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Help please

Lulewis profile image
9 Replies

Help please

I was diagnosed hypothyroidism in 2015 been taking levo since I’m currently on 100mg a day over the last 6 months I’ve started to feel like I did before diagnoses. Insomnia, no energy, hot & cold sweats, joints ache, resently low mood& anxiety(panic attacks)Blood test showed low folate so have been taking folic acid for 3 weeks but feel no better my thyroid test has come back ok. Is there an alternative to levo on Nhs?

TIA

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Lulewis profile image
Lulewis
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SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator

Do you always get the same brand of Levothyroxine?

Many patients find different brands are not interchangeable. Teva brand upsets many people

Do you have recent blood test results and ranges you can add?

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

Three weeks is unlikely long enough to improve folate

B12 and folate are linked. What was B12 result?

Have you had vitamin D and ferritin tested?

Have you had thyroid antibodies tested?

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose 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)

Is this how you do your tests?

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies or all vitamins

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).

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

Low vitamins are especially common with Hashimoto's. Food intolerances are very common too, especially gluten. So it's important to get TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once .

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/t...

Link about antibodies and Hashimoto's

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

List of hypothyroid symptoms

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

Lulewis profile image
Lulewis in reply toSlowDragon

Had vitamins test all ok except Folate. Haven’t seen for myself the thyroid test yet but told over phone that thyroid & vit D ok. Will get print out of test results when I go back to drs on Thursday. Always had same brand of levo

in reply toLulewis

Post the results here when you get them, with reference ranges. "OK" doesn't always mean OK. Results have to be optimal for us to have a chance of feeling well.

In a test I had last year my B12 was quite low for example, though within range, but not nearly high enough according to the Vitamin B Council's recommendations. The comment on the test results was that I had enough stored for at least 2 years"! I am supplementing and level has improved. Also your thyroid results need to be near top of range, and TSH near the bottom

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator in reply toLulewis

Vitamin D needs to be at least 75nmol-80nmol and around 100nmol may be better. NHS will consider anything over 50nmol is no deficient. That's not the same as optimal

B12 at least over 500

Ferritin at least half way in range

Lulewis profile image
Lulewis in reply toSlowDragon

My B12 was 555

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator in reply toLulewis

What was top of range on B12

Lulewis profile image
Lulewis in reply toSlowDragon

The range was 200.0-960

SlowDragon profile image
SlowDragonAdministrator in reply toLulewis

So B12 is only just over half way in range

Supplementing a good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in not folic acid may be beneficial.

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

B vitamins best taken in the morning after breakfast

Recommended brands on here are Igennus Super B complex. (Often only need one tablet per day, not two. Certainly only start with one tablet per day after breakfast. Retesting levels in 6-8 weeks ).

Or Jarrow B-right is popular choice, but is large capsule

If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

Lulewis profile image
Lulewis

Only thyroid test they did was TSH my result is 0.69mlU/L their range is 0.3-5.0

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