Hi All,
Does anyone know of any studies showing absorption issues with ferreting on hypothyroidism (hashis). GP insisting on endoscopy and gastroscopy even though I've had them done in the past and been anaemia for 20 years ! I have an appointment with gastrics next week and would like some info to take with me. I'm not adverse to investigations and grateful GP is wanting to investigate I just think they may be barking up the wrong tree?😳Thanks in advance for any advice.
I have very low ferritin and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism a few months ago. I looked for links between hypothyroidism, treatment with levothyroxine and iron deficiency. I came across a couple of studies that show that Levo treament increases iron levels and enhances treatment of iron deficiency:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/189...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/235...
This is very interesting. I've been trying to raise my ferritin level for 2 years and it kept stubbornly staying at c.40. Now I tested after starting Levo 4 months ago and it has nearly doubled🙂
Excellent 
I hope that will be the case for me, I've just increased my dose of Levo, so hoping it will shift my stubborn ferritin levels up!
I tried to convince my GP that my low iron level was probably due to my hypothyroidism, but she doesn't seem to get it, so is trying to think of other causes.
I've always used solgar iron and find the chelated version best - it is gentle and never gives me tummy troubles. For last few weeks I've been taking 2 a day and very recently added solgar 1000mcg vit c as well. I'll keep it up for a bit longer, hopefully get closer to 100 and then reduce. Good luck with raising your level!
Levothyroxine depletes iron levels pharmacysolutionsonline.com...
Afraid, I am not in the least convinced by that reference.
It claims that levothyroxine causes loss of iron which results in these symptoms:
Anemia (weakness, tiredness), decreased immune function and slow wound healing
Anaemia, is a consequence of being hypothyroid. Reduced absorption of iron is a consequence of being hypothyroid. Decreased immune function and slow wound healing are known and documented consequences of being hypothyroid.
If someone took patient reports or other sources of statistics, they might well see an association between taking levothyroxine and low iron. The low iron could be due to having been hypothyroid, maybe still being under-medicated, hence still not absorbing sufficient iron.
If they do not divide the population contributing to statistics according to whether the patients are, or are not, on adequate doses of thyroid hormone, and how long they have been on an adequate dose, that could well be the incorrect inference.
Further, if a patient becomes iron-deficient due to hypothyroidism, they might not achieve iron repletion for years, if ever. We see low iron issues all the time, often because they have never been adequately tested and addressed.
I'd want to see a far more in-depth analysis of the effects of levothyroxine before believing this. For example, taking people known to have adequate iron and seeing iron reduce over time despite adequate thyroid hormone treatment. Then, perhaps, contrasting with taking liothyronine?
Further still, I'd want to see some proposed mechanism by which iron absorption would be impaired by levothyroxine.
it's your choice but it is relavent and occurs ive been there myself. that said if someone is already supplementing with iron in a multivitamin they may be ok. it's time to rethink medications depleting nutrients, the nutrient depletions are 85% of the side effects in most cases. sooo i';; disagree with you on that
Intersting! Definitively an article to take to GP. 👍
Are you taking these?
solgar.co.uk/SolgarProducts...
Each pill contains 25mg iron, according to that link.
Just for comparison...
I was very low in iron, and I absorb iron poorly, both from food and supplements.
I supplemented with ferrous fumarate 210mg, 1 tablet 3 times a day, an amount I would consider is the maximum amount of iron anyone should take in a day.
Each pill contained 210mg of ferrous fumarate. That amount of ferrous fumarate contains 69mg pure iron. So, since I was taking 3 tablets a day, I was supplementing 207mg pure iron a day.
It took me nearly two years to raise my ferritin to middle of the reference range.
In comparison, your iron bisglycinate pills are much lower dose. Assuming you have the same problems with absorption that I do, you could (theoretically) take up to 8 of your iron pills a day. I'm not suggesting you do it. I'm just pointing out that the risk of overdose is not massively high with "normal" doses of iron bisglycinate - although that shouldn't stop people testing regularly just to be on the safe side.
So your continued low levels of iron/ferritin are probably caused by too low a dose of iron supplements to raise your levels.
One point that may be of interest... I improved my absorption of iron by going gluten-free. (Although it still isn't good.)
Edit : Just realised I got hippy66 and Sybilla14 confused when answering this post!
Levothyroxine depletes iron levels, it's why people feel well when starting Levothyroxine then feel fatigued a few weeks later.
I too suffer from chronic iron deficiency anaemia. It's runs in our family. Ruled out all other causes. Cant absorb oral iron One gastroenterology dept refused iron infusion based on adequate Hb level. Another agreed due to persistent low ferritin of 5. About to have my third annual iron infusion. If helps enormously
Levothyroxine absorption variability??
Iron deficiency and thyroid 
Hypo-Levo
Hypothyroid and iron deficient
