Vitamin/mineral levels: Symptoms are hard stools... - Thyroid UK

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Vitamin/mineral levels

AllieC56 profile image
8 Replies

Symptoms are hard stools, dry skin, tiredness, difficulty swallowing, breathlessness, heavy periods, insomnia, anxiety, hot and wet flashes down legs and back, hair loss, dark rings under eyes, joint pain, muscle cramps and I take 800iu vitamin D3 and folic acid and ferrous fumarate 3 times a day which are on prescription.

Vitamin B12 226 (190 - 900)

Vitamin D total 43.3 (25 - 50 vitamin D deficiency. Supplementation is indicated)

Ferritin 23 (15 - 150)

Folate 4.1 (2.5 - 19.5)

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AllieC56 profile image
AllieC56
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SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

Vitamin D total 43.3 (25 - 50 vitamin D deficiency. Supplementation is indicated) - 800iu D3 daily

The​ recommended level is 100-150nmol/L. 800iu D3 daily will not raise your level. It is barely a maintenance dose for someone with a reasonable level. You need 5000iu daily for about 6-8 weeks then a retest. When you've reached the recommended level then a maintenance dose of possibly 2000iu daily may be needed, possibly less in the summer.

Your GP probably won't increase your dose, the guidelines won't let him, so if you want to buy your own then my recommendation is

bodykind.com/browse/brand/2...

When taking D3 there are important cofactors needed which you can read about here

vitamindcouncil.org/about-v...

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.

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

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

D3 and magnesium need to be taken four hours away from thyroid meds.

**

Ferritin 23 (15 - 150) - 3 x Ferrous Fumerate daily

This is the normal dose. Take each tablet with 1000mg Vit C to aid absorption and help prevent constipation.

Eating liver once a week, and adding it to any meat dishes will help raise ferritin. It's recommended not to eat more than 200g per week.

Did you also have an iron panel, full blood count and haemoglobin test?

**

Folate 4.1 (2.5 - 19.5) - folic acid daily

Vitamin B12 226 (190 - 900)

Do you have any signs and symptoms of B12 deficiency

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

If so pop over to the Pernicious Anaemia Society forum here on Health Unlocked for further advice. Otherwise supplementing with methylcobalamin sublingual lozenges 5000mcg will help improve your B12 level. Anything under 500 can cause neurological problems and the recommended level is very top of range, even 900-1000.

AllieC56 profile image
AllieC56 in reply to SeasideSusie

Yes results of these are

Total white cell count 5.13 (4 - 11)

Red blood cell count 3.6 (3.8 - 4.8)

Hameoglobin 121 (120 - 150)

Mean corpuscular volume 76.3 (83 - 100)

Mean corpuscular haemoglobin 28.7 (28 - 32)

Mean corpuscular Hb concentration 348 (310 - 345)

Platelet count 276 (150 - 400)

Neutrophil count 2.31 (1.5 - 7.5)

Lymphocyte count 2.23 (1.0 - 4.0)

Monocyte count 0.44 (0.2 - 1.0)

Eosinophil count 0.13 (<0.5)

Basophil count 0.02 (<0.1)

Iron 6.7 (9.0 - 26.0)

Transferrin saturation % 20 (10 - 30)

Thanks

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply to AllieC56

Your red blood cell count is below range.

Haemoglobin is at the very bottom of range.

Mean corpuscular volume is below range.

Mean corpuscular haemoglobin is at the very bottom of range.

Mean corpuscular Hb concentration is above range.

Iron is below range.

I am not medically trained and cannot accurately interpret these results. I believe that some of them may indicate iron deficiency anaemia.

Please speak to your GP.

Saggyuk profile image
Saggyuk in reply to SeasideSusie

Hi seaside susie, Allie is already being treated for anaemia with the ferrous fumerate :-)

B12 is water soluble so not such a problem if you take too much as you will basically wee it out and I think it would be worth self supplementing considering some of your symptoms and folate levels. A higher Vit D dose would be good also. My GP always gives me 3200iu if my level goes under 50.

Many of your symptoms are explainable by these deficiencies so hopefully you will start to feel better once you get your levels up high enough.

Is there any particular reason for your low levels? Do you eat enough or healthily enough? If not, I can see you mention some stomach issues so you might have absorption issues and might find going gluten free helpful like many of us here :-)

AllieC56 profile image
AllieC56 in reply to Saggyuk

Thanks, I eat healthily enough I think but I think I might have celiac.

cuteyoungchic profile image
cuteyoungchic in reply to AllieC56

Celiac! Go gluten free AllieC56, your belly will thank you for it :)

Saggyuk profile image
Saggyuk in reply to AllieC56

You can request to have a coeliac screen but the blood test has been proven to be unreliable so coeliac can only be properly ruled out by endoscopy so you might not get very far. It also wont show up gluten intolerance so might just be wroth trying to go gluten free anyway but has to be 100% gluten free and for at least three months to see if starts having an impact as can take a while to heal.

I did have to get a diagnosis of some kind as my daughter was the same as me but people wouldn't take it seriously (dad/school) so had to undergo a lot of tests to get a diagnosis of NCGS but otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered with testing and would have just stayed Gf to be honest.

Hope you feel better soon :-)

Taurinegb profile image
Taurinegb

Hi AllieC56,

I was Anemic for 20 years, most of that time I was unaware. Heavy periods so bad that 8 years ago I had a hysterectomy because I was basically bleeding to death. My periods never stopped essentially.

After doing a lot of my own research I now believe that I was anemic because my body wasn't absorbing Iron from the food I was eating even though I was also taking Iron supplements. Apparently low Iron causes heavy periods. I wasn’t absorbing Iron from the food I was eating because I had a Wheat allergy that was causing leaky gut and severe constipation.

The Wheat allergy also caused the Hashimoto’s that I’ve had for twenty years. I now have Hemochromatosis, to much Iron in my blood which I think was due to the Anemia. Anyway, my point is that if you are anemic, have a Thyroid problem and have constipation it might be a food allergy/intolerance. I am 100% Gluten free. Get your food allergies checked.

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