Vitamin D deficiency

[Purple_dog]

Hi, I have recently been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and been advised I am insufficient of vitaminD. My levels are currently sitting at 46nmol/L. The doctor has given me Fultoum-D3 800 IU Capsules to take once a day for 3 months. I was wondering if I should be supplementing them with anything else?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

LauraMcNaught

When supplementing with D3, there are important cofactors but your doctor wont know, because they are not taught nutrition.

vitamindcouncil.org/about-v...

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

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

Check out the other cofactors too.

As for your current Vit D level of 46nmol/L, unfortunately 800iu daily wont do much to raise your level, it's barely a maintenance dose for someone with a decent level to start with. However, it seems that it the amount that doctors are allowed to prescribe.

The Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L and for your level the Vit D Council suggests the following vitamindcouncil.org/i-teste... [levels are given in ng/ml and 46nmol/L equates to 10.6ng/ml]:

To achieve 100nmol/L take 3200 IU D3 daily

To achieve 125nmol/L take 4900 IU D3 daily

To achieve 150nmol/L take 7000 IU D3 daily

As you have Hashi's, for best absorption an oral spray is recommended, eg BetterYou. They do a D3 only, and a D3/K2-MK7 combination spray. Check the instructions on how many sprays you need for the level you wish to supplement at.

You should retest after 3 months to check your level and once you've reached the recommended level (100-150nmol/L) 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/

Be aware that your GP wont necessarily agree with what the Vit D Council recommends, generally they are only concerned with getting you into range or out of the deficiency or insufficency category. But what we Hypos need is optimal nutrient levels.

Have you also had B12, Folate and Ferritin tested? Hashi's tends to cause deficiencies or low levels of nutrients.

Some Hashi's information if you don't already know:

You can help reduce the antibodies by adopting a strict gluten free diet which has helped many members here. Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks. You don't need to be gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease for a gluten free diet to help.

Gluten/thyroid connection: chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...

hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

Supplementing with selenium l-selenomethionine 200mcg daily can also help reduce the antibodies, as can keeping TSH suppressed

[Purple_dog in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you for your quick reply!

I am not currently on medication for it. My GP keeps saying my levels are within range but my antibodies are high but he hasn’t tested my free T3 so I am planning on doing that myself.

I’ve not been keeping right since I had my son 2.5 years ago and just put it down to exhaustion then when I went back to work things just got worse for me health wise. I’m normally a very active person and I like to go to the gym but for the past 6 months now I’ve had no energy, chest pains, pains under my arms, migraines, feeling dizzy, sick and the list goes on. So when taking my son to the park for an hour leaves me very ill and sore the next day I knew something wasn’t right. I ended up going private and having a lot of tests done, it was only by chance I’ve discovered I have this. I have been getting a lot of throat infections and my glands are constantly up in my throat so I was getting them scanned and they noticed my thyroid was very inflamed and hot looking and I also have a nodule on it. So biopsy and blood tests later they diagnosed me with this. The ‘specialist’ at the time told me there is nothing that can be done other than removing it or letting it burn out. I didn’t think that was right so I have now found an endocrinologist at the Ross Hall in Glasgow and I am seeing him on Friday. Do you know if anyone has found him useful? His name is Dr Babu Mukhopadhyay. I am hoping he can help and advised medication because I can’t keep going feeling like this, I just turned 30 and I am very frustrated and upset that I can’t interact with son without it making me very ill.

Before I was diagnosed I just kept being told to take antidepresants and anxiety medication which I never did, much to the frustration of my doctor. I wanted answers not to suppress the way I’m feeling.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Purple_dog]

Suggest you put a new post in with this endocrinologist's name in the post title, asking for private messages from anyone who has seen him

Important to test folate, B12 and ferritin and improve these with supplements if too low

Post results and ranges once you have them. Don't be surprised if endo doesn't test. If they don't then you will need to test privately

Do you have any actual thyroid blood test results? if not will need to get hold of copies. You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.

UK GP practices are supposed to offer online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, if it is you may need "enhanced access" to see blood results.

In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet

Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up. They can no longer charge for printing out, rules changed after May 25th 2018

Can you add most recent results and ranges for TSH, FT3 and FT4

All thyroid tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. This gives highest TSH and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, GP will be unaware)

About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's

Hashimoto's very affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels. Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working. Testing vitamin levels and supplement to improve is often first step

So getting vitamin D much higher is first step

Getting folate, B12 and ferritin tested next

Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten.

According to Izabella Wentz the Thyroid Pharmacist approx 5% with Hashimoto's are coeliac, but over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes 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

Ideally ask GP or Endo for coeliac blood test first

amymyersmd.com/2017/02/3-im...

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

[Purple_dog in reply to SlowDragon]

Apparently my GP ran my bloods for those vitamins the other month back and everything came back fine but I never got a copy. I will request that though. Also every time they took my blood was later in the afternoon was never once told to fast etc so I am planning on doing my own tests privately to get a better result. I recently had my gallbladder out 2 months ago because I was having a lot of reflux and my gall bladder was inflamed, this was prior to being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. since then I can’t eaten gluten without being in a lot of pain, I feel like my stomach is twisting in noughts. So I’ve gone gluten free and that has helped so far but my doc never tested me for gluten intolerance even when I asked. I lost 2 stone in the space of 6-8 weeks which led them to believe my problems were my gallbladder at first.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Purple_dog]

Vast numbers of patients with Hashimoto's find gluten is a problem, but it's poorly understood and rarely recognised by medics

Reflux is common, due to LOW stomach acid. Often misdiagnosed as high acid

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/hypochl...

scdlifestyle.com/2012/03/3-...

Literally thousands posts on here about low stomach acid

healthunlocked.com/search/p...

Hopefully you are not taking anything like omeprazole or Lansoprazole (PPI)

Definitely get actual results and ranges on vitamin results. They are often low, but within range

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.

TSH daily variation

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Purple_dog in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi

This might be a silly question but just wanted to check.. I bought the better you vitamin d3 spray but the only dose I could get was 3000 iu with the k2 mk7. To get the recommended 150 nmol/L would I just double the dose? So 3 sprays give me 3000 iu so would I just take 6 sprays a day for get 6000 iu?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Purple_dog]

Laura

That's absolutely correct

Retest after 3 months and you should then be able to lower the dose and just take as many sprays as you need.

[Purple_dog in reply to SeasideSusie]

Perfect thank you so much for the help 😊

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Purple_dog]

You're very welcome