Hi here are results for ferritin etc. I saw my GP tonight and he has said yes I have Hashimotos hypothyroidism. He has agreed to start me on a low dose of Levothyroxine of 25mcg because of possible Addison's disease symptoms - sweating, weight loss, dizziness, salt cravings, insomnia and dark patches in skin folds. I am being tested for morning cortisol and repeat bloods for thyroid in 6-8 weeks time. Additional symptoms are tiredness, dry skin, heavy periods, irregular cycles, loss of appetite, bruising, pale and grey complexion. Any ideas if what I am taking is enough? Taking 1 ferrous fumarate due to iron deficiency, 5mg folic acid for folate deficiency and vitamin D for vitamin D deficiency and all are on prescription. Thank you
Ferritin 27 (30 - 400)
MCV 78.4 (80 - 98)
MCHC 367 (310 - 350)
Haemoglobin estimation 116 (115 - 150)
Iron 8.2 (6.0 - 26.0)
Transferrin saturation 13 (10 - 30)
Vitamin B12 202 (190 - 900)
Folate 2.3 (2.5 - 19.5)
Total 25 OH vitamin D 25.8 (25 - 50 vitamin D deficiency. Supplementation is indicated)
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Chelsea1990
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I believe 3 x 210mg Ferrous Fumarate is the usual dose to treat iron deficiency. Take each tablet with 1,000mg vitamin C to aid absorption and minimise constipation. Take iron 4 hours away from Levothyroxine.
Vitamin D is deficient and 800iu is totally insufficient to treat deficiency. Your GP should refer to local guidelines or the NICE CKS recommendations for treating vitamin D deficient adults cks.nice.org.uk/vitamin-d-d... My GP prescribed 40,000iu daily x 14 followed by 2,000iu daily x 8 weeks which raised vitD from <10 to 107. Vitamin D should be taken 4 hours away from Levothyroxine and T3.
Alternatively you can buy vitamin D3 without prescription. If you buy on Amazon please use the affiliate link healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
When you go back to your GP if s/he says you aren't severely vitamin D deficient point out politely "Do they want to wait until you are to treat you properly?"
Btw the 800iu is a maintenance dose however it is too low for any one who has been found to be vitamin D deficient. When you need to take a maintenance dose come back to the forum and ask for advice.
He has agreed to start me on a low dose of Levothyroxine of 25mcg because of possible Addison's disease symptoms - sweating, weight loss, dizziness, salt cravings, insomnia and dark patches in skin folds. I am being tested for morning cortisol and repeat bloods for thyroid in 6-8 weeks time.
I'm rather surprised about your doctor's apparent lack of urgency if he suspects Addison's Disease. It can develop into an adrenal (Addisonian) crisis and that is a medical emergency.
Read up on the symptoms of an adrenal crisis and perhaps write them down and keep the list with you. Hopefully it will never happen, but if it does you need to dial 999 and explain you are being investigated for Addison's Disease and you have symptoms X, Y and Z... or, more likely, it will be someone else phoning for you.
Also explain your situation to family, friends and colleagues.
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You should read this - the Clinical Knowledge Summaries produced by NICE :
Down the left hand side of the page there are several subjects, click on each of them and read what comes up. The most important topics are "Background Information", "Diagnosis" and "Management".
If your doctor suspects Addison's Disease I would have thought he should be referring you to hospital or at least as an urgent referral to endocrinology (but I haven't read all of the link above, so I could be wrong).
For future reference, if you do end up getting referred to endocrinology for testing, you should know how to get tested properly, how to prepare, timing, and how to interpret results. For that information you should keep this link and look up what you need to know :
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
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