Under active thyroid

[vickylou36]

Hi all i am looking for some advice. I was diagnosed with under active thyroid and low iron in december. I am taking 50mg levo in a morning and 2 iron tablets a day, i want advice on my results and any supplements that may help me feel well.

A little bit about myself. I was a busy mum of 3 who worked full time untill March 2014 when i was rushed to hospital with pnemoccal meningitis, i was on life support for a week then in hospital for about 6 weeks. I became profoundly deaf and had. Cochlear implant to be able to hear. Since all of this i have been very poorly with headaches,balance problems, dizziness, weak, tiredness, fatigue, confusion and the list goes on although things have improved it has been very slow. In november after a checkup with my gp i was diagnosed with high blood pressure 170/103, i had regular checkups with my gp and my blood pressure has come down to 160/82. My gp requested bloods to try find out the cause of my high blood pressure this is when i was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and low iron. Could the meningitis be the cause of this? I will post my blood results any advice would be greatly appreciated as i dont reallt understand them.

[Clutter]

Vicky, I'm unable to read some of your results. If you can post TSH, FT4, FT3, ferritin, vitD, B12 and folate (if they were done) with the lab ref ranges (the figures in brackets after your results) I'll have a look.

[vickylou36 in reply to Clutter]

Thanks Clutter would really appreciate it, the photo looked much clearer on my kindle.

free T4 6.9 range 9-19pmol/L

TSH 50.58 range 0.40 - 5.00mu/L

Ferritin 10 ug/L range 15.00 - 200.00ug/L

B 12 211 ng/L range 1500.00 - 620.00ng/L

Folate 5.9 ug/L range 3.10 - 19.90ug/L

[vickylou36 in reply to vickylou36]

Sorry B12 range is 150 not 1500

[Lily_Munster in reply to vickylou36]

Your TSH is 50.58??? That is way too high. I felt like sh*t when mine was 9. Can't imagine how you must feel. Did the doc inrease your levo?

Make sure to take your iron tablets with vitamin c. Vit c helps absorb iron.

Also, I would take Methylcobalamin B12 (not Cyanocobalamin) to increase B12 if I was you. I would opt for B12 spray or lozenges/tablets (sublingual). I would also take a Methylfolate supplement (not folic acid).

[vickylou36 in reply to Lily_Munster]

Hi Lily, i don't really understand the results but my tsh is 50.58, my doctor did say my thyroid was very underactive. I think the reason it hadn't been picked up before is because the after affects of the meningitis is pretty much the same so have felt rotten for months. Thanks for the advice i will definitely get some vitamin c and B12. Vicky

[Lily_Munster in reply to vickylou36]

I am not sure why your TSH is so high. What did the GP say? They can't just ignore such a high TSH. (Well, they probably do but shouldn't.)

[vickylou36 in reply to Lily_Munster]

My GP told me in December it was very low and started me on 50mg Levo, i didn't really ask any questions as i didn't know anything about the thyroid. He said it would explain the worsening of my symptoms and weight gain, all of which had previously been put down to the meningitis and different medications i have taken. If you have any advice on things i should be asking the doctor that would be great. i have been reading so much about thyroid on the internet but have trouble taking in information since the meningitis. I go back for repeat bloods on the 20th Jan then to see GP on the 23rd Jan.

[Lily_Munster in reply to vickylou36]

I am not very patient and couldn't wait til Jan 23rd tbh. I would get on my GP's nerves and demand an explanation

[Clutter]

Vicky, TSH >10 is very hypothyroid and your FT4 is very low. Please be very cautious driving as TSH >20 can impair driving reactions more than being over the drink drive limit.

Your GP has started you on a low dose which will almost certainly need increasing until your TSH is around 1.0, which is comfortable for most people. Dose increases are usually in 25mcg increments as thyroid hormone has to be increased gradually. You should have another thyroid test 6 weeks after you started Levothyroxine so your dose can be increased. Don't take your Levothyroxine before the blood draw, take it afterwards as it can skew the results.

Take your Levothyroxine with a full glass of water on an empty stomach one hour before or two hours after food and drink, two hours away from other medication and supplements and four hours away from vitamin D3, calcium, iron and oestrogen.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/diagno...

Supplement 2,000mcg methylcobalamin B12 daily for 6 weeks to boost your B12 levels and then cut back to 1,000mcg daily and take a B Complex tablet to keep the other B vitamins in balance. The RDA folic acid in the B Complex will also improve your folate.

Take each of your iron tablets with 500mg-1,000mg vitamin C to aid absorption and mitigate constipation.

[vickylou36 in reply to Clutter]

Hi clutter, I haven't been driving since the Meningitis in March because of the after affects balance, can't focus eyes when moving, extreeme tiredness plus lots of other things. I also think this is the reason my thyroid got so low, when you feel so rubbish for so long you don't really notice when your getting worse. the tiredness and headaches etc i already had but looking back they had increased over the past few months, the weight gain i put down to the many tablets i have been on steroids amongst others.

I am definetly going to take up your advice on which vitamins to take as i didn't have a clue which ones to buy. thank you.

[vickylou36]

Hi, am definitely going to get the B12 and vitamin c and will ask in my local health store about a good multivitamin. I had been tested a few times over the years for under active thyroid due to tiredness and hair loss but was always told it was normal think i will see if my gp can give me a copy of old results to see how they compare.

[Lily_Munster]

reallyfedup123, I decided to opt for whole food Vit C. Do I still need to take 1000 mg of the whole food Vit C) with my iron tablets? I am under the assumption I need less because of it's bioavailability. Any idea?

[eeng]

Balance problems and hearing loss can be hypo symptoms. Certainly brain fog and difficulty processing what you are reading are. You may be pleasantly surprised how much better you feel once you are adequately treated for your thyroid. Make sure you are adequately treated so that your FT4 and FT3 readings are at least half way up their ranges, not just creeping into the bottom of the range. Your TSH may need to be well below 1 to achieve this. Your Ferritin should be over 70, your B12 preferably over half way in the range (usually over 500) and your Vitamin D needs to be healthy too. All the best!

[vickylou36]

thanks eeng, i think the brain fog and balance problems are initially through the meningitis but made worse by the thyroid, i think thats why it took a while for the diagnosis because the symptoms where the same as the affects of the meningitis. Unfortunatly the hearing loss is all down to the meningitis and damage it has done to my cochlear, i now have a cochlear implant but i do know that the thyroid can affect titnitus so i hope this will calm down once the thyroid is at a normal level.

[vickylou36]

thanks eeng, i think the brain fog and balance problems are initially through the meningitis but made worse by the thyroid, i think thats why it took a while for the diagnosis because the symptoms where the same as the affects of the meningitis. Unfortunatly the hearing loss is all down to the meningitis and damage it has done to my cochlear, i now have a cochlear implant but i do know that the thyroid can affect titnitus so i hope this will calm down once the thyroid is at a normal level.

[greygoose]

Sounds to me like you're probably deficient in mangesium, too. That can cause problems with your ears - tinnitis, lose of hearing, dizzyness, etc. I doubt if your doctor will agree to test it - although you can but ask - but you could start supplementing that, too.