Vitamin and mineral deficiencies advice please - Thyroid UK

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Vitamin and mineral deficiencies advice please

Annie2015 profile image
3 Replies

Hi so I have been supplementing vitamin D 6000iu (Better You 3000iu x2) for 4 days and folic acid for 2 weeks. Also treated for iron deficiency which is still present from complete blood count and iron panel and low B12 (which is treated with B12 injections every 3 months) but not sure if I have other low or deficient B vitamins? I can only get so much from my GP! Results below before taking the B12 injections, folic acid and the vitamin D 6000iu. I have noticed I have been getting blisters in my mouth, not sure what's caused them but I popped one and some blood came out.

Thanks

Ferritin 47 (30 - 400)

Folate 2.3 (2.5 - 19.5)

Vitamin D total 55.3 (50 - 75 vitamin D may be suboptimal and long-term may lead to clinical effects. Advise on safe sun exposure and diet. Supplementation may be indicated)

Vitamin B12 236 (190 - 900)

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Annie2015
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SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

How long have you been getting treatment for iron deficiency and low B12?

These are almost certainly the RESULT of your Hashimoto's. (Medics tend to call it autoimmune thyroid disease)

Getting started on Levothyroxine will slowly improve things. Hopefully your GP has started you on at least 50mcgs Levo

Always take Levo on empty stomach and then nothing apart from water for at least an hour after.

Many take on waking, which is standard advice, but it may be more convenient and possibly more effective taken at bedtime

verywell.com/should-i-take-...

Many people find Levothyroxine brands are not interchangeable. Once you find a brand that suits you, best to make sure to only get that one at each prescription.

It takes at least a week to get Levo into your system and bloods should be retested after 6-8 weeks

Very likely to need further increase, always in 25mcg steps maximum, retesting after 6-8 weeks each time

Looking at diet is important too. Very very many of us with Hashimoto's find gluten free diet helps reduce symptoms, helps heal the gut and slowly lower antibodies

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

amymyersmd.com/2017/02/3-im...

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

Annie2015 profile image
Annie2015 in reply to SlowDragon

B12 1 month

Folic acid 1 year

Vitamin D 2 years

Iron 8 months

Results done a month ago thanks

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62

Lot more support on B12 on the PAS forum.

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

The mineral and vitamin deficiencies are likely to be the result of an auto-immune gastritis which is very common if you also have autoimmune thyroiditis (hashi's). This will also affect your ability to absorb other vitamins and minerals.

It sounds as if the gastritis probably proceeded hashis (40% of people with auto-immune gastritis also develop thyroid problems) but wasn't properly identified, leaving you to develop B12 and folate deficiencies as well as the iron absorption problem.

AIG can also affect your ability to absorb levo so you may need to be started on a slightly higher dose.

I've also just been diagnosed with hashi's and have been finding it very difficult.

The symptoms of B12 and hypothyroidism overlap considerably so unravelling what is causing what symptoms can be very difficult.

Please do take a look at the PAS forum - link above - pinned posts

This is a recent review of literature/scientific studies on the interaction between autoimmune gastritis and auto-immune thyroiditis

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

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