Of all the supplements, vitamins, minerals you've ever routinely taken, what most helped your thyroid, if any?

[TappedOut]

Hi All,

I have been trying to increase my low minerals and blood readings - in my case, Vitamin D, Ferritin, and (I'm debating further intake of) Iodine….And thats all aside from supplements I've taken now for decades like: Krill Oil, Biotin, Magnesium, Tumeric, Zinc, Copper, Don Quai, Evening Primrose, Chromium, Himalayan salt, Vit. C, etc.

All of my life, I've used some sort of mineral or supplements. And I wonder, most candidly, if I may, has any of it made a difference, or whether it was all a panacea for my parents' when i was young, and now as an adult, my peace of mind. What do you think? What supplement do you swear by, if any? How do you take it? How has it helped you?

I pray this post finds you well, and if not, thriving for wellness…Thank you for your time.

TappedOut

[Chris4810]

Hey how are you doing? I posted about a month or two ago about thinking that I was dying. Tsh was at 192 and my creatinine when up to 2.0 which is not good. 2 month laters I feel a lot better. I still suffer from thinking I need sugar when my blood sugar is perfect. I am more active now. The best thing that I could have done to feel better was to start working out. I only do plyometrics. I take selenium, vitamin d, c, a healthy heart complex which includes a complex b, I take ashawanda root, iron and zink. I feel way better but my tsh is still in the 14-15 range. I have quiet a bit to go but taking those supplements and going dairy, soy and gluten free have helped out a lot.

[TappedOut in reply to Chris4810]

Heyyy! I remember you ! I'm so happy to hear you are doing better!! That's awesome! And yeah, 14-15 is elevated, but coming from 192, I'd say you're headed in the right direction. This journey is soooo molasses slow! Ugh...

Is your iron level improved or have you done new labwork yet?

Did you just start those supplemtns or have you been on them for a while?

I have ashwaghanda but mine has licorice root and licorice root has always spiked my blood pressure so I was afraid to try that again. I did like B complex. I see you take that. That's a good one. I hear you on the exercise....I might private message you about plyometrics! That sounds cool!! I've never done it, but I've heard great things about it.

The zinc, I've read, helps to calm, fight infection, but it tastes sooooooo bad. It's useful to prevent common colds. Or so I was raised to believe. I don't know if I'm gon make it through this bottle of liquid zinc though. It literally gives me chills the taste is so putrid, lead, metallic.

Thank you so much...I'm trying to find a regimine and wondered if and what supplements really help. I appreciate your help here! Keep me posted on how you're doing?

[Eddie83]

Probably the trace mineral supplement I take, which includes biologically-appropriate doses of selenium and iodine. But when you are taking multiple supplements, it's not possible to figure out what is really doing the job.

[TappedOut in reply to Eddie83]

Hi Eddie83! Thank you.

Yes, so true; can't tell what's doing what when you take several....my fave is Magnesium because I can sense it straight away and it does multiple jobs (heart rate, calms muscles, eleviates cramping...). How long have you done the trace mineral? Is it compounded by a pharmacist for you or do you buy it from the store?

[Eddie83 in reply to TappedOut]

I'm in the USA. The KAL brand-name puts out a supplement with the title "Trace Minerals" which contains minerals at doses just a bit over MDR (no megadoses). I've been using this for more than 5 years.

[TappedOut in reply to Eddie83]

Thank you! I will look that up...in in the states too...

[The_will_of_Jill]

I started taking Ashwagandha on July 30th of this year. Once a day, before dinner. By August 1st (which by the way the first day of the month is always extra stressful for me)- I felt noticeably calmer and more in control- at least with the physical symptoms of my anxiety attacks. The surging adrenaline rush and shakiness had subsided and I was able to go and pay my rent and go to whole foods and all these other things that normally totally stress me out, and take it all in stride (for the most part).

Don't get me wrong… I still freak out, but not nearly as often and not nearly as easily, nor so terribly severely.

When the physical symptoms of an anxiety attack aren't overtaking you it's easier to calm the mind down and get past it 🦋

[TappedOut in reply to The_will_of_Jill]

That's excellent! I hear a lot of good responses to ashwaghanda.

[Clutter]

TappedOut,

Vitamin D3 and folic acid were taken to correct deficiencies. I don't have a thyroid so neither did anything for thyroid but hip and knee joint pain resolved once D3 levels were good.

[TappedOut]

Hi Clutter! So did you have to take copious amount of D3 initially? Then a maintenance dose? Or did you take a daily modest dose?

[humanbean]

The most beneficial supplements for me were iron to correct very low levels, and Holy Basil which has lowered my high cortisol.

[TappedOut in reply to humanbean]

Hi there Humanbean! Thank you.

Basil for cortisol? I hadn't heard that! That's excellent! How did you know about your cortisol? A saliva test? How do you take your basil? And the iron, how do you avoid its constipating effect, or are you on a low dose of iron?

[humanbean in reply to TappedOut]

I wrote about cortisol testing earlier today on this thread :

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

The Holy Basil I take is this one :

healthmonthly.co.uk/swanson...

I haven't tried any others. To begin with I discovered that I needed 2 capsules, 3 times a day, to get an effect. Over several months I was able to reduce to 2 capsules, twice a day, and now I usually only need 2 capsules in the evening. If I feel jittery earlier in the day I will take an extra two. I did all this purely on the basis of how I felt, I didn't test. Since reducing my cortisol I have been able to double my dose of thyroid meds. I had previously been very under-medicated.

***

As far as iron goes, once I got my levels to optimal I made sure I kept them there by continuing to supplement at a low level. Since I became gluten-free I haven't lost iron as quickly as I used to so now I only need to take 1 ferrous fumarate 210mg about 3 times a week. I also eat one meal containing liver most weeks.

With each iron pill I always take 1000mg vitamin C to reduce the risk of constipation.