Could anyone interpret these latest blood results please? And give any advice on what to take to help like supplements and where to go from here? I am currently taking 50mg of levothyroxine which was upped from 25mg around 6 weeks ago and I still don't feel much better. I got diagnosed with an under active thyroid around 8 months after the birth of my son (emergency c section in the end ) although thyroid problem do run in my family. I am 38 and wish to have another baby pretty soon but have heard it's risky unless the dose of levo is correct? But the problem is I have zero sex drive so can't see that happening any time soon! My baby has been sleeping through the night since he was 4 months old and I still feel so tired even though I'm sleeping more than I have been. I exercise 3 times a week and take multivitamins and try to eat healthy and at the moment I'm going gluten free. My joints, especially my knees are so painful and find walking upstairs especially with my baby really difficult. Is there anything else I can do to help feel better and get my mojo back?
Any help making sense of these blood results would be greatly appreciated and any advice welcome.
Thank you in advance.
Written by
Kateybee
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Kateybee You're not likely to feel much better yet. You are still at the beginning of your journey and have a long way to go. Repeat tests should be done every 6-8 weeks with 25mcg dose increase until your results come into range and get to a level where your symptoms abate and you feel well.
The aim of a treated hypo patient generally is for TSH to be 1 or below and FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their respective reference ranges if that is where you feel well. With a TSH of 12 and FT4 of 8.5, you can see you are nowhere near that yet. It all takes time, you can't rush it.
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As for vitamins and minerals, first of all, dump your multi vitamin, they don't contain enough of anything to be of help and usually contain the cheapest and wrong form of ingredients.
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Your folate is fine but your B12 is far too low. Anything under 500 can cause neurological problems. The recommended level is very top of range, even 900-1000. You can supplement with sublingual methylcobalamin lozenges and I would get the 5000mcg strength to start, finish the bottle then go onto the 1000mcg strength as a maintenance dose. When taking B12 we need a B Complex to balance all the B vitamins.
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The recommended level for Vit D is 100-150nmol/L. You need to improve your level. You can supplement with D3 softgels and 5000iu daily for a month should be fine, then reduce to 5000iu alternate days or 2000iu daily. Retest after 3 months. You may need less in the summer.
When supplementing with D3 it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range.
D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems.
D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds.
Magnesium comes in different forms, check here to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds naturalnews.com/046401_magn...
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Testing ferritin is needed. This needs to be at least 70 for thyroid hormone to work properly, and the recommended level is half way through it's range.
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General supplements for hypo patients are Vit C, at least 2000mg daily, selenium L-selenomethionine as it helps with T4 to T3 absorption, consider a probiotic for gut health, and co-enzyme Q10 is also useful.
Forgot to say, when having thyroid blood tests, always book the first appointment of the morning, fast overnight (you can have water) and leave off Levo for 24 hours (take after blood draw). This gives the highest possible TSH which is what is needed when looking for an increase in dose or to avoid a reduction. Do this every time and then you can accurately compare results in the future.
Always take your Levo on an empty stomach, one hour before or two hours after food, with water only, not tea, coffee, milk etc. Take other medication and supplements two hours away, and four hours for Vit D, calcium, magnesium and iron somtjat absorption of Levo isn't affected.
Wow thanks SeasideSusie! Thank you so much I'll be going out and getting all of the things you have mentioned. Do you think Holland & Barrett will stock all these supplements or do you have a better place where I could get most of these supplements? Thanks so much for taking the time to reply in so much detail. You are a life saver!
As Marz says, stay away from H & B own brand, they may sell some of the branded stuff but internet is best for decent brands.
D3 I would suggest Doctor's Best bodykind.com/product/2463-b... - excellent company, very quick to despatch and good prices.
Separate K2-MK7 - look at Jarrows amazon.co.uk/Jarrow-Formula... Other brands available but look for softgels as they usually contain fewer unwanted ingredients, make sure it isn't soy oil, look for olive oil.
Look on Amazon for magnesium. I use magnesium citrate powder, no unwanted ingredients and makes a nice little drink with OJ, less tablets to take. If magnesium citrate is suitable for you amazon.co.uk/Natural-Calm-S... It looks expensive but work out the cost of an individual dose.
Do I take all these supplements individually or can I combine some as a multi vitamin? It's really expensive isn't it to buy them all. Say vitamin and zinc together or are they rubbish? I've been searching magnesium malate and magnesium chloride as I think citrate will disagree with me. Thanks again for your valuable help.
Great advice from SeasideSusie . Just a thought - when you have your next blood test then ask to also have your Thyroid Anti-bodies tested - TPO and Tg. This will exclude Hashimotos if the result if negative.
If your GP refuses to do the FULL testing for the Thyroid - then you can have a Home Testing kit sent to you through Thyroid UK. Various companies - see below
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Help with Thyroid Blood Test Results please
Help with blood test results please
Help with blood results please
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