My younger daughter has started suffering symptoms of tiredness, weight gain,bloating and feeling low just like my elder whose ferritin level was 10! We got the younger's results yesterday and again she is apparently normal:
Ferritin 25 (20 -260)
Folate 10.9 (4.5-45.3)
B12 296(190 -900) free t4 12(11-25)
Tsh 2.1
I would be very grateful for advice as my elder daughter has been supplementing iron for 6 months and is not really any better!
Thank you so so much
lbbramski Are those GP tests?
Ferritin is dreadfully low but as it's in range GP probably won't do anything. However, as it is only 5 points up from the lower end of range, I would ask GP to do an iron panel and full blood count to see if there is iron deficiency anaemia.
As your other daughter isn't much better after 6 months, what is she supplementing. I see from your previous post her level was 10 (20-260). What did her GP do about it? What is her level now?
One sure fire way to help, regardless of any supplements the GP might give, is to eat liver once a week. They might no fancy it much but it will help. It doesn't have to be a complete meal of liver, mince it and add it to any meat fish such as casserole, cottage pie, curry, bolognese, etc.
Any iron supplements should be taken with 1000mg Vit C (with each tablet) to aid absorption and help prevent constipation.
Ferritin must be at least 70 for thyroid hormone to work properly, that is our own or replacement hormone. Females are better with level at 100-130.
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B12 is quite low at 296, this should be very top of range, even 900-1000. Folate is also low, it should be at least half way through it's range so 25+ with that range. B12 and Folate work together.
Your daughter should supplement with Solgar sublingual methylcobalamin lozenges 5000mcg daily. Finish the bottle then take the 1000mcg dose.
When taking B12 we need a B Complex to balance all the B vits. Thorne Basic B is a good one and contains 400mcg methylfolate which will help raise the Folate level.
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It would be useful to have Vit D tested.
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FT4 is very low but TSH won't ring any alarm bells with your GP. If vitamins and minerals are optimised, particularly Ferritin, then thyroid levels might improve.
Oh thank you so much for your help!! Yes the gp wasn't interested unfortunately but I take on board all of this great advice x am so grateful to you xx
I'll follow up with iron panel and supplement as you advise x
My elder daughter has been on chelates iron but has recently switched to ferrous fumerate with other vitamins included x
Excellent advice from Seaside Susie. I would just say that, as your daughter's B12 is on the low side, I would hold off supplementing B12 at this stage as, if there is a chance this is low because of inadequate absorption due to family autoimmune disease, it will be much harder to obtain a diagnosis:
These two sites give more information:
b12deficiency.info/signs-an...
Latest BMJ research document with a useful summary:
cmim.org/pdf2014/funcion.ph...
Well thank you for your help and that's certainly food for thought. I'll look into this carefully. Very grateful
Food for thought might well be the key 🤗
Many of us with Hashi's and other autoimmune diseases find a gluten free diet helps, as Dr Datis Kharrazian, a leading neurologist and researcher, recommends in his excellent books, "Why do I Still have Thyroid Symptoms?" and "Why Isn't My Brain Working?". If your daughters are testing borderline for thyroid disease, a g/f diet can sometimes correct things.
Hi again x I'm getting more worried about my girls! I followed your brilliant advice and bought the solgar and Thorne b complex. My youngest is using these and ferrous fumerate plus high strength vit c. When I saw the gp I explained that her bloating was a lot worse before her period and that she gains around 10lbs each month. I asked for an anti pms pill such as Yasmin to help but he was reluctant to prescribe it as he said it's high dose. It's now day 18 of her cycle and she has absolutely ballooned! Again! She is exhausted and sleeps all the time. I'm sorry to pester you but I wonder if you have any knowledge of this pms link? We're going on holiday this week and the poor girl just wants to hide under a stone x thank you x
Ps she has avoided gluten since we got the advice x
My eldest is in Cambodia but I've told her to buy the b complex and b12 as we were never given any results for her for these. The doctor wouldn't tell me as she's over 18 As she's been supplementing iron for so long I've asked her to cut this down as her digestion has suffered x so grateful if you can help please x sorry to message directly but you were so helpful xx
lbbramski I don't have any knowledge, but a quick Google tells me that Yasmin isn't something I would be encouraging
dailymail.co.uk/news/articl...
Of course, there will always be stories for and against, but personally I would be looking at something more natural and maybe bioidentical hormones rather than the pill.
Yes thank you I had read this too! As for the pms link to thyroid I also googled after I had written to you (wrong way round!) and read that the thyroid/pms link is connected to basal body temperature lowered by suppressed thyroid and further lowered by hormones, causing increased symptoms. Some women reported massive improvement after taking t3.
For now I guess we concentrate on raising essentials such as ferritin,b12 etc to improve thyroid function and hope that the pms improves at the same rate!
Trying to be positive I guess!
Thank you for your help again x
I've asked my eldest to purchase t3 overseas to have on the back burner for desperate times! X
In addition to all the good advice above, it may be worth her trying a low sugar, gluten free diet (with lots of veg) for a few weeks to see if her symptoms improve. Also probiotics eg Biokult may help with bloating, but it sometimes gets worse temporarily for a couple of weeks before settling down as the gut adjusts.
Yes thank you that's also really helpful! I'll look into that and look at the gluten free and low sugar plan xx
Really grateful 🙂
Yes it's a total mine field! But I'm very pleased that your daughter is improving x I'll try anything for them to help them to feel normal again x thanks again xx
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