I increased my levothyroxine from 125mcg. to 150mcg. ten weeks ago. I have not felt any better in fact I have felt a little worse, but two weeks ago I had a really severe panic attack and have had a few more since. I also feel tense and getting more headaches.
You have Hashimoto's so are you on strictly gluten free diet?
Your results show very poor conversion of FT4 to FT3
Over range FT4 may be causing problems. You likely need to reduce T4 back down a little and add in small dose of T3
What supplements do you take?
Your vitamin D is still too low. Aiming to improve to around 100nmol. Vitamin D mouth spray by Better You is good as avoids poor gut function. Suggest you try 3000iu for 2-3 months and retest. It's trial and error what dose each person needs. Once you Improve level, very likely you will need on going maintenance dose to keep it there. Retesting twice yearly via vitamindtest.org.uk
Also read up on importance of magnesium and vitamin K2 Mk7 supplements when taking vitamin D
Folate low too. A good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in not folic acid may be of benefit Eg Igennus Super B or Jarrow B-right
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
I have been trying to go G.F. but I keep slipping up. Do you think that is why my folate and Vit D are low because I may not be absorbing it because of the gluten.
I know I must get to grips with G.F.
I did use to use Better you Vit D but found it had acacia in it and thought I read acacia is not good for people with hay fever which I get. I now use some drops which go under the tongue, maybe I am not absorbing them well though because I have been taking 6000iu and it has only gone up to 78.
I also take a B-Complex with 200mcg. folate in it and my level has actually dropped so I think I need to add in some extra folate, do you know how much I should increase it by?
I did stop the B-Complex 5 days before blood test as I have read before about the biotin.
I had been supplementing 3000mcg. B12 daily but have reduce to 1500mcg. because on my April test my Active B12 was nearly top of range. I seen to think I read somewhere that too high B12 can lower folate level so thought I would see if the reduction in my B12 supplement would help bring my folate levels up, obviously that did not work as folate had dropped.
Not sure if I should have reduced B12 anyway as my serum B12 was only 385 which I found strange compared to the Active result, but on the P.A. forum they said serum level is often inaccurate.
Do you think I should reduce the levo. to 125mcg for a while before adding in some T3 or can the T3 be added straight away.
Many thanks for your advice and the links, I will have a good read this afternoon.
Gluten free diet does have to be absolutely strictly gluten free to be effective. Even avoiding shared butter, jam, chopping board etc. Separate toaster if you have GF toast.
I don't think it that unusual to need high dose vitamin D to keep levels up. You may find it improves as gut heals and/or when start adding in small dose of T3
But also supplementing magnesium and vitamin K2 Mk7 are important when on high dose vitamin D
Does your vitamin B complex contain folate? Or folic acid? You could try higher dose brand - e.g. Igennus Super B complex has 400mcg in (if you take 2 tablets daily) Igennus has quite high B12 too, I found I could stop separate B12 supplements. Also reduced to just one tablet daily after few months. My gut is improving because of GF now 3 years and addition of T3 just over year ago
Yes it's not unusual for B12 results to be high on supplements.
Do you have T3 to try, or will you need to get some?
You could reduce Levo down say to 125/150 and see if the anxiety etc improves anyway. FT3 likely to drop a bit lower on reduced dose
Or you can reduce Levo by same amount and add in 1/4 tablet (5mcg) of T3 at same time.
yes going to be strict with G.F. from now on. Did you go diary free also?
I take Thorne B-Complex which contains 200mcg. of Methylfolate. I have just purchased some Health Leads Folate and B12 500mcg. do you think it would be O.K. to take this along with the B-Complex?
I have decided to reduce the levo. to 125mcg. and add in a small amount of T3.
I have some Tiromol in the cupboard, 25mcg. so will take a quarter.
Good to hear your gut has improved by going G.F. and you are doing well with the addition of T3.
No I do not been taking magnesium, I have purchased some so will start to take it.
I have read it is advisable to take it with Vit D but was not aware that taking high doses of Vit D actually depleted magnesium levels, so many thanks for letting me know and for the link also, will have a read of it now.
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