Vitamin levels: Hi, I am hoping someone will be... - Thyroid UK

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Vitamin levels

Amy10 profile image
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Hi, I am hoping someone will be able to point me in the right direction as my doctor seems to think all is OK.

I asked for FBC as feeling tired, short of breath, palpitations, tingling in hands and feet, spots appearing after having none for two years since being diagnosed hypo (always had terrible skin before, so one good thing has happened!) short tempered again.

The ones that are worrying me are as follows (all others were mid range)

Mean corpus haemoglobin 32.9 pg range 27.00 - 32.00pg (it had an exclamation mark beside result, Endo said it was machine error)

Mean corpus hb conc 337 g/l range 320.00 - 360.00g/l

red blood cell distribution width 11.8% range 11.60 - 14.80%

Lymphocyte count 1.7 10*9/l range 1.00 - 3.50 10* 9/l

Monocyte count 0.3 10*9/l range 0.20 - .80 10*9/l

Vit B12 269 range 187.00 - 883.00 ng/l

folate 8.8 mg/l range 3.00 - 20.00c mg/l

ferritin 49 ng/ml range 6.00 - 204.00 ng/ml

magnesium levels seem ok at 0.94 range 0.70 - 1.00

Vit D 50 range 75.00 - 200.00 (doctor said most peoples Vit d levels low this time of year go to Boots and buy some, so I have and am taking 25ug per day 500% recommended daily intake)

I have been reduced to 100 per day of Levo, have put on a stone (Endo said my resting heart rate was too high on 125mg) am finding I need a sleep/rest at some point if I can grab it during the day, I fight with myself everyday to be happy for my family, but can cry at the drop of a hat (which did not happen when levo at higher dose) my last TSH was 0.15 on 125. I am just waiting for TSH results on 100 of Levo.

Endo says he does not have to test my T4 or T3 as I am not taking T3??? but he has asked for Vit D levels again and says he will write to doctor to try me on Levo and T3 or Armour, which he does not think the doctor will prescribe.

In the past I have taken up to 150 on which I felt on fire, like my old self, weight was good, had energy, brain worked well, but did get palpitations and could not sleep too well! so dropped my self down to 125, which was Ok, but still got a few palpitations at times and sleep was OK, but not sound. TSH was 0.06 on 150.

Can anyone help with what vitamins I should be taking please, at the time of the test results I was not taking anything to make sure my test results were as true as they could be.

I am 37 and also started to have irregular periods in December which I have never suffered from, so could be menopause related, had hormones checked csh level 8 u/l and serum oestradiol level 0.26 nmol/l.

I feel like I should be put down at the moment! which for a normally positive person is a horrible thought.

many thanks

Amy10

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Amy10 profile image
Amy10

Thank you for your reply reallyfedup123 . My endo says it doesn't matter when I have a blood test after taking meds as I did question this .

Would low iron cause the heart flutters etc on 150?

Thanks

Amy10

greygoose profile image
greygoose in reply to Amy10

Endos have no idea about this! In fact, they have little idea about anything thyroid.

To get the best results, leave 24 hours between your last dose and the blood draw. Have it done as early in the morning as possible - before 9.0 am. Don't eat before the test because eating lowers TSH and gets you a reduction in dose if your doctor is TSH fixated.

Low iron will cause all sorts of problems - included low conversion rates. it needs to be at least mid-range.

Your B12 is dangerously low, and is probably causing a lot of your symptoms. Anything below 500 can cause permenant nerve damage - neuropathy - so aim for the top of the range. Take about 7000 mcg sublingual methylcobalamin daily. Don't worry, you can't over-dose.

Your folate is also low, so find yourself a B complex with methylfolate - not folic acid - and take that with your B12. The Bs all work together, so need to be balanced.

What your doctor said about your vit D is a typical stupid-doc comment, along the lines of 'there's lot of it about'. I swear they have a little booklet entitled '1001 Stupid Things to Say When You Don't Know What You're Talking About'. Just because most people have something, doesn't mean it's good. Think you'd better by that D3 and treat yourself!

Your endo is also an idiot. Not testing FT4 and 3 because you're not taking T3? What the hell does that mean? I Don't think he knows how the thyroid works. FT3 is the most important test because T3 is the active hormone. T4 is converted into T3 - and, in any case, you are taking T4, so wouldn't it be a good idea to test it?!? lol I Wonder how he qualified...

The fact that you've put on weight and can't lose it, says to me that your T3 is too low. You're not taking enough Levo, and in any case, you can't convert it. That could be because of the low D, B12 and ferritin. You need to get those levels up. But I hope you haven't been doing a low calorie diet to get rid of the weight, because that could also stop you converting. You need those calories.

And you need fat and salt. You need them for your adrenals. Low cortisol will also affect your conversion, but the adrenals can't make hormones without fat. And they need salt and vit C to function correctly. In any, case, if you're going to supplement with iron, you need to take lots of vit C to absorb it and avoid constipation.

So, lots of things you can work on yourself to try and improve your symptoms. :)

Hugs, Grey

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