Advice on some good books Plzz

I agree! Dr P's book is brilliant, although I did buy it when at my sickest and it took many re-readings and ages to sink in.

I just wish he had been more forthcoming on the subject of high cortisol.

Hi Karen

If you want lots of replies you need to start a new thread. Not everyone in this thread gets alerted to new posts unless you've replied directly to their message by using the green reply button in their message box or put @ directly in front of their name (no space) as that tags them. These threads don't pop back up to the top of the page when a new reply is posted, it stays where it was originally and gets further down until it disappears.

Not to worry, I can comment on some of your results but not all, so I'll see what I can do . I waffle on so bear with me

3-12-15

Glucose = 4.8- sorry, I don't know anything about this.

Folate= 5.6 (Replete 5.4-20.0 Indeterminate: 3.4-5.3 Deficient: 3.4) - it may be replete but it's not optimal, it's very low in the range. It needs to be at least half way through so that would be 12.7. See below * my comments for B12 on how to increase this.

Ferritin= 50.4 - is there a range for this? It's normally advised for ferritin to be at least 70 for thyroid hormone to work properly, and better is half way through range. It would appear that you could do with an iron supplement to get you there. You could get Ferrous Fumerate or Ferrous Sulphate (GP unlikely to prescribe with your result, you can get it from Amazon, some pharmacies). One tablet twice a day. Take with 1000mg Vit C. Take 4 hours away from Levo and other supplements as it will affect their absorption. If you get upset tummy or constipationl then look at Iron Bisglycinate which is more gentle, although there is less elemental iron.

B12= 389 - far too low. The Pernicious Anaemia Society recommends 1000. Neurological damage can occur at less than 500. Supplement with Solgar or Jarrows methylcobalamin sublingual lozenges, 5000mcg daily to start with. When level gets nice and high go on to a maintenance dose of 1000mcg.

When supplementing with B12, we need to also take a B Complex to balance the B vitamins. If you get Thorne Basic B or Jarrows B Right, they both contain 400mcg methylfolate, which is the active form of folic acid - never get one with folic acid as it synthetic and needs to be converted into folate by your body and we can't all do that. Folate is the converted, natural version. *Either of those brands should increase your folate level*

serum free T4 = 9.4 - do you have a reference range?

serum TSH = 9.21 (0.35-5.5) - far too high - indicates hypothyroidism but many doctors wait until TSH reaches 10

11-7-16

serum FSH = 32.6 follicular: 2.5-10.2 (OV peak: 3.4-33.4 Luteal: 1.5-9.1 Post Meno: 23.0-116 original results: 32.6) - sorry, I don't know anything about this

serum free T4 = 10.4 - need range

serum TSH = 15.47 (0.35-5.5) - worse than last time, over the magic number 10 and this is why you got diagnosed and put on Levo.

What should happen now is a retest 6-8 weeks after starting Levo. Hopefully your TSH will have reduced and your FT4 increased. Please try to get the range for FT4. After this test you should have a dose increase, then another retest, dose adjustment, and so on until your symptoms are alleviated.

The aim for a treated hypo patient is for TSH to be 1 or below or wherever it needs to be for FT4 and FT3 to be at the upper part of their reference ranges. Many doctors treat by TSH which is wrong. Once on replacement thyroid hormone, TSH is irrelevant, it's FT4 and more importantly FT3 (which they never seem to do) that count.

For future reference, if you find your doctor dosing by TSH being just 'in range' and not optimally treating you to where you feel well, this might help:

Dr Toft, past president of the British Thyroid Association and leading endocrinologist, wrote this in a Pulse Online magazine article:

"The appropriate dose of levothyroxine is that which restores euthyroidism and serum TSH to the lower part of the reference range - 0.2-0.5mU/l.

In this case, free thyroxine is likely to be in the upper part of its reference range or even slightly elevated – 18-22pmol/l. Most patients will feel well in that circumstance.

But some need a higher dose of levothyroxine to suppress serum TSH and then the serum-free T4 concentration will be elevated at around 24-28pmol/l.

This 'exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism' is not dangerous as long as serum T3 is unequivocally normal – that is, serum total around T3 1.7nmol/l (reference range 1.0-2.2nmol/l)."

If you email louise.warvill@thyroiduk.org.uk she will let you have a copy of the article which you can print out and show your GP

Keep asking questions and learning, you're doing great up to now

One test that is missing is Vit D. Along with all the other vitamin and minerals this needs to be optimal and a lot of us in the UK are low in Vit D. If your GP wont test this you can get it done privately for £28 through City Assays, an easy at home fingerprick blood spot test vitamindtest.org.uk/

PS In case you don't know already, Levo should be taken with a glass of water only, on an empty stomach one hour before or two hours after food. Good that you are taking it at bedtime

Hi Karen.

I didn't post on your earlier question about dizziness but I am now. Why?

Well, my hypothyroidism was picked up from blood tests to find out why I was getting vertigo episodes. Since then I have been diagnosed (by ENT) with BPPV and "reduced vestibular response" which I've put on my profile. I don't doubt these at all, BUT the frequency and severity of these episodes seem to be linked to how much levothyroxine I'm taking among other things.

I also get dizziness which is not the same as vertigo. Also lightheaded episodes which GP thought might be blood pressure related, although at the syncope clinic I was advised to get my thyroid rechecked.

I don't know if any of this helps but I agree with "!!!!".