Natural thyroid

[HypoMorgan]

So after being on levothyroxine for a year and being refused to be sent to a specialist , two blood tests with no results returned, and being told I’m anemic, I’ve left my previous doctor and have an appointment with my new doctor a week on Tuesday. I have ordered armour from abroad and going to put myself on that as I’ve read good things about it. After a year of weight gain, no energy, anxiety attacks and not being able to sleep majority of nights, I needed to take this step. Once I start on the armour I will get a medicheck thyroid full test done after 6-8 weeks. I honestly don’t trust the doctors to do what best for me, but what they are told they ha e to do. X

[SlowDragon Administrator]

All previous posts show you were only on 75mcg Levothyroxine and couldn't see any vitamin results

Was FT3 ever tested?

For any thyroid hormones to work well vitamins need to feel optimal

You say you are Anaemic, how low was ferritin and how much ferrous fumerate have you been prescribed

What about vitamin D, folate and B12

Do you have high thyroid antibodies?

Have antibodies ever been tested

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

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and fasting. This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip, best not mentioned to GP or phlebotomist)

Last Levothyroxine dose should be 24 hours prior to test, (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

If/when also on T3, or Armour make sure to take last dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test

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

Medichecks currently have an offer on until end of May - 20% off

thyroiduk.org.uk/index.html

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_...

The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many need TSH under one) and FT4 in top third of range and FT3 at least half way in range

All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels

NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine. Also what foods to avoid (note recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours away from Levo)

nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Might be better to do full Medichecks Thyroid and vitamin test FIRST before starting any change in dose

[Marz]

Armour will not be the answer if your B12 - Folate - Ferritin - VitD are low in range. I would pay for Private Testing before paying for Armour - if as you say in earlier posts - money is tight.

Also from reading this forum you will know that seeing an Endo rarely brings the desired results - sadly ...

[HypoMorgan in reply to Marz]

I’m gonna get a medicheck tomorrow once I get some money in and take it before I start the amour. I’ve been on folic , vit d and iron pills for 4 weeks now so will see. Like I said, I’ve had bloods taken twice and never got my results. So I’m at my wits end x

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to HypoMorgan]

You are legally entitled to printed copies of your blood test results and ranges.

UK GP practices are supposed to offer online access for blood test results. Ring and ask if this is available and apply to do so if possible, if it is you may need "enhanced access" to see blood results.

In reality many GP surgeries do not have blood test results online yet

Alternatively ring receptionist and request printed copies of results. Allow couple of days and then go and pick up.

Vitamins are low because you are under medicated, but you need vitamins at optimal levels in order to be able to utilise thyroid hormones well

Getting vitamins optimal is first step, then Levothyroxine dose increased (or trying NDT)

How low was vitamin D?

How much vitamin D prescribed?

Same question for ferritin

B12 is frequently low when folate is.

Do you have B12 results?

[HypoMorgan in reply to SlowