Hypo blood tests and vitamin D

[RustyMary]

Hi guys,

I'm now 9 months post-diagnosis and apart form a blip in September when my hormone levels dropped I've made a steady and relatively straightforward recovery from an original TSH of 240. I had blood tests back today which were:

TSH 0.055 (0.40-4.0)

T3 5.32 (3.1-6.8)

T4 23.65 (12.0-22.0)

I've had monthly thyroid tests since September and since the end of October they have been stable at these kind of figures - I'm feeling pretty well and sometimes very well which after my 3 years or so of slowly getting very ill indeed is fantastic.

However I do still get tired and my skin is a bit dry and my hair patchy, so I asked for a vit D test which my doctor (in Slovenia) doesn't normally do - he had to ring up and ask if the lab could even perform it! So he was very surprised, and I wasn't, when it came back low (How did you know? he asked. I'm a member of Thryoid UK I replied ) :

17.6 mg/L, range more than 30 with no upper limit given.

He's given me a prescription for drops (? - I haven't got it yet so I don't know what it is like) which I think is 4000 iou's or whatever the unit is. About a week ago, on the advice of my nutiritionist in the UK but before I'd had the test, I started taking food state vit D3, 2000 iou's.

So now I need your help is my result very low? Should I just take the prescription, or both? I'm having another test for both thyroid and vit D in 2 months - should I also then ask for calcium? (though I think this might be pushing it a bit - he's being very tolerant but I don't want him to think I'm trying to tell him his job, even if I am!)

As ever, all advice gratefully received

[RustyMary]

I forgot to say, I've been gluten-free since October and almost dairy-free since Christmas, and it's been a definite significant difference.

[Idontwantanusername in reply to RustyMary]

If you were an average or a heavy dairy consumer you were getting more than enough vitamin D.... for anyone reading this, when cutting down dairy check the kind of nutrition you’re cutting (calcium, vit D good fats to absorb other lipo soluble vits protein etc) and make an effort to naturally compensate

I see in you’re recent posts that you learned that later

[RustyMary]

Another question - my husband has just picked up my vit D prescription and it's drops - 5 drops a day or 35 a week. I've never heard of this - do you put them on your tongue, and does it matter whether you take them every day or once a week?

[Marz in reply to RustyMary]

5 a day - under the tongue is probably best for good absorption...

[Marz]

You need to be taking 4000 IU's of D - ensure it is D3. I will post a chart - from the US which tells you how to dose according to your result. You may wish to stay on this dose throughout the winter and then have a test before the summer starts....

grassrootshealth.net

Also on the same site....a chart showing which illnesses can be prevented with D at various levels....

grassrootshealth.net/media/...

[RustyMary in reply to Marz]

Thank you Marz, that's really helpful. Odd though that they recommend it should be 40-60, yet say that up to 48 only prevents rickets, and it needs to be 100-150 to prevent the other diseases.

[Marz in reply to RustyMary]

For some reason the first chart is in ng/ml and the second the measurements are in nmol/L. To convert from the first into the second you would need to multiply by 2.5

[RustyMary in reply to Marz]

Oh - how weird. Thanks