Underactive thyroid

[snugglebum21]

HELP!!

I have had an underactive thyroid for many years, I started on 25mcg levothyroxine and until recently was on 125mcg.

I am constantly tried, depressed, with no drive, put on so much weight, lost lots of hair, headaches, neck ache, my arms hurt and I feel like I have a constant lump in my throat. Too many things to mention really...

After, yrs of visits to doctors and being told it’s my age and my thyroid probably and nothing can be done. I finally had a doctor that listened... Results showed my T3 levels to be lower than the normal range, I was given 25mcg more of levothyroxine and I was referred to a specialist.... my appointment is June.

I take a muti vitamin and mineral daily

I now take 150mcg of levothyroxine

[Clutter]

Snugglebum21,

The text is too small too read and when I increase text size it becomes to blurred to read.

Perhaps you could reupload the photo or manually type results and ranges for TSH, FT4, FT3, vitD, ferritin, B12 and folate.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Your ferritin and B12 are too low.

Folate can't quite read, looks borderline

B12 245 (200-900)

Folate 5.4 ??? (3.9-19.0)

Ferritin 21. (12-300)

Detailed supplements advice on how to improve

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

No vitamin D test. Ask GP to test or buy online vitamindtest.org.uk £28 postal kit

Do you have Hashimoto's also called autoimmune thyroid disease diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies?

Essential to know.

Your FT4 is high, but FT3 is low (assuming these results from same test date) shows you are poor converter. Low vitamins can be the problem, Hashimoto's patients very often have low vitamins

[SlowDragon Administrator]

If you have Hashimoto's then a multivitamin is probably not a good idea as it most likely contains iodine

drknews.com/iodine-and-hash...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

[snugglebum21 in reply to SlowDragon]

Hi and thankyou...

Vitamin D is 101 which I believe is good ?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to snugglebum21]

Yes very good. Presumably you supplement?

[snugglebum21 in reply to SlowDragon]

I take a multi vit and mineral each day

[snugglebum21 in reply to snugglebum21]

I’ve never been tested for Hashimotos and all results are from the same blood test

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to snugglebum21]

Suggest you get antibodies tested privately if GP refuses to do so

If you have high antibodies it's Hashimoto's

[t3warrior]

I sympathise as I have similar issues. No answers yet but if I find any I'll let you know! X

[snugglebum21 in reply to t3warrior]

Thankyou... me too

X

[silverfox7]

Again difficult to read so just looked at thyroid results. Your FT3 is just in range and your FT4 is at the top of the range that would indicate a conversion problem. I was struggling with your Vits etc but I imagine they are low. Multi vitamins are not recommended as often they contain iron which needs to be taken 4 hours from thyroid meds and also not with other Vits so they probably aren't helping you at all.

Best to get Vit D, B13, folate and ferritin tested and then supplement each one individually. SeasideSusie if you search or her posts has excellent info on levels you should be aiming for and how to get there. Getting these optimal will greatly improve your conversion and also get rid of some symptoms you may have but it doesn't happen overnight but builds up over months, the time it takes depends on how deficient you are.

[snugglebum21 in reply to silverfox7]

Vitamin levels are good...

Ferritin is not great 21

All iron indicators are within range but, low....

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to snugglebum21]

B12 should be above 500 at minimum, usually find it better right at high end of range on Levothyroxine

[silverfox7]

The ranges for B12 are lower than they should be. A B12 reading should be at least 500 or you risk getting neurological problems

[snugglebum21 in reply to silverfox7]

Thankyou... I’m not sure how to supplement iron as too much isn’t good...

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Is folate 8.4 (3.90-19.80) if so then it is a bit lower than recommended. It should be at least half way through it's range so that would be 11.85+ A good B Complex will help raise folate, as should eating leafy greens.

**

B12 at 245 is too low. Do you have signs of B12 deficiency b12deficiency.info/signs-an... If so you need further testing. 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."

**

Ferritin is dire at 21. As your MCV and MCH are in range it doesn't indicate any anaemia but an iron panel would be useful.

For thyroid hormone to work (that's our own as well as replacement hormone) ferritin needs to be at least 70, preferably half way through range.

You can help raise your level by 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 apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/in...

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Vit D has just crept into the range recommended by the Vit D Council (100-150nmol/L). I prefer to keep mine at around the 150 mark.

**

You have a slightly over range FT4 and a below range FT3, this suggests poor conversion and you would benefit from the addition of T3 to a slightly lower dose of Levo.