Had my blood results back yesterday and im furious to see the labs wouldnt even check my vit and mineral levels or T3 or Free T3 I know il have to go private but please can someone help me with the 3 they did check ? Im hypo and was taking 100mcg levo but iv been so desperately ill usual symptoms of not converting and put on a huge 3.5 stone in a year and a half and also suffered a stroke whilst gp refuses to prescribe levo after losing my medical records when I changed to new GP . Anyway I took it into my own hands and decided to try "armour" my energy levels have definitely improved and i no longer go back to bed as soon as my son leaves for school . I'm trying to confirm hashimotos as gp said it was positive but that is normal and doesnt mean I have it ?? He also refused to check T3 or Free T3 on the grounds its "old fashioned and unnecessary " ??? Erm ..Yea right . I need to establish if im taking the right dose of armour as I'm totally clueless about this and gp just said take 2 or 3 see how you feel ??? It's 1 grain 60 mg i take 2 and they each contain 38mcg T4 and 9mcg of T3 ...
Here are the 3 results
Serum TSH LEVEL
1.06miu/L U 0.35 - 4.94
Antibody
337iu/ML UO-5.61
Serum free T4
9.2 pmol/L U9.0 -19.0
What does this mean please ??? Gp said all fine within range i KNOW thats not true
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Jodiedebs55
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Your GP doesn't know much about the thyroid, do they! Being 'in range' means precious little with the wide ranges used. You'll need to go by how you feel rather than lab results.
Your raised antibodies show you have an autoimmune reaction going on and that means Hashimoto's. Your FT4 is very low, so there's not a lot of T4 around for your body to convert, and even without seeing your FT3 level, your symptoms say you are still under medicated. Most certainly do NOT raise NDT in the haphazard way your GP suggests! If you are currently on 1.5 grains then you can increase to 2 grains and hold that for at least 3 weeks, and see how you feel. If you still feel hypo, then you can increase to 2.5 grains, again hold for 3 weeks. It's very much a case of going by how you feel, thyroid blood testing at this point won't tell you very much I'm afraid.
In order to help with the autoimmune side of things, are you gluten free? It's a very good idea to eliminate gluten from your diet, it may help damp down the antibodies. You may also need to try dairy free and see if that makes a difference. Also make sure you have your nutrient levels optimised (especially Vit B12, folate, ferritin and Vitamin D3). Have you ever had any of those tested?
Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it yes I asked for all those tests to be included my GP response was that they weren't necessary as I admitted to taking 1000 iu vitB12 and 3000 vitD3 and 200mg selenium as he suggested it may do me good but didn't explain in what way im literally gluten free as I live on GF porridge oats chicken salmon veg and fruit i drink water but I do admit i like 3 cups of tea a day i dont eat bread or cake and havnt touched processed food for years . I'm trying to do everything by the book but im still not right . I am struggling to afford armour at £140 for 90 tabs but I feel so much better on them than just levo ... I can't afford a higher grain than the one I'm taking as I simply don't have the funds and dont know where else to get it from . My gp is a baffoon he insists T3 isnt needed it takes all my strength not to punch him on the nose when he chats nonsense like that . He also thinks instead of T3 I should try Prozac??? Seriously ??? I told him not so politely where he could put his Prozac. Thankyou for answering my post i really appreciate your help
Prozac? Is he crazy? LOL. No you do not need Prozac! Goodness! Well I'm glad you are being assertive with your doctor, can you imagine if you meekly did what he said? Doesn't bear thinking about.
Do you get your Armour from the USA? It will be expensive. You could go for one of the Thai NDTs instead, they're cheaper and there are reliable sources. It's no good if you can't increase your dosage.
I'm glad you're supplementing, those are good doses, but you could still do with testing just to know where you are in the ranges, and of course too much Vit D can be toxic so that should be tested fairly regularly (can get that for £29 from City Assays). Do you take a good quality B complex? You're not getting folate if not, and you absolutely need that as well. Jarrow's B right is a good one to get.
