New blood test results received, and ready to switch from Levo to NDT.

[davidlee72]

Hi,

I added my first post on this website a few weeks ago (healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....

I've been busy since - I arranged a private blood test, ordered Thiroyd NDT from Thailand, and bought a bunch of supplements. Now I'm ready to switch from Levo to NDT and wanted to ask if anyone had any tips or suggestions regarding my plan to switch over to NDT.

First, here's the results of my blood test 2 days ago, which overall don't look too bad, although the all important FT3 isn't brilliant.

TSH 0.65 (range 0.27 - 4.2)

FT4 15.3 (12.0 - 22.0)

FT3 4.3 (3.1 - 6.8)

Anti-TG antibodies 12.1 (0 - 115)

Anti-TPO antibodies <9.0 (0 - 34)

25 OH Vit D 74 (50 - 200)

Active B12 81 (25.1 - 165)

Ferritin 86 (30 - 400)

Folate serum 12.9 ( > 2.9)

These results are from when I was taking 100mg Levo. I dropped from 125mg five weeks ago, long story. The blood test was done in the morning on an empty stomach, no Levo 24h before the test. I haven't been taking supplements recently, definitely not in the week before the blood test.

My thyroid test results on 125mg five weeks ago were:

TSH 0.06 (0.55 - 4.78)

FT4 14.59 (11.5 - 22.7)

Doctor didn't test FT3.

My NDT has now arrived in the post and so the plan is:

To stop taking 100mg Levo and switch straight away to 1 grain of Thiroyd.

After 2 weeks if I feel ok but symptoms still present, increase by 1/2 grain.

After another 2 weeks, same again, increase by 1/2 grain.

Then stay on 2 grains for a few weeks before getting a new thyroid blood test done.

For supplements I'll take:

Selenium 200mg

Zinc 25mg

B12 methylcobalamin 6,000 mcg sublingual tablets

Vit B Complex including 400ug methyl folate

Vit D3 liquid

Iron tablets, I have various strength tablets

Magnesium spray

Probiotics - this is the only thing I haven't bought yet

So presumably I'm pretty much ready?! Any thoughts?

Thanks

David

[rosserk]

Hi sorry you haven’t had a response yet, hopefully mine will bump you back up the thread.

I’m interested to read your responses. Welcome to the forum you’ve come to the right place for help, the members here are literally life savers. 💐💐

[davidlee72 in reply to rosserk]

Hi,

Ok thanks. Sometimes there's a fine line between writing too little with too few facts, and writing so much that no-one really wants to read it all! We'll see.

[rosserk in reply to davidlee72]

Don’t think there’s anything wrong with your post, likely it’s just bad timing. I’m optimistic the experts will be along soon if not I will have to give you my not so expert opinion. Lol 😝

[Greybeard]

Hi Dave, maybe do the increases 1/4 at a time. Once you get near your sweetspot it can be difficult to know if you are slightly over or undermedicated. Keep an eye on your body temp and pulse, getting a bit shaky can mean overmedicated. Good luck.

[davidlee72 in reply to Greybeard]

Ok thanks for the advice regarding the NDT increases.

I've been taking my temperature and pulse the last 10 days so that I can see the difference when I start taking NDT. My temp was only 35.4 this morning, brrrrr, and that was with an ear thermometer which I read is slightly higher than other methods.

We'll see.

[rosserk]

Why are you taking all those supplements? Why not start the NDT and see what happens? Introduce the supplements later if you feel you need them otherwise you won’t know what’s working and what isn’t. I agree with starting with one grain and increasing it gradually by 1/4 of a grain. Good luck start a new post with how your doing in a week or so and hopefully get some more advice. 💐💐

[davidlee72 in reply to rosserk]

Hi,

There's a few reasons for taking the supplements now. The first one isn't very good. Impatience!

Also the advice on this website is that all of these supplements are essential, rather than just nice to have, so ideally I'd like to take them asap.

The other reason is that I've taken all of these supplements at one time or other in recent years and I haven't had a big reaction to any of them. My best guess was that they were helping a bit but it wasn't a hugely noticeable difference. Although some of my vitamin levels aren't really optimal they're not disastrous either, so my thinking was that if I feel a big difference after taking NDT + supplements that it's very likely that the introduction of T3 was the big rocket up the you know what.

[rosserk]

Sorry my reason for asking was you’re only advised to take vitamins where you have a deficiency or those which need to be high in the range such as Vit d. Do you know you are deficient in magnesium, too much magnesium can cause an irregular heart rhythm and iron supplements can cause any number of health issues if you take it when you don’t need to. I’m not an expert but I took all the vitamins I was advised to take and the I had to go and give blood because my B12 and ferritin were so high it was the only way to bring them back down. Happy to give blood would rather do it for less selfish reasons.

[davidlee72 in reply to rosserk]

Opinions are divided! Aren't they always.

I think the consensus on this website differs from the standard advice from say a GP.

GPs tend to be happy with any level of vitamins as long as they're somewhere in the very wide normal range.

Whereas most people on this website suggest achieving a more optimal level, despite not officially having a deficiency according to the GP.

If I get more replies to my post I suspect most will suggest increasing my iron, B12, folate and Vit D, whereas I think a GP would say all my levels were 100% fine.

Historically my iron has been quite low. I don't think my levels are high yet. Think there's a bit more to go yet, but yes from what I've read I think high iron levels long term are bad news.

Magnesium is the one I've read the least about, thanks for the tip I'll do some more research. My GP, who in general is very cautious about suggesting any medication or supplements, was happy with the idea of magnesium spray without testing my values, just on the basis that a small amount oftens helps with symptoms of chronic fatigue. I'll look into it a bit more.

[rosserk in reply to davidlee72]

Good luck hope NDT works for you. If you’re anything like me you’ll be desperate to feel better and prepared to try anything. Hope it all goes well.