St John’s Wort and Levothyroxine????

[Kimple123]

I’m considering taking St. John’s to alleviate some anxiety and low mood symptoms. Has anyone any fixed experience in taking it when also dependant on levothyroxine? I take 100 mic g a day.

[Tiredmum75]

Check for interactions online between the two as thyroid medication has a lot of interactions

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Anxiety and low mood are symptoms of being hypo. If you post most recent results then members can advise

You need to know results for TSH, FT4 and FT3.

Do you also have high thyroid antibodies? You need to know. Did GP or Endo ever test these? If not ask that they are tested.

Essential to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12. Always get actual results and ranges. Post results when you have them

If you can't get full thyroid and vitamin testing from GP

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.

All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH and most consistent results

[Kimple123 in reply to SlowDragon]

Iv had full testing but don’t think t4! They never do that! I was low on folic acid and had 8 weeks of large dose. Il maybe go back on and try it again! My gp always sways on anti-depressants. It’s the anxiety episodes that cause low mood and exhaustion that I find upsetting and debilitating. If I can sort that (and be normal) il feel better.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Kimple

Definitely needs looking into thoroughly. Here is an old thread

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Kimple123 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you. That was super useful although to buy seratonin sounds...wrong! Why has the therapist or gp not mentioned to me?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Kimple123]

I don't know, but I only linked for the St John's Wort and the warnings.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Strongly suggest you get full private testing

After RAI many need small addition of T3, as conversion from just T4 is inadequate

Just a TSH result tells almost nothing once on Thyroid hormone replacement

For full evaluation you need TSH, FT4, FT3, TT4, TPO and TG antibodies, plus vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 tested

As you can't get full thyroid and vitamin testing from GP

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.

All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH and most consistent results

Would suspect your vitamin D is very low (bone pain)

Low folic acid, likely to accompany low B12

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

If any one of these four main vitamins are too low you can't utilise your thyroid hormones. Bloods appear normal, but you're actually hypo

Urinary infections are symptom of being hypo too

Once you get results back put on here on new post and members can advise and you can consider options

Supplementing to improve and increase in Levo may give significant improvements

[Kimple123 in reply to SlowDragon]

Ok great. Incidentally I have a severe pain in tailbone area for a year. Waiting on mri results! Iv read about links to folic acid somewhere and can’t help thinking it’s all restated

[humanbean]

I take 5-HTP for depression. I also have hypothyroidism. I take 50mg at bedtime, which is a small dose. Many manufacturers don't make a capsule or pill lower than 100mg, but I find that makes me jittery.

5-HTP doesn't work for everyone. Some people get absolutely zero response - nothing good and nothing bad, so buying a small quantity first would be a good idea.

It would be well worth reading reviews on Amazon before buying.

[Gambit62]

Being folate deficient suggest that you have an absorption problem - which may well be auto-immune. Highly likely that this will also affect your ability to absorb B12, iron and other vitamins and minerals ... and also to absorb levo.

Has your GP looked into absorption problems

This is an recent review of studies related to thyro-gastric syndrome.

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

Depression is amongst the symptoms of folate deficiency, B12 deficiency, iron deficiency and hypothyroidism so unravelling the precise cause is quite difficult