Help with blood results and supplementation

[Sugaru]

Can't believe I've been hypothyroid for thirteen years and only just discovered this site. I am 55 and everything is beginning to make sense. The most worrying of a number of problems to me at present are lack of focus, goldfish like memory ( fearing dementia!)and inability to stay asleep through the night leading to waking tired every day. On 100 mcg Levo. Bloods taken show

CRP .20 <5

Ferritin 85.5 .20-150

TSH 1.06 .27 - 4.20

T4 total 96.3 64.5-142.0

Free T 4 18.82 12-22

FreeT3 4.32 3.1 -6.8

Anti thyroidperoxidase abs 36.9 <34

Anti thyroglobulin 323.9 <115

B12 149 <140

Serum folate 26.48 10.4-42.4

Any recommendations for supplements which would help and dosage levels?

Thank you so much

[Marz]

Your LOW B12 jumps out at me - should be around 1000 to prevent cognitive decline and would explain your memory issues. Sometimes supplementing Folic Acid can mask B12 Deficiency - have you been taking any ? What does your GP say about your B12 result ? Probably nothing as they really do not know about the seriousness of B12 Deficiency and that it is NOT a vitamin deficiency but a neurological one.

May I suggest you read - Could it Be B12 ? - by Sally Pacholok also look at the website below.... scroll down.

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

Also look at the videos under the heading FILMS - to view how serious low B12 can be.

What other medications are you taking ? Do you have gut issues ?

[greygoose]

Well, you have Hashi's - did they tell you that? Are you gluten-free? Taking selenium? With Hashi's, you really need your TSH at zero. But yours is higher than that due to your FT3, which isn't even mid-range. You have a bit of a conversion problem, and selenium would help with that, too. You can safely take up to 200 mcg daily.

I agree with Marz, you really, really need to do something about that B12, it must be causing you all sorts of symptoms.

[Sugaru]

I'm not taking anything other than optibac probiotic and yes I do have gut issues which I visited nutritionist for. Cutting caffeine helped considerably and did gluten free for a short time but wasn't really committed. I'm very carbohydrate driven. Have never understood my need for salt but am seeing it could be linked. To be fair to the doctor I was diagnosed fairly quickly by her but have been back several times complaining of exhaustion. They do a check every year but always report normal results. I have never really challenged that. The nutritionist got me onto checking so I decided to get it done myself. Thanks for your speedy comments, I never knew there was help out there.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Ask GP to fully evaluate urgently that very low B12. Test also perhaps for Pernicious Anemia. Probably need loading dose injections.

When you start B12 (injections or sublingual) then also need to take good quality vitamin B complex - eg Jarrows or Thorne (look for one that contains folate in rather than cheaper folic acid)

The other thing you really need to check is vitamin D. Extremely common to be low. Research currently not sure if Hashi causes low Vit D, or low Vit D makes Hashi more likely.

vitamindcouncil.org/tag/aut...

According to this website by Dr Gominak below ......Low vitamin D changes gut environment and as consequence Vit B's can be low. Low D & low B together may be cause of insomnia too

drgominak.com/vitamin-d-hor...

Best advice is to read as much as you can.

Vitamin and minerals levels are very important, but standard NHS thinking, doesn't at the moment seem to recognise this at all. As long as you are "in range" it's not a medical consideration........they don't deal in "just" nutrition at all.

You will see, time and time again on here lots of information and advice about importance of good levels of B12, folate, ferritin and vitamin D, leaky gut and gluten connection to autoimmune Hashimoto's & Grave's too.

Before going 100% gluten free, as for coeliac blood test ( though it is notoriously unreliable - as I know to my cost. See my profile)

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

Salt craving is probably adrenals. Going gluten free should help reduce the hidden stress caused by gluten constantly altering your uptake/use of thyroid hormones and low nutrient levels..

Also excellent for adrenals is vitamin C daily - at least 1000mg, with zinc perhaps. (I take Redoxon slow release Vit C 500mg with zinc twice a day. One at breakfast, one at approx 6pm.)

Lastly, only start one supplement at a time. Wait at least a week, to check for reactions (good or bad) before adding another.

As greygoose says...selenium good for lowering antibodies and improving conversion of Ft4 to Ft3.

[Hidden]

Your ferritin is fine, so that's one thing not to worry about.

[Sugaru]

Thanks all for your advice, I will book appt with doc asap to check out b12. I can't believe I've been in the dark about all this for so long. It's great that people are so helpful.