a while ago I was told I have hypothyroidism, i am on 175 of levothyroxine?
my enery levels are now fine but i have so much muscle pain, it is a sharp stabbing pain and it affects everywhere, shoulders, biceps, thighs, calfs, soles of my feet but mainly my chest around the sternum and mainly on the left.
i have had tests and my ticker is good which is a relief
I can't have the free T3 test as my Dr says there is not enough data to prove it helps so the NHS won't do it. I read here thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/treatm... that these vitamins can help, does anyone have any expirience of these and how long did you take them for before you noticed any difference?
Thanks. Juv
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Many members here often chose to have full thyroid panels carried out privately because of the difficulty in accessing FT3 testing in particular via the NHS. If you've not already seen the information regarding these tests, you can read here thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...
Regarding supplementation of vitamin and minerals it's important that you don't do so randomly - you need to know what are your levels and if you have any deficits so that you might address them specific to your needs - for instance, were you diagnosed with the autoimmune condition Hashimoto's, as a cause for your hypothyroidism? If you have this, you are much more likely to have gut and therefore, absorption issues causing you to be low in nutrients, and low in stomach acid which impacts digestion. Others will be along to provide more detailed info re vitamins, but meanwhile it's useful for you to provide details of all your latest blood test results, with ranges, so that appropriate advice can be given to you.
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, lowest FT4 and most consistent results
Vitamins and minerals will only help if you need them. There is no miracle nutrient that makes you feel better and better the more you take. You need just the right amount of each, and some are dangerous if you over-dose on them. So, we usually advise people to test for vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin, and supplement accordingly. And to also take the cofactors to help them work.
Some vitamins and minerals will just be excreted if you take too much, but that's a waste of money, so not a good idea. But, you can try taking them to see if they help. In that list I include vit C, magnesium and zinc. But, test before taking copper, because although it needs to be balanced with zinc, hypos are usually low in zinc and high in copper, for some reason. And too much copper can make you feel bad.
From my personal experience, what helped me most is B12, to start with. I think I have been moderately low in B12 all my life, because my neuropathy started when I was 27 - although I didn't know what it was at the time, and doctors just ignored it! By the time I finally got it tested at 56, by a neurologist, my neuropathy was well advanced. She gave me a prescription for all the B vits, in varying amounts, but neglected to tell me that I would need to take them for the rest of my life. She then moved away and I never saw here again.
The next time I got it tested, I was 68, and had been reading on here, and realised my mistake. I had slowly been losing the lose of use in my right arm for some years, without realising it was connected. But, after quite a short time taking 5000 mcg sublingual methylcobalamin daily, with a B complex, my arm completely recovered. Too late for the neuropath in my lower legs and feet, alas, but not much I can do about that, now.
Same goes for magnesium. In my early thirties, I read about the benefits of magnesium so tried taking some. It did make me feel a lot better. (I should say I've probably been hypo since I was a small child, but only diagnosed with with Hashi's/hypo at the age of 55!) However, when I mentioned it to my doctor, he laughed in my face and more or less told me I was stupid, it couldn't possibly be making me feel better! And, I felt so stupid after that that I stopped taking it. Stupid me! I started taking it again after reading on here and realising that it wasn't stupid to take it, after all!
Despite being hypo for such a long time, I never suffered from constipation until I had to spend a couple of weeks in hospital in 2013, where they force-fed me PPIs. My bowels have never been the same since! But, magnesium has helped tremendously with that! Right from the first day. As has vit C. I wouldn't be without either of those.
Iron is simple, I think I've always lacked iron but never been tested until I saw the light! And, I think it's the main reason I lost my hair - all of it - in one go! It sort of grew again but if my iron drops, so does my hair!
And, last in the list is zinc. My muscle pain disappeared almost over-night when I started taking zinc. I had been taking 6+ ibuprofen a day until that time. I rarely take any now.
Low FT3 or T3 would indicate that you aren't converting T4 into sufficient T3. T4 is inactive and should convert to T3. T3 the only active thyroid hormone required in our millions of T3 receptor cells. Both FT4 and FT3 should be in the upper part of the range and the aim is a TSH of 1 or lower.
You should ask GP to test B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate. We have to have them in the upper part of the ranges as deficiencies also cause symptoms.
If you have had a recent blood test, was it at the earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose of levo and the test?
thanks for the replies, very helpful, so would we say that this would be a good test for me?
Thyroid Check
UltraVit
£99
This profile contains all the tests included in the Thyroid Check Ultra (full thyroid profile with ferritin, folate, vitamin B12 and CRP-hs) as well as a vitamin D test.
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