Kelp & maca for hypothyroid

[reyni]

Kelp didnt work for me nor did maca powder ... am so unlucky

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

I wouldn't say unlucky that kelp didn't work. Mis-informed is more likely.

Kelp is, effectively, a source of iodine. Iodine in significant doses, as often occur in kelp, can act as an anti-thyroid agent. So you can end up more hypothyroid.

And you did not reply to the responses people made on your NDT (natural desiccated thyroid) thread from ten months ago.

[greygoose]

I very much doubt they work for anybody. I've tried both - I'll try most things once - and iodine made me very much worse, and maca did nothing at all.

If you have low thyroid hormone, then the only thing you can do is take thyroid hormone replacement. You can only replace a hormone with a hormone, not a mineral like iodine. Or anything else.

But, we don't know anything about you, so rather difficult to advise.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also extremely important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if Thyroid antibodies are raised

All thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Do not take Levothyroxine dose in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take immediately after blood draw. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's

Essential to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12. Always get actual results and ranges. Post results when you have them, members can advise

drknews.com/iodine-and-hash...