Newly diagnosed and a bit confused 😐 - Thyroid UK

Thyroid UK

137,154 members160,838 posts

Newly diagnosed and a bit confused 😐

katster82 profile image
4 Replies

Hi there

I was diagnosed on Monday following a blood test on Friday and I’ve been placed on 100ms of levo.

My TSH was 101.6 (0.30 - 4.20mU/L)

T3 2.9 (2.60 -5.70 pmol/L)

T4 6.7 (9.00-19.00pmol/L)

Folate 11.6 (3.00 - 20.00microg/L)

Ferritin 34.2 (10.00 - 200.00microg/L)

B12 431 (180.00 - 900.00ng/L)

I’m back to docs in 3 weeks for another test but so keen to feel well and ensure I’m doing the very best for myself, should I also be taking supplements? I already take a multivitamin and iron (which I now take hours after the meds prescribed by GP) I’ve also removed gluten from diet!

Written by
katster82 profile image
katster82
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
4 Replies
shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator

Welcome to our forum and am sorry you are hypothyroid.

Levo has to be takent first thing with one full glass of water and wait an hour before eating. Food interferes with the uptake of thyroid hormones.

Levothyroxine is also called T4.

Any supplements should be taken 4 hours apart from levo. Usually they also have to be taken with food.

Blood tests should always be at the very earliest possible, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and test and take afterwards. This keeps the TSH at its highest as doctors are apt to adjust dose according to the TSH alone.

Always get a print-out of the results but they must also state the ranges. Ranges are in brackets after the results. Labs differ and so do ranges.

Your doctor should check B12, Vit D,ferritin and folate. Deficiencies can cause symptoms.

You can edit your post by pressing the down arrow and selecting Edit to insert ranges - if you have them.

katster82 profile image
katster82 in reply to shaws

Thank you, I have added ranges as per me print out :)

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

You certainly had a high TSH! On the plus side people whose TSH reacts a lot, seem to make a better recovery.

You need to know if you have had your thyroid antibodies tested to diagnose if cause is Hashimoto's also called autoimmune thyroid disease. Ask GP to test.

Multivitamins usually contain too little of use and most contain iodine which needs avoiding with Hashimoto's

Usual recommendation on here is to supplement separate vitamins

Your ferritin is on the low side. Eating liver once a week should help improve

There's no vitamin D test. Ask GP to do this at your next test. Low vitamin D is extremely common when hypo

B12 is borderline. You might like to consider a good vitamin B complex with folate in

But first thing is to get use to taking your Levothyroxine

Always take Levo on empty stomach and then nothing apart from water for at least an hour after. Many take on waking, 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. Watch out for brand change when dose is increased

If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 3-5 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

katster82 profile image
katster82

Thank you very much.

I shall head out tomorrow to pick the B12 and folate. Should I still take the iron separately too? I also ordered selenium and zinc. So do I stop all these before the next blood tests? These will be in 9th Feb? Or should I wait for those tests?

You may also like...

Newly diagnosed and confused

may be contributing. Blood tests: Serum Free Thyroxine Range:11.1 - 22 pmol/L Oct = 37.3 Jan =...

newly diagnosed hypothyroid and confused

hypothyroidism after practically begging for blood tests to be done.  I was started on 25mcg of...

CONFUSED. NEWLY DIAGNOSED UNDERACTIVE THYROID

similarly. Thank you ! Serum free T4 level 10.5 pmol/L range 11.00 - 21.20pmol/L Serum TSH level...

Newly diagnosed and very confused!

25mcg of Levothyroxine to take daily for 3 months and then I'm to have blood tests again to check...

Newly diagnosed, completely confused!

some questions in the mean time. Ive been sent my test results and they are TSH <0.05, free T4...