Apologies in advance for the length of my message! So interested in my daily emails from you, you’ve helped me many times without me actually having to ask the question! But now I’d really like someone to help with my recent blood test results:
25 July 2018 TSH 0.46 (0.27 - 4.2) 18 Dec 2017 0.75
T4 18.3 (12-22) 17.0
T3 3.8 (3.1 - 6.8) 4.0]
7 Aug 2018 Folate 20 ug/L (2.5 - 19.5)
Ferritin 197 ug/L (30 - 470)
Vit B12 545 ng/L (180 - 900)
Vit D 50 nmol/l
Anti tissue transglutaminase 1 U/mL
28 Oct 2011 Antibodies 725IU/ml (<100IU/ml)
Breast cancer diagnosed February 2010. Blood test diagnosed underactive thyroid in January 2011. My dearest Mother had an underactive thyroid (Lymphoma when 87) & depression (diagnosed when she was 30). She recently passed away at the amazing age of 97! I'm now taking Levothyroxine 75mcg/100mcg alternative days. Very tired & lethargic, anxiety, bloating, aching joints, fuzzy head, dry eyes (visco tears), hair loss (hair grew back very well after chemo, but by Sept 2011, having started Levo, started losing it!). I was diagnosed in my teens with depression (probably genetic/hereditary) & have been taking antidepressants each day now for the past 21 years, before the UAT was diagnosed. I am now 65.
I’d be very grateful for any help – I was wondering about T3, having read in the group about it should be higher in the range. If so, how do I know how much if any I should be taking?
Hemi x
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HelP53
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Your FT4 is 63% through the range, FT3 is 18% through the range.
You are spot on when you say you are wondering about T3. Your conversion is very poor. Increasing your Levo wont really help, your FT3 will still stay low compared to your FT4. So you would benefit from the addition of T3 but the chance of you getting that prescribed on the NHS are little to none.
7 Aug 2018
Vit D 50 nmol/l
The Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L so you could do with improving this result. My suggestion, based on what the Vit D Council recommends to achieve 125nmol/L, would be to take 5000iu D3 daily for 3 months then retest.
Once you've reached the recommended level then you'll need a maintenance dose which may be 2000iu daily, maybe more or less, maybe less in summer than winter, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. You can do this with a private fingerprick blood spot test with City Assays vitamindtest.org.uk/
There are important cofactors needed when taking D3 as recommended by the Vit D Council -
D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems such as hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, etc.
D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds.
Magnesium helps D3 to work. We need Magnesium so that the body utilises D3, it's required to convert Vit D into it's active form. So it's important we ensure we take magnesium when supplementing with D3.
Magnesium comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds
Recommended forms of D3 are softgels - they contain some kind of oil which will help absorption - or oral spray.
Vit B12 545 ng/L (180 - 900)
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."
So yours isn't too bad, you may want to improve it in which case a maximum of 1000mcg sublingual methylcobalamin lozenge will help, or a B Complex containing methylcobalamin. A B Complex is needed when taking B12 to balance all the B vitamins.
Folate 20 ug/L (2.5 - 19.5)
This is fine.
Ferritin 197 ug/L (30 - 470)
Not bad at all, half way through range is recommended.
Thank you so much for all your information! & your quick reply! I'll look into all of the things you have mentioned. Those that are going through this really do understand & can comment wisely - unlike the male doctor, decades ago, who thought he knew all about my menstrual cycle & how I was feeling
With hormones - all hormones - you start low and increase slowly. Those are the rules. So, with T3, you start with 5 or 6.25 mcg - depending on the size of your tablet, a quarter tablet - and reduce your levo by 25 mcg. Then, you can increase your T3 by 1/4 tablet every two weeks until either you feel well, or you reach 1 whole tablet. Then, you hold for six weeks and retest.
Many thanks greygoose! I kept reading on here about T3 but wasn't sure exactly what it was or how it helped. You've explained it so clearly! I now know how to go about informing my gp.
T3 is the active thyroid hormone. Levo, which you are taking at the moment is T4, which is a storage hormone, and has to be converted into T3.
The thyroid, when working correctly produces mainly T3, but also some T3. The rest comes from conversion as and when needed. When we are hypo, we no-longer have that T3 from the thyroid, and rely on conversion for all our T3 needs.
The problem is, that some of us - like you - don't convert very well. This can be for all sorts of reasons, and is not easily rectified - if at all - so it's best to try and get prescribed T3. (If you can't get it prescribed, you can buy your own on-line.)
Thank you again! I was just so grateful for the way you explained the dose & that I need it! Your explanation of what T3 is has made things even clearer for me. Thank you & Seaside Susie for being here/there
As you have high thyroid antibodies this confirms the cause is autoimmune thyroid disease, also called Hashimoto's
Hashimoto's affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels. Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working
Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.
According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)
Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal and slowly lower TPO antibodies
Thank you so much SlowDragon for your indepth information!
I've had the coeliac blood test - Anti tissue transglutaminase - 1 U/mL. I definitely don't eat very much gluten these days & feel better for it.
I suffered from depression many years before I was diagnosed with UAT.
I think dairy is a problem for me - having changed to goat's cheese & non-dairy 'milk', and not eating much processed food over the last 9 months, not only is the bloating so much less, but I've actually managed to lose a few lbs!
I was t converting well but managed to reverse this by increasing my vitamin levels but I'm told I'm unusual but it would certainly be a good start and also put you well on the way plus you may not then need as much T3 which will please your doctor or you if you have to buy it yourself.
Many thanks for your reply - I was wondering if increasing my vitamin levels might help before trying T3, & you've answered my query! I will certainly try this first & see if it helps
I've also had breast cancer fairly recently and my levels went all over the place when I started on the Letrozole as I was oestrogen dominant. It took me ages to get it to settle down but if you are still on the same sort of treatment make sure you leave a long gap as it interferes with absorption.
I'm really sorry you've had to go through this too I had triple negative type breast cancer so there was no further treatment. And my UAT was diagnosed the following year. Thank you for your reply though, it's all so interesting & educational to hear everyone's views I've learnt so much with this forum - trying to remember things are a different matter x
. Fab thread Thankyou may I ask then, if you've taken t3 and then have wellness, do you know if you generally then need less vitamin supplements to remain well? (less than you did prior to taking it that is )
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