Hi although I have treated hypothyroidism my endo has diagnosed me with general anxiety disorder. I was diagnosed in 2013 and I take 50mcg levothyroxine. I am doubting the general anxiety disorder diagnosis due to my symptoms of tiredness, pins and needles, bone pain, headaches, weight gain, irregular and heavy periods, dry skin, hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation on skin, puffy eyes. Am I right to doubt the diagnosis? Taking 800iu vitamin D3 only. Nothing for the general anxiety disorder. Thankyou
FERRITIN 22 (30 - 400)
FOLATE 4.1 (4.6 - 18.7)
VITAMIN D TOTAL 44.5 (25 - 50 DEFICIENT)
VITAMIN B12 205 (190 - 900)
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Lucie1987
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Lucie1987 Oh wow! And has your doctor ignored these results or has he prescribed anything for them? I will reply as if you've not been prescribed anything as I'm sure you would have mentioned it if you had.
FERRITIN 22 (30 - 400)
Your iron store (ferritin) is dreadfully depleted. You need an iron infusion to bring your level up within 24-48 hours, ask for this, tablets will take months to raise your level.
Ferritin needs to be at least 70 for thyroid hormone to work, and it's recommended to be half way through it's range but 100-130 is the figure I've seen recommended for females.
Also, you need an iron panel and full blood count carried out to see if you have iron deficiency.
Eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet will also help apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/in...
If you are prescribed iron tablets, take each one with 1000mg Vitamin C to aid absorption and help prevent constipaton. Always take iron 4 hours away from thyroid meds and two hours away from other medication and supplements as it will affect absorption.
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FOLATE 4.1 (4.6 - 18.7)
VITAMIN B12 205 (190 - 900)
You are folate deficient with very low B12. Do you have any signs of B12 deficiency b12deficiency.info/signs-an... If so please post on the Pernicious Anaemia Society forum for further advice quoting your folate, B12 and ferritin results along with any signs of B12 deficiency you may be experiencing healthunlocked.com/pasoc
I have read (but not researched so don't have links) that BCSH, UKNEQAS and NICE guidelines recommend:
"In the presence of discordance between test results and strong clinical features of deficiency, treatment should not be delayed to avoid neurological impairment."
And an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:
"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".
"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."
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VITAMIN D TOTAL 44.5 (25 - 50 DEFICIENT)
The recommended level, according to the Vit D Council, is 100-150nmol/L so you need to supplement with D3. My suggestion is to buy some softgels like these bodykind.com/product/2463-b... and take 5000iu daily for 3 months then retest. Once you've reached the recommended level you'll need a maintenance dose which may be 2000iu daily, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. You can do this with a private fingerprick blood spot test with City Assays vitamindtest.org.uk/
There are important cofactors needed when taking D3
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 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
Lucie1987 Can't say I'm surprised, we're seeing so much of this negligence lately
Your complete blood count suggests iron deficiency anaemia. You should point out to your GP the NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary for iron deficiency anaemia treatment (which will be very similar to your local area guidelines if he wants to check those)
•Address underlying causes as necessary (for example treat menorrhagia or stop nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, if possible).
•Treat with oral ferrous sulphate 200 mg tablets two or three times a day.
◦If ferrous sulphate is not tolerated, consider oral ferrous fumarate tablets or ferrous gluconate tablets.
◦Do not wait for investigations to be carried out before prescribing iron supplements.
•If dietary deficiency of iron is thought to be a contributory cause of iron deficiency anaemia, advise the person to maintain an adequate balanced intake of iron-rich foods (for example dark green vegetables, iron-fortified bread, meat, apricots, prunes, and raisins) and consider referral to a dietitian.
• Monitor the person to ensure that there is an adequate response to iron treatment.
You might be better off seeing a different GP, or is it the endo who has been negligent here? Whichever, see someone different if you can then seriously consider making a formal complaint against this doctor for his sheer negligence.
You most certainly are right to doubt it! How on earth does the silly man think anxiety causes all those symptoms?
Your nutrients are all much too low, there, and in your last post, your TSH was too high, and your Frees too low.
What qualifies an endo to give a diagnosis of a mental disorder? Not that he appears to be qualified to treat hypo, either. I think you need a second opinion - preferably from someone who knows something about thyroid!
I think every doctor thinks being a psychiatrist is a doddle - anyone can do it!
Diagnosing anxiety and depression is easy-peasy. All doctors think they need to know is "Is the patient female? Then, yes, of course she is depressed and anxious!"
Look up GAD-7 Anxiety and PHQ-9 Depression questionnaires online and never, ever mention anything that's on them. If asked any of the questions (esp on GAD7) just say "No".
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