vitamin D3 liquid, a high dose multi, something called HEP 194 (methionine and sitosterol) and berberine. I already had the magnesium oil and liquid magnesium otherwise it would have been even worse! Hopefully though it'll all be worth it.
Incredibly difficult to answer. I use loads of supplements and buy them at different times and couldn't begin to average it out, but I would guess £21-30
suppliments don't work with thyroxine meds for me as they just go right through me
My husband has secondary stage four melanoma, diagnosed in 2007. I give him ginger, cinnamon, green tea, curcumin, magnesium, cod liver oil and MCPs (modified citrus pectin). MCP was recommended by the American cancer research society. He has been taking it since he was diagnosed. Interestingly enough they currently have a stage three trial happening in Israel. They are costly, and I can only get the decent ones on the internet. They work out about £30+ a month. Is this what is keeping him alive????
