Hashimoto Thyroiditis

[Bex1996]

In 2013 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and in 2015 they found out that it was Hashimoto thyroiditis. At 21 years old I'm constantly battling with my TSH levels which are progressively getting worse despite me taking 200mg of levothyroxine. I also struggling with my Ferritin, Folate, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D levels which drop as soon as I stop taking the prescribed supplements. I've just be told this can stop the absorption of the levothyroxine hence why it's not working. Has anyone else experienced this?? Any help would be appreciated

Also the weight gain I have experienced has been unreal! I'm a naturally small person (as are all my family) but have gone from a size 6 to 10 in 6 months!

[Peanut31]

Hi Bex1966

Have you got any of your most recent thyroid blood results?

Members can then advise once you have posted them. Please include ranges.

Thyroid results should be TSH, T3 & T4.

Best wishes

Peanut31

[jallann]

Hi Bex,

I don't know much of anything science-wise about thyroid stuff yet since I've just been diagnosed hypothyroid. But I'm awfully sorry to hear you have been suffering so much. And so young as well. That's a hard load to carry when you're just setting out in life.

I am a small person too, but I gained 30 pounds in a few months, so I started dieting, and kept it barely even. And now, despite dieting, it is climbing again like a pound or two a week. Crazy. I hope and pray you will get relief soon, and that the members here can give you some helpful advice. Best regards, J

[greygoose]

Do you take your vit B12, vit d, iron and folate at the same time as your levo? If you do, yes, it will affect your absorption. Vit D and iron should be taken four hours away from levo, or they will bind with the levo and affect absorption. And, they should be taken two hours away from each other, or they will bind and you won't absorb either of them.

How do you take B12? Sublingually? If so, it doesn't matter when your take it, because it doesn't go into the stomach. Folate should be taken two hours away from levo, but to be honest, you shouldn't just be taking folate, you should be taking a B complex which contains all the Bs, because they all work together, and need to be kept balanced.

[greygoose]

Just another thought…

I'm constantly battling with my TSH levels which are progressively getting worse despite me taking 200mg of levothyroxine.

Your TSH is progressively getting worse because Hashi's is a progressive disease. Your thyroid is being slowly destroyed by your immune system. Therefore it is making less hormone, so your TSH is rising.

Levo is not a cure. It doesn't stop the Hashi's or the destruction of the thyroid. It is thyroid hormone replacement. It replaces the hormone that your thyroid can no-longer make enough of to make you well. And, as your thyroid is gradually dying, you need more and more all the time.

Having said that, 200 mcg is already quite a high dose - especially as it is not making you well. There could be two reasons for that. One, I discuss above in my last reply, that is that you're blocking absorption of the hormone by taking other things at the same time.

The second is that your body is incapable of converting the T4 (levo, a storage hormone) you are taking into T3, the active hormone needed by every single cell in your body to function correctly. The way to find out if you are converting correctly, is to have your FT4 and FT3 tested at the same time, and comparing the results. If, for example, your FT4 is right at the top of the ranges - which it should be on that dose - and your FT3 below mid-range, then you do not convert correctly.

Does your doctor test FT4 and FT3? If you have these results, please post them here, with the ranges, and let's have a look.