NDT : Self-Medicating : First Blood Test

[Arnold_Layne]

Hi

I'm male, 47, and have been self-medicating with WP Thyroid for 17 months. I recently approached my gp for a prescription (no joy), he referred me to an endo (no joy either) but they did give me a blood test.🙂

Blood drawn at 9.05 am, fasting for 12 hours, dosage 4.5 grains WP Thyroid, not taken on morning of test:

Serum T4 - 24.1 (12 - 22)

Serum TSH - 0.01 (0.3 - 4.2)

Serum free T3 - 10.0 (3.1 - 6.8)

Symptoms - I'm no longer cold but still have low energy and brain fog. Also an old sleep problem has got worse - I get to sleep easily but wake early and can't get back to sleep.

I recently bought a Blue Horizon - Thyroid plus eleven test which I haven't used yet because I got this free test ahead of the endo appointment.

All thoughts welcome.

[Clutter]

Arnold_Layne,

You are over medicated as both FT4 and FT3 are over range. You probably need to reduce dose by 1.5 to 2 grains for FT3 to drop <6.8.

It's counter intuitive but being over medicated may be why you have low energy and are brain fogged. thyroid.about.com/od/thyroi...

[Arnold_Layne in reply to Clutter]

Thanks, I have reduced the dose. When I was increasing dosage, the fastest I increased was .25 grain per 10 days but usually slower and took me 7 months to get to 4.5 grains. I dosed purely according to how my temperature felt but was obviously still caught out.

It's often around Christmas when I feel motivated to make a GP appointment and I almost didn't because I knew the chance of getting a prescription for NDT was slim. Lucky I did - I'd been on 4.5 grains for 9 or 10 months!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Ditto what Clutter has said.

[Katepots]

What are your vitamin D and B12 like? Massively linked to brain fog, tiredness...

Low magnesium can cause sleep disturbance too.

Avoid blue light at night, really you want red light to induce good sleep patterns.

[Arnold_Layne in reply to Katepots]

Hi. I supplement and test vitamin D - was too high once and had to reduce dosage.

B12 would be a different story (not tested) . I eat organ meats instead of supplementing B12 (though I'm going to stop and use supplements instead). But if I eat no organ meats for a few days I get numb fingers so something's wrong (I eat plenty of other sources of B12). I think the problem might be methylation, I've done the 23andMe genetic test and put the results through Genetic Genie and Promethease but methylation's a bit complex and I didn't take it any further.

I take 1gram of magnesium citrate / day (early in the day).

I actually bought some leds from lowbluelights.com recently! From my research they appear to be the best, the light is like a very warm white, and anything blue looks black in it. They seem great quality and I hope will last a long time. But I only got enough for bedrooms and the info with them says to use for 2 hours before sleep!

[Katepots in reply to Arnold_Layne]

You seem to be doing the right things.

I would say though that I eat meat regularly and eat lots of foods with B12 in and I was still very low. I use a powdered form to supplement which works well as easy to absorb.

How's your Folate and feretin? Just wondering because of pins and needles when not eating meat.

Maybe now you've reduced your dose of NDT your sleep will improve.

[Arnold_Layne in reply to Katepots]

I have a Thyroid plus 11 test to use. Includes B12 (not active), Folate and Feretin tests, will let you know results.

[Arnold_Layne in reply to Katepots]

Can you give me the name of the B12 powder?

PS my sleep has improved a bit!

[Katepots in reply to Arnold_Layne]

Great re sleep!

It's Now foods instant energy B12

Kate

[Arnold_Layne in reply to Katepots]

Thanks

[matty220 in reply to Arnold_Layne]

I've just seen your post mentioning lowbluelights.com. It all seems to be in $ did you get them from the US? Is the voltage the same as the UK?

[matty220 in reply to Arnold_Layne]

I've just looked at lowbluelights.com but it's all in $ Did you get yours from the US and is the voltage ok for the UK?

[Arnold_Layne in reply to matty220]

I got mine from the US, bought on lowbluelights.com. Click on Bulbs & Lighting Products, then click on 220/240V (International Use). I bought the 9 Watt General Purpose LED Bulb which is not the cheapest but the quality is excellent and I don't expect to ever need to replace it. I did some research before buying and concluded that I could be sure their products were very good - sleep is well worth spending money on.

You will have to pay in $. I use my Aqua Reward credit card for all foreign currency purchases (recommended by Martin Lewis). It gives 0.5% cashback even on foreign currency purchases.

I shouldn't start so many sentences with I!

[Marymary7]

Do you get enough folate...needed by b12. Have you tested for Pernicious anaemia.

[Arnold_Layne in reply to Marymary7]

Hi

I have a Thyroid plus 11 test not used yet, it includes folate and "not active" B12 tests. Will let you know results.