I upped my thyroxine on Xmas eve after "discussion" with my gp
Generally feel better but this week have just felt really tierd . I managed to pass part one of my ecdl today but haven't the energy to be excited. I am sitting here feeling like a wet dishcloth. I just want to feel normal . Am now.on 125 mcgs daily. Also suffer from Rhuematoid arthritis which caused me to be retired on ill health so am worried about finances and raynauds. Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you
Are you taking your vitamin D? According to Dr. Holick, the 'doyen' of vitamin D studies, we need up to 4,000IU per day. Especially in winter. Prevents the 'blues' apparently. It WAS blue Monday this past week according to the media. But it was also claimed that it can be Blue Week, Blue month....whatever. Vitamin D is a good SAD antidote.
Thank you I'll try that
Ahhh, then probably you are low in vitamin D if you have not been supplementing at all. Loading doses are required then to get your blood levels up quickly. 20,000 IU per day for 2 weeks, then 4,000IU per day for the rest of the winter. Given the England is so far north of the equator, if you are not outside between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. during the summer months then you need to supplement year round. Low vitamin D levels result in osteomalacia. Pain in the bones.
Check you dietary sources of calcium and magnesium. If you are calcium deficient, you need to supplement both magnesium and calcium.
Hi Kath, I agree with Gabkad about vitamin D. Just make sure it is D3 and not D2 and some of it is sold with K2 which is important along with the D3. Is there anything that triggers your arthritis? Some people try an elimination diet to find out what they are. If you are interested I will send you a link. If you don't want to go that far, try to stay with whole foods and away from processed foods and sugar. Processed foods are not good with leaky gut. Far too many foreign chemicals. If your gut heals, you may possibly help your autoimmune problems. One thing I discovered about leaky gut is that stress (that fight or flight feeling) actually reduces the blood supply to your gut and this also contributes to leaky gut.
As RA is auto-immune it may be good to have your thyroid anti-bodies checked too - anti-TPO and Anti-Tg. One autoimmune condition is often accompanied by another. As Heloise suggests - healing the gut is the most important thing for your health. How are your levels of B12 - Folate - Ferritin - Iron - VitD.....you need these to be tested and they need to be GOOD for you to feel well. Do not let your Doc tell you they are normal. What are your latest Thyroid blood test results ? How are your T3 levels ?
When everything is in place you will be feeling well in no time. Low B12 and Low D re connected to Low mood too.....
Thank you. Had thyroid tested but only did tsh which I was told was normal but due to have them checked again in march. The problem is that if tsh is noreal then they wont do t3 or t4. Will get some v it d tablets. Also trying to find a partner but scared if I feel tierd all the time I won't have the energy to put into a relationship so no one will want me.
If someone really loves you, they will accept you as you are, for who you are, tired or not. People with all sorts of medical conditions/disabilities, people from all walks of life/all backgrounds and cultures have successful relationships - being tired all the time is horrible, I know when I feel tired all the time, it takes chunks out of my life, but if someone loves me, they love me for me, regardless of that, and vice versa. The right person, looks beyond the health probs ect, and will work with you and be supportive - well, that's how it should work. Love doesn't discriminate on illness, if we fall in love, we fall in love!x
Any idea where your cholesterol levels are? They rise when you are hypothyroid, and taking vitamin d with raised cholesterol levels can cause more problems..... Don't just supplement willy nilly.. Get checks first to confirm low levels.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/187...
G x
It was 5.3 when I had it tested recently
I would say on a TSH of 5.3 you definitely need an increase of thyroxine. You may need more than the 125 you're currently taking. I was diagnosed on TSH only, mine was 5.3 at diagnosis. Five and a half years on, I am now taking 150 thyroxine with 20 liothyronine. You have not mentioned what you were taking before the 125, though it is was 100, then maybe the 25 increment in dosage may not be enough to get your TSH down. Also, they need to be looking at where you're T4 and T3 levels are, though many gp's including mine, overlook this and base the increase/decrease in dosage of the TSH only - not a good way at all.
Definitely get D3 tested. Ask for a parathyroid test. I had a really good gp in the past who picked up on this and I am now on calecos for life as my D3 was very low, particularly exacerbating fatigue. Also, have you had iron, ferritin, foltate and B12 done as all will contribute to fatigue.
Congratulations on getting the ECDL:-). It's really hard studying when you're hypo, I can relate to that. Am also studying at the moment x
Cholesterol at 5.3 is only just off normal according to the Nhs page. nhs.uk/Conditions/Cholester...
x. G
galathea, rabbits are not human.
The report you mention used Vit D2 and a large dose at that. I wonder what the result would have been if they had used Vit D 3.
No idea, but just something to be aware of I would have thought.
There are other studies where rabbits were given 50,000 IU per day........ what's that in a human? 1 million IU per day? As in toxic?
Also as was evidenced by the study where only cholesterol was added to the rabbit chow, the rabbits that did not get cholesterol in their food did not have problems.
Unfortunately rabbits are not human. We create cholesterol from our livers even if we eat zero cholesterol in our diets. Rabbits are naturally low cholesterol animals. Feeding them cholesterol causes inflammation in their bodies.
Studies like this are invalid.
No body advocates that people take even 50,000 IU of either vitamin D2 or D3 per day. And since we are not rabbits, that would mean advocating for 1 million IU per day.
Reality check time.
Here is an exerpt on rabbit nutrition: nutrecocanada.com/docs/shur...
The primary role of Vitamin D is the regulation of calcium and phosphorus absorption,
influencing bone mineralization and mobilization. In most species, calcium absorption is
controlled by a calcium binding protein, which is regulated by vitamin D. Rabbits are unique in
that they do not require this calcium binding protein to absorb calcium. As discussed previously,
the amount of calcium absorbed is in relation to the dietary amount. Excess vitamin D, rather
than a deficiency, is more likely to be a problem in practical conditions. Levels as low as 2300-
3000 IU/kg, have been shown to be toxic to rabbits. Toxicity symptoms include impaired
movement, loss of appetite and calcification of the soft tissues, such as the arteries and kidneys.
Toxicity cases have been reported due to excessive levels added to rabbit feeds, and thus levels
of 1000 to 1500 IU/kg have been recommended (Mateos & de Blas, 1998).
As an aside, cats manufacture their own vitamin D and require no supplementation. And yes, cats are not human either. 
It's interesting information but if its not relevant and is invalid what's the point of publishing it?
Any ideas? I haven't.
G x
You linked to a pubmed article about rabbits and heart valve problems. I couldn't figure out why you did that since it is not relevant to humans.
I thought I'd just clarify that an experiment done on rabbits giving them truly outrageous amounts of vitamin D2 has a more toxic effect even than it does in humans. It proves nothing in regards to us and is not valid as a warning to someone that taking a normal supplemental dose of vitamin D3 would have adverse effect even if cholesterol is high. No one has ever shown this to be the case. If it were, then we'd have an epidemic of heart valve failures. We don't.
There are animals which are not appropriate models for testing what would happen to us under the same circumstances.
Hi, your question set me thinking and searching.... Seems that there are a set of pigs who have high cholesterol and narrowed arteries and the article also says that rhesus monkeys and rabbits are common animal models of human heart disease. So this would make the research valid. news.wisc.edu/3358
Its all interesting stuff, so given this information I would still be wary of combining the vitamin d with high cholesterol....
I think we have said enough about rabbits and pigs for now though.
Xx. G
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I have had great success with supplementing D3 AND using a SAD lamp for 30 mins daily
Thank you
Sorry forgot to ask where did you get your sad lamp from
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