After 7 years of symptoms and a variety of different "solutions", I'm finally on the start of a 3 month trial of levothyroxene 50mcg per day. Are there any recommendations out there for dietary supplements and are they safe to take in conjunction with the meds?
Advice please.
Welcome to our forum,
I see you have finally been diagnosed as being hypothyroid.
You asked about dietary supplements so am assuming you have gained weight whilst awaiting a positive diagnosis? If so, once you are on an optimum of thyroid hormones (levothyroxine) it may raise your metabolism sufficiently that you lose the weight you've gained.
Dietary supplements could interfere with the uptake of your thyroid hormones, but supplements in general, i.e. vitamins/minerals I would take 4 hours apart from levo.
I would not wait 3 months before you next have a blood test. If it is possible to get a print-out of your latest results get a copy from the surgery, with the ranges, and post them for members to comment. If GP hasn't also taken B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate ask for these to be done and post them too.
It is the norm for a blood test after 6 weeks on levothyroxine so I would request another blood test and say your symptoms haven't yet improved. These are a couple of hints for your next blood test.
Blood Test: Have the earliest possible appointment . Leave 24 hours since last dose of levo and test as it may skew results and fast. Take levo after test.
Take thyroid hormones on wakening and wait approx 1 hour before eating. Some foods interfere with medication. I leave 4 hours between hormones and supplements which I have at lunchtime. Some prefer bedtime dosing, in that case you must leave 2 hours after eating before taking hormones. If you've had a fatty meal it should be longer. Food can interfere with the uptake.
Ask for Vitamin B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate to be tested. They should be towards the upper range.
Hello and thanks to all for replies.
To give a little background, in May 2008, while feeling generally not well and breathless, I got blood test results as follows, TSH 6.6 and FT4 17.0. At this time and unknown to me the GP suggested on my records "possible hypothyroid emerging' will recheck ". In August 2008 new tests gave results, TSH 3.22 and FT4 16.0 - no further action was taken. Last Month I had to get new blood tests for an unrelated issue and my levels were TSH 6.3 and FT4 18.0. By now I had begun independently researching Thyroid issues and insisted on an Antibodies test. They only did the Peroxidase and the result was "less than 2" in a range of 0-59, so again this was dismissed as normal.
My GP is treating the Thyroid because I asked him to and this was prescribed with a reluctant " I don't think that's the problem". He's agreed to continue with the treatment, I feel as he's trying to eliminate it from his idea of possible causes. His words were "I'm treating the thyroid now but if you've any remaining symptoms after this, it won't be because of your thyroid". I could be wrong but it feels as if he's anti this route and only prescribing because I asked him to.
I've never had any of the other tests you all recommend and I'm not sure if they'll do them unless I go private, but as I'm retired I don't have unlimited funds for such things.
Thanks again for the advice I'll keep you informed of progress.
In other countries they treat if your TSH is above 3. In the UK the stupid BTA guidelines state we've not to be medicated until TSH reaches 10 and for some people it might never do so. Doctors err in caution.
It is good GP has prescribed but he is very, very wrong, if he thinks a low dose will 'fix' things. I do hope you get tested every six weeks with an increase in levo until you feel well.Some of us don't unfortunately and have to look elsewhere for relief.
Make an appointment and if he queries say you have read the NHS choices Thyroiduk.org.uk and it is suggested we get blood tests every six to 8 weeks with a rise in T4 to get the TSH around 1 or below. (some believe getting the TSH 'in range' is fine. Because we are hypothyroid we shouldn't be 'in range' we should be low or suppressed. Tell him you want to be well and too low a dose could affect heart as well as other organs and low hormones may not enable the heart to pump efficiently.
Doctors don't know nowadays that as well as the TSH we have a slow pulse, low temp (usually) as indicators too. Sometimes unexplained weight gain and widespread pain. Tell him too that we are usually deficient in the minerals/vitamins above and they have to be at an optimum level. We should have these tested yearly. If they are 'in range' we can usually supplement if necessary. We have to become pro-active unfortunately to make sure we have the best possible health.
Best wishes.
Hello Gundogan,
I think Shaws has said it all except depending on how long your hypothyroidism has remained undiagnosed, your symptoms may continue for a while, but be assured that you should start to see an improvement once you are wholly medicated.
Levothyroxine takes 7/8 days to be absorbed before it starts working and up to 6
weeks to initially saturate the body which can only tolerate small increases at any one time. Symptoms may sometimes lag behind good biochemistry by 6-8 weeks.
Your doctor should retest your thyroid hormone levels after 6 weeks and adjust the dose according to results.
Avoid soya foods as they can inflame the thyroid gland but include plenty of protein and fats to provide essential nutrients. Don't try dieting to lose weight until hormones are balanced as a high TSH level can prevent weight loss.
Having had an undiagnosed problem for so long can mean there is a lot of issues to be addressed but the good thing is you are now being medicated and so on the road to wellness.
I hope you feel better soon
flower007
You should post your blood test results with the ranges for the forum members comments. 50mcg is usually the starting dose and too little to have much effect for many,
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