I was wondering if someone could help me with the below resultsas I'm wondering whether it's worth persuing a private referral . It was a year ago, I was self medication with T3 on recommendation from a nutritionist and taking the vitamins suggested. I'm no longer taking T3 and struggling with weightloss, hairloss and despite training for triathlons my level of fitness doesn't seem to be improving
Your high TPO antibodies confirm you have Hashimoto's also called autoimmune thyroid disease
Your vitamin levels are absolutely dire and thyroid levels low
TSH is within range, so GP unlikely to want to start Levothyroxine
TSH often remains low when vitamin levels are extremely low.
Take these results to GP
B12 is extremely low and BELOW range. You need full testing for Pernicious Anaemia before starting on either B12 injections or B12 sublingual supplements
Folate is low, but not low enough for GP to prescribe
Vitamin D needs supplementing. GP should prescribe 1600iu per day for 6 months
Once you improve vitamin D level, very likely you will need on going maintenance dose to keep it there. Aiming for at least 80nmol, but around 100nmol may be better
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.
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 for coeliac blood test first
Weight loss linked to coeliac or gluten intolerance
25 OH VITAMIN D *35.5 nmol/L 50.00 - 200.00This is 14.2 when measured as ng/ml
Your level is just 5.5 above where your GP should prescribe loading doses totalling 300,000iu over a few weeks, if he followed the NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary.
I prefer to be guided by the Vit D Council rather than the NHS for dose recommendations but that is everyone's personal choice.
The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L (50ng/ml).
If that was my level I would take 5000iu D3 for 3 months then retest. Once the recommended level is reached 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
Regarding your thyroid results, if I'm reading your post correctly, are from a year ago when you were taking T3, and you are no longer taking T3. You really need new tests to find what is your current thyroid status without T3 supplementation,.
Thank you all for the response. These were a year ago when I wasn't taking t3. I started taking t3 after but never sought a follow up from my gp. I'm hoping this will be enough to get proper follow ups. I'm hoping I don't have to pay for the medichecks test again and they have enough to refer me to a private endocrinologist
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