Help, I'm a 46 year old spotty teenager!

[Hashi-hacker]

I have Hashi's and started levo a couple of months ago and since then I've had the worst breakout of spots that don't seem to want to ease up. I started on 25mcg Teva and now am on 50mcg, having to go with Teva as it's lactose free. I'm gf, df and now totally soya free too. My ferritin, B's, folate and vit D are all ok, but most recent thyroid results are low/bottom range, so I am expecting to go up another dose mid December.

Any thoughts on what to do about the breakout? I've always been prone to bad skin but this sucks! As an aside, when I was pregnant with no1, I had even worse breakout which covered my face and chin, on my chest, back and upper arms - and put on 4 stone - no glowing for me!!

Thanks x

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Acne or spots can be due to too much (or too little) B12

facingacne.com/b12-injectio...

As you have gut issues and gluten and dairy intolerance it's very important to regularly test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

[Hashi-hacker in reply to SlowDragon]

Interesting, my last B12 (early oct) was 120 on a range of 25-165 on the medichecks thyroid panel. Do you think that's ok? Could be better??

[humanbean]

I have to keep my serum B12 and Active B12 sky-high to keep spots at bay. I didn't get rid of "teenage" spots until I was in my 50s and started supplementing high dose (5000 mcg per day) methylcobalamin. If I run out of the methyl-B12 inevitably I develop spots again.

[Hashi-hacker in reply to humanbean]

I'm taking 100mcg of methylcobalamin as part of the Thorne Stress B complex . The dosage on the bottle says I could take up to 3 daily, which would take me up to 300mcg of methylcobalamin (that's not easy to type!). Maybe I should up the Bs for a while?

My last (Oct) folate (serum) reading was 15.36 on a range of 2.91 - 50 ug/L. The B complex has some folate in it, but due to the low reading, I've added in 400ug of liquid methylfolate daily. I get a bit unsure about this one as I stopped taking all supplements several days before the blood test, so maybe when I am taking the supplements I have more folate in my system?

[humanbean in reply to Hashi-hacker]

B Complex supplements usually contain vitamin B6. Too much vitamin B6 can cause peripheral neuropathy, and if a high dose is kept up for too long the neuropathy becomes irreversible.

If you want to increase your dose of B vitamins above what is given as the maximum dose on your supplement, then I would suggest supplementing the specific B vitamin you want to increase, like you are doing with the folate.

I don't think stopping B vitamins for a few days will have an effect on your levels that quickly. The reason for stopping B Complex before testing is because they usually contain biotin. And biotin can make test results very inaccurate for all sorts of things.

If you want to increase your dose of methylcobalamin then you should buy it as a separate supplement. There is no danger from taking very high doses of B12 - its not poisonous or damaging in any way.

[Hashi-hacker in reply to humanbean]

The Thorne Stress B has 28.4mg of B6 per capsule - I take 1 per day but it says you can take up to 3 per day. Is that a big amount??

[humanbean in reply to Hashi-hacker]

Sorry, I don't know.

[Hashi-hacker in reply to humanbean]

Thanks for your honesty! I was told to take these by a registered dietician so I'm hoping they're all good!

[penny]

I had bad acne for over 20 years and was given every medication going. The only one that worked was Roacutaine (?spelling) and that didn’t last. It was only when I was diagnosed as hypothyroid and took NDT that my acne went. My acne took the form of huge cysts on my face, sometimes bad enough to close an eye or displace my nose - not nice. There was never any suggestion of thyroid problems and I was not given any blood tests. It certainly knocked my confidence at the time. I am now starting to show some of the scars on my face as I age but have gone past the point of looking for a paper bag. I feel for you.

[Hashi-hacker in reply to penny]

Oh penny, that's sounds awful. My current breakout is not on that level, it's red bumps that mostly don't come to a head, on my jawline and around my mouth/nose, and a few randoms. I'm keeping an eye on my vit's as suggested, and keep my fingers crossed that it settles when my body get more used to taking thyroxine after so many years of being hyptothyroid/Hashi's. And as you say, I've got NDT still on the horizon if the thyroxine doesn't cut it. x

[Hashi-hacker]

Hi all, I remembered about a supplement called DIM (Diindolylmethane) which can help with hormonal balance, including acne. I was taking that a good while ago on the recommendations of a dietician, so I've added that back into the mix to see if it calms the acne down again. Fingers crossed!

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