4 weeks on Levo

[Clairewalker751]

So previously i posted that the future looks positive, it's such a huge relief that the dreadful mental fog and fatigue lifted within a few days of being on Levo, i sleep better and wake feeling mentally refreshed! I'm so grateful for this! Does the body take much longer to recover? I ache from head to toe every muscle and bone seems to ache I'm constantly having to shift position to gain relief, even the pillow can make my face ache?? I'm wondering if anyone else experiences this? I'm newly diagnosed so have become an avid reader on all things thyroid, i also work as a counsellor and now wonder how many of my clients have thyroid issues as oppose to prolonged low mood, stress or depression?

[humanbean]

If you've only been on Levo for 4 weeks then it is unlikely that the dose you are on is right for you at the first attempt. The correct procedure to follow is :

1) Start treatment with levo.

2) 6 weeks later do blood tests.

3) If TSH is still high and/or Free T4 and Free T3 are still low, and/or you still have hypo symptoms then raise Levo dose by 25mcg.

3) 6 weeks later do blood tests... and repeat this cycle as often as necessary.

Another problem with hypothyroidism is low nutrients and anaemia. Ask your doctor to test your iron/ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D and folate. Ask for a copy of the results and reference ranges and post them in a new post on here and ask for feedback.

Based on your symptoms I suspect vitamin D is likely to be low, but any of them could be a problem.

[Clairewalker751 in reply to humanbean]

Thank you human bean I was diagnosed with Vit D defiency in June last year i was prescribed 800 iu vit D was never followed up should i still be on them? Also doc is waiting 8 weeks to re do my bloods then i plan to get some private bloods done if GP hasn't tested folate ferratin etc the advice on here is brilliant!! Thank you

[humanbean in reply to Clairewalker751]

800 iU vitamin D for a deficiency is far too low a dose to get a realistic improvement on for most of us with thyroid problems. Many of us need 5000 iU - 10000 iU per day to get levels up to optimal, but it does depend on the degree of deficiency.

Another technique is to take very high doses for just 2 or 4 or 6 weeks then to reduce to lower levels. It really depends on how deficient you are, how well you tolerate vitamin D3, and how fast you want to raise your levels.

My levels were never really low, but they were lower than optimal. I discovered that I needed 3000 iU per day to raise my levels, but that is low by the standards of many people on this forum. I should have taken more and done it faster. I now maintain my levels on 2000 iU per day.

Since you have developed a deficiency, then the chances are high that coming off vitamin D supplements completely will just induce another deficiency. So, many of us, once we have optimal levels, will reduce dose but keep taking it daily to maintain optimal levels, or will continue on the same dose but reduce the number of days a week we supplement.

It is possible to develop toxicity on vitamin D so I wouldn't suggest leaving levels unchecked when taking supplements. I would have thought that 800 iU per day has very little chance of causing toxicity, but stranger things have happened, so testing is always a good idea. Once you get levels to optimal and have worked out your maintenance dose you could just check once a year.

You can do it privately with just a finger-prick/blood spot test :

vitamindtest.org.uk/index.html

If you want to test anything else privately it might be cheaper/more economical to test vitamin D in a test bundle.

[Clairewalker751 in reply to humanbean]

What's your view on UVB lamps for vitamin D defiency??

[humanbean in reply to Clairewalker751]

Sorry, I don't have a view on them at all. I have never needed to use one since I tolerate vitamin D with no problems, and so I have never needed to know anything about them.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Clairewalker751]

Just saw this

I have been using UVB lamp since mid - Feb

So far .......astonishingly good.

I find vitamin D supplements difficult to tolerate at normal dose (1-5000iu daily) and was unhappy taking very high doses & high in range D test levels. It also seemed to upset my oestrogen balance

So with great scepticism I purchased a vit D lamp. But it seems really good. I have slowly increased to 9 minutes each morning

Due to recheck my thyroid levels in few weeks via Medichecks- will also include vit D to see how high it is

[Clairewalker751 in reply to SlowDragon]

What lamp did you buy slow dragon?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Clairewalker751]

I got it from Androv Medical - but notice they don't seem to list it at moment. Was £299

Here's a thread discussing lamps too

forums.phoenixrising.me/ind...

[Treepie]

It is natural to think everone with a similar symptom has a thyroid problem - but dangerous! There are so many thyroid symptoms that are shared with other illnesses.