had rai treatment 4 1/2 years ago and have been struggling on Levothyroxine since. All the usual problems, results in range but feeling rubbish. In Sep I decided to go down the self medication route after feeling desperate. I changed to thyro gold and have been taking 300 mg capsule in the morning before food etc. Just had these results back and am now panicking as I can see they are not good. Any ideas what I should do next❓
CRP 1.6 < 5.0
Ferritin 46.4 20-150
TSH > 100. 0.27-4.20 ❗️
T4 total. 46.0. 64.5-142.0
FREE T4 5.61. 12-22 ❗️
FREE T3. 2.50. 3.1-6.8 ❗️
ANTI THYROID PEROXIDASE. 7.9. <34
ANTI THYROGLOBULIN 14.0 <115
Vit D 70. <25. Insuff 25-50. >175
Vit b12. 282. <140. 140-250 insuff. >725
Serum folate. 11.98. 8.83-60.8
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Sorry I can't advise you on your blood test results.
I self medicate, & tried Thyro-gold after a few months on WP thyroid, because I thought it was easier to get. I couldn't tolerate even small doses of T-G, & felt worse than before I'd started taking anything. Perhaps you'd feel better on a different brand of NDT?
Leverette, thanks for the reply I actually thought I felt better initially ❗️Shows how much I have lost touch with feeling normal 😕 It certainly looks like I need to change to something else.
I was starting to feel good on a starting dose of WP, & thought T-G would be better. Even less than 10th of a T-G capsule made my skin itch & my lips burn, I tried it again, about 6 months ago, when I'd found the dose that suited me, & had the same rapid reaction.
I also tried Nature Throid by the same folks as WP. It's cheaper, but I fould 2 grains of WP the same as 2.5 NT, so a false economy for me. Everyone's different, so experimenting might help, but that's an expensive thing to try tweaking, & for me. a wait to get the right stuff, if it goes wrong.
I'm feeling ok on T3 only, at the moment, so will probably go back to half & half with NDT next month.
Hope you find something to make you feel good soon!
I don't know anything about thyro gold but oh my you are way under medicated! You must feel awful ! Just for starters you need to get iron up, ferrous fumarate 210mg and high vitamin c 1000-2000 to help constipation. Your b 12 is to low PA society recommend 1000 and less than 500 can cause permanent neurological damage, take B12 5000 for first few months then 1000 and a good multi b to balance the b s .
Hopefully a wise one will come advise. I am a struggling self med myself, currently on t 3 only but long story there I started on NDT. I m going to see what I can find out about thyro gold and hopefully you will have good advice before I get back.
I will definitely have to sort iron etc out it just seems never ending doesn't it . I was so hoping that thyro gold would be the answer but I think the amount I would need to take to sort out the levels would be cost prohibitive for me. Feel like giving up 😞
You obviously already know that your TSH is far too high and your Free T4 and Free T3 are far too low. You need to decide what you want to do and do it quickly.
If price is an issue then start with the cheapest NDT and work up in price. The Thai ones are cheapest, with Thiroyd being the cheapest, then Thyroid-S, then TR Man. I don't know much about the prices of the non-Thai NDT, I've always gone for the cheap end of the market!
Ferritin : Yours isn't catastrophically bad, which is good news. You need a level which is approximately mid-range. With the reference range you've been given you should be aiming for a level of around 80 - 90 (ish). When supplementing iron, regular re-testing is essential because going high in range or over the range is bad for your health. Too much iron is poisonous.
There are lots of different iron supplements available, and the important thing is how much pure iron they contain - do a search on the forum for ferrous fumarate 210mg (contains 69mg pure iron per pill), and "Gentle Iron" (20mg - 25mg pure iron per pill). On the basis that your ferritin is not outrageously bad, you would probably be fine taking the lower dose Gentle iron, at least to begin with. Then after three months do a re-test to see how well you are absorbing it. Then have a re-think when you know what is going on. Alternatively, if you are a meat eater, try eating liver a couple of times a week.
Vitamin D : Again this isn't catastrophically bad. Most of us feel best at levels around 100 - 150 nmol/L. Personally I am fine with a level around 100, others like it higher. If you took 5000 iU a day for a month or two, then reduced to taking 5000 iU 3 times a week this would probably be fine. Vitamin D is another thing that can be toxic in overdose, so re-test in 3 months to find out how well you are absorbing it, and adjust dose accordingly.
Taking vitamin D increases absorption of calcium from the diet. You want that calcium to go into your bones and teeth, you don't want it to line your arteries. To help this process along, you need to take supplements of vitamin K2 and magnesium. There are loads of different kinds of magnesium supplement. Do a web search for "best and worst magnesium supplements" and decide which one might suit you.
Folate : Your level of this is too low. I suggest aiming for mid-range. The best form of supplement is methylfolate rather than folic acid. You probably don't need a massive dose - 400mcg per day would be fine.
Vitamin B12 : You could join the Pernicious Anaemia Society community here on HU and ask for advice on what you should do about your B12 and folate - they know more about the subject than we do on this forum.
Personally, I take a high-dose methylcobalamin supplement (one form of vitamin B12 - there are several forms) and a B Complex containing methylfolate. I don't buy a separate folate supplement.
Thank you so much for taking time to reply I found the results quite scary. I think I will increase dose immediately and then change to a different NDT therapy, which will probably more cost effective. I think I would need to at least double if not triple my current thyro gold to get any where near normal results which would work out about £45 a month a bit out of my reach with all the supplements as well. The other alternative is to go back on Levothyroxine and add t3 have no idea which is best😕
I thought maybe with the T4 being so high there might have been a possibility of taking meds just before test or not converting properly into T3 as both FT4 and FT3 are so low.
It's obvious that with the TSH being so high etc the dose of 300mg isn't having any impact.
Total T4 is below the range, just like the Free T4.
I don't think Thyro-Gold dosing is measured in the same way as ordinary NDT i.e. I don't think 300mg Thyro-Gold is comparable to 300mg of NDT. But I could be wrong.
Dr. Lowe: Judging from your description, you’re not using Thyro-Gold™ properly. My impression is that you think the product is a fast-acting stimulant, such as caffeine tablets. This is definitely not the case.
Most people should start with 1 or 2 capsules initially, and take that dose—without changing it up or down—for up to two weeks. Jumping back and forth on your daily dose won’t allow enough time for you to see what any particular dose does for you, good or bad. The only result will be utter confusion.
At the end of the two weeks, after starting the initial dose, the person should evaluate any benefits of the initial daily dose. If there are no benefits, or the benefits aren’t satisfying, the person should increase his or her dose by maybe one or two capsules. Another waiting period of two weeks is then essential. It is essential to see whether that daily dose provides satisfactory benefits. Throughout the two-week time, the person should keep the dosage the same—no increases, no decreases.
In addition, you said you started with 10 capsules per day. That is far too many capsules for most people to start with. For most people, it’s appropriate to start with 1-to-3 capsules. And again, for emphasis, the person should stay on exactly that dose for the two-weeks.
Mm think I will increase to 3 x 300 mg in the morning and then change to a different NDT that will work out less expensive. What dose NDT do you think I should start on? I was on 100 mcg of Levothyroxine before I changed to gold ?
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