Medication

[Maggiv]

Can I take raw thyroid supplement with levothyroxine?

[Angel_of_the_North]

If you mean NDT (natural desiccated thyroid), yes you can, but you find find the dose easier to titrate if you add T3 instead, or you might find that you have too much T4 and not enough T3. Be aware that some brands that call themselves "raw thyroid" do not contain any hormones and so you might as well eat meat as they are unlikely to make any difference to your health.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Maggiv

What do you mean by "raw thyroid supplement". Can you post a link to the product.

If it contains iodine or kelp, don't take it. Iodine used to be used to treat overactive thyroid so it will make your hypothyroidism worse.

Also, if you mean can you take a supplement at the same time as Levo, then no, other medication and supplements should be taken at least 2 hours away from Levo, but you could theoretically take other thyroid hormone at the same time as Levo.

[Maggiv]

Thank you. I’ll have to research more.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Maggiv]

What is it you want help with Maggiv?

Looking at your previous posts, you are diagnosed and on Levo. Are you still symptomatic?

Have you tested Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin as advised?

What are your latest test results?

[Maggiv in reply to SeasideSusie]

No more tests. Been advised to wait one year. Dr wouldn’t increase any further than 100mg once my TSH WAS BELOW 3. I still have some symptoms but not as severe as they were.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Maggiv]

You can always test privately like hundreds of us here do. If you have low levels of vitamins/minerals, or deficiencies, you can work on correcting those and it would help your Levo to work better. Doctors don't understand there's more to hypothyroidism that a number on the computer screen.

If you want to test nutrient levels, then the cheapest way is with a thyroid/vitamin bundle from either Medichecks or Blue Horizon:

medichecks.com/thyroid-func... (you should get a 10% discount with THYROIDUK )

bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk/t...

[Maggiv in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks.

[Maggiv]

Vitamin levels ok but D was low side of normal.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Maggiv]

OK and low side of normal doesn't mean much. If you have current results, or do new tests for your nutrients and post them on the forum, we can help. These are the optimal levels needed:

Vit D - 125nmol/L

B12 - top end of range

Folate - at least half way through range

Ferritin - half way through range, with a minimum of 70 for thyroid hormone to work

[Maggiv in reply to SeasideSusie]

Pathology Investigations

Serum ferritin level 46.2 ug/L [30.0 - 400.0]

Serum TSH level

Serum TSH level 2.49 mu/L [0.35 - 5.5]

Comment: Suggests adequate thyroxine replacement

B12/folate level

Serum vitamin B12 level 852 ng/L [190.0 - 910.0]

Serum folate level 21.4 ng/mL [3.3 - 99999.0]

General Information

Service Type: New

Status: Unspecified

Provider Report ID: 1-0018A656989-14001494

Report Date: 01 Oct 2018

VITAMIN D

Serum total 25-hydroxy vitamin D level 48 nmol/L

Test outside scope of UKAS accreditation.

Please note change to the method for TVD

samples received from 18-Jan-2018.

<30 nmol/L Deficiency

>30 - 50 nmol/L Insufficiency

>50 nmol/L Adequate Status

Please note this assay may over-estimate vitamin D

in patients with increased binding protein such as

during pregnancy. Contact the laboratory to

arrange alternative testing in these

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Maggiv]

Maggie

There are some obvious problems there.

ferritin level 46.2 ug/L [30.0 - 400.0]

Not low enough for your GP to offer any help, but for thyroid hormone to work (that's our own as well as replacement hormone) it's said that ferritin needs to be at least 70, preferably half way through range. You can help raise your level by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/in...

restartmed.com/low-ferritin/

total 25-hydroxy vitamin D level 48 nmol/L

As mentioned, the Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L and the Vit D Society concurs with their recommendation of 100-150nmol/L

vitamindcouncil.org/for-hea...

vitamindsociety.org/benefit...

To raise your level to that recommended by the Vit D Council, they recommend a daily supplement of 4,900iu D3 (you would need to buy 5,000iu), along with it's important cofactors. Then retest after 3 months and when you've reached the recommended level 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/

Important cofactors needed when taking D3 as recommended by the Vit D Council -

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 (some of which can be obtained from food).

If you don't have Hashi's then a good supplement is a D3 softgel containing only 2 ingredients - D3 and extra virgin olive oil - such as Doctor's Best. If you do have Hashi's then an oral spray gives best absorption, eg Better You.

Improving these levels may help your thyroid hormone to work properly, particularly ferritin.

B12 and Folate are fine.

You know from replies to past posts that your TSH is too high and that for a treated hypo patient generally TSH seems to be best at 1 or below or wherever it needs to be for FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their respective reference ranges when on Levo if that is where you feel well. You had links to evidence for this to discuss with your GP.

[Maggiv in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you. I’ll increase my D3 and add a magnesium supplement and see how I feel in a few weeks.