Thankyou you have reassured me . And iv just complained to the head of my surgery for not testing my vit levels and guess what ? They rang me back and apologised and said they "found them " and will print them off for me to collect tomorrow. So il update with those results . Found them indeed . Wish I could change doctors but I live in the middle of no where and the own the 3 surrounding surgery unfortunately
It wouldn't be dangerous but it wouldn't do much good.
When you are taking NDT, the only test to tell if you're on the right dose is the FT3. Because your FT4 is going to be low - it always is on T3 of any kind, and so is your TSH. So, your doctor is a looney and knows nothing about T3 so won't test it. In which case you're going to have to go by what you've got. And what you've got is a load of symptoms and a TSH over 1. Just by looking at the TSH, you can tell you're not on the right dose, because it would be lower than that if you were. Plus, you have hypo symptoms, so, seems like you really do need an increase in dose.
BUT, how do you take your Armour? Lots of people think that it's ok to take Armour with food. It isn't. And it isn't ok to take it sublingually. The best way to take Armour for maximum absorptions, is to take it like levo - on an empty stomach, at least one hour away from food or drink other than water, and at least two hours away from other supplements and medication. Are you taking any supplements and/or medication?
Also, for any NDT to work, your nutrients must absolutely be optimal. If not, it won't help you much. But, before supplementing, you must test vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin. You absolutely must.
Armour is the most expensive of the NDTs, have you never tried a cheaper one? One of the Thai NDTS - Thiroyd or Thyroid S - and there's another one, I can't remember the name. Sorry, I can't tell you were to get them, but the might be worth a try. And, then, with the money you're saving on the NDT, you can afford to get some private tests.
Hi thanks for the advice I take the armour at 6am on an empty stomach with water and i dont eat for at least an hour sometimes 2 . I take 200mg selenium after my lunch along with omega 3 capsule. At teatime i take a vitB12 and after tea i take 3000 vit D3 . I sometimes take 2 x magnesium citrate at night as I suffer with constipation. Iv asked for my vit levels to be checked and folate and ferratin gp says the labs wont test them as they are unecessary as is the FT3 test . So frustrating. I feel like I'm wasting my money . Yes I buy the armour from United States.
I don't know where else to buy them from someone on here private messaged me and it only took 7 days to arrive . I tried naturethroid but it didnt change anything at all in fact I recall crying more and feeling very low where as from day 1 with armour my energy levels were increased and i didn't seem to have as many migraines and I actually leave the house now as id become practically house bound . I still suffer anxiety and panic attacks but they are far less often and although iv gained weight on armour i actually feel more like my old self obviously not totally cos I'm not optimal but im just trying to get "me " back . I shall post my vit levels tomorrow as the surgery miraculously found them after i just complained to the manager .
Getting 'me' back and getting optimal are pretty much the same thing. And you can't do that without an increase in dose, because you are under-medicated. That is why I suggested trying a cheaper NDT. Which one did you try? Perhaps you just weren't taking enough of it.
You really should check your nutrient levels. Supplementing without knowing your levels is iffy at best, especially Vit D. D3 is fat soluble so any excess is stored and can reach toxicity level, so it's essential to know your level and only supplement what is necessary. Also, when taking D3 there are important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-MK7. 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.
Excess B12 will be excreted, but if you're taking it and don't need it then you're wasting your money. Also, when taking B12, we need a B complex to keep all the B vitamins in balance.
You can do your own test for the missing ones, the cheapest way being a thyroid/vitamin bundle from Medichecks
Thankyou so much i take those amounts due to previous tests showing i needed them but the last 2 blood tests didnt have the results but iv just found out the folate ferratin and vit B12 and Vit D3 results have been found (not that they were ever lost ) just " with held " im picking them up in the morning and il post on here . Thankyou so much for your advice its greatly appreciated
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