I have been hypothyroid for about 5-6yrs now and am currently on 175mcg of levo for 4 days and 200mcg for 3.
I have been on Jarrows vit b12 and a b complex supplement for 2 months and haven't noticed any improvement.
So have now had a blood test (results not collected from receptionist yet) but my dr has advised that my THT is a tad high now and need to reduce my levo to 175mcg all week.
My questions are -
1. Would the vitamin b supplements have helped with my levo needing to be reduced?
2. Is this normal to have it reduced despite feeling the same symptoms when it feels like you need your levo increasing? Such as forgetfulness, brain fog, joint pains heavy periods etc etc.
Will be collecting blood results next week and will supply them then - any advice or help appreciated!
1. If you've managed to optimise your B12, it might just be helping with conversion. But, without the number - both thyroid and B12 (what was your level, how much B12 are you taking, etc) it's impossible to say.
2. If your doctor is reducing your levo because your TSH is low, then it's not normal. But, I don't know what he means by 'THT is a tad high'. Once again, we need the numbers. But, I would say that if he hasn't tested the FT3, then he has no idea whether your levo needs reducing or not. Tell him you don't agree.
Well, your FT4 is not over-range, so you are not over-medicated. Your doctor is only looking at your TSH, and doesn't understand it - not many of them do! He thinks, because it is below range, you are over-medicated, but you are only over-medicated if the FT3 is over-range - which I doubt it is. The TSH is irrelevant once you are on thyroid hormone replacement, it can go as low as it likes, without causing problems. But, I don't know how you're going to convince him of that!
Ok collected results today:B12 was 371 now 874 (189-883)Folate: was 7.2 now 12.3 (4.8-19.0)ESR elevated tho 33 (1-12)Good news about B Vits but will be armed going to GP to refer me again as my Endocrinologist discharged me?!
What is your iron/ferritin level like? Heavy periods can be caused by low iron and also be the cause of low iron. Low iron also makes you feel rubbish.
Oh my god that's me?!? Thank you so much for that - onwards and upwards with trying to get my Endo to listen then! have a rheumatology appointment (I know) in April which I will be advising them of this...and will try and get them to refer me back to my Endo....should be fun!
I suspect that not one doctor knows that hypothyroidism is a 'full body' condition. Not one thing is unaffected. I will give you some links you can tick off your symptoms. In reality, if we are on an optimum of thyroid hormones we should have relief of ALL clinical symptoms. Recent research by several research units has shown that many feel the benefit of a T4/T3 combination.
If your TSH is high then your dose of Levo needs to be increased, not decreased.
If anyone is interested - I ordered recently a book (for kindle) called:
"Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? When My Lab Tests Are Normal: A revolutionary breakthrough in understanding Hashimoto's disease and hypothyroidism"
Already I have only read 2 chapters and am stunned as to how relevant this is to me. I also have learnt a lot more than I thought I would so much so I have taken down a couple of passages to confront my Endo with.
Would highly recommend this to people suffering with either or both conditions to give a clearer picture and an understanding of what we're dealing with.
Vitamin B complex usually contains Biotin. This can falsely affect a TSH test result.
It's recommended to stop B complex supplements 4-5 days prior to any thyroid blood test
So last Thyroid test is unreliable if you had not stopped B complex. Always get very early morning test, fasting and don't take Levo in 24 hours before - take straight after
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New blood results - Levo & T3 advice.
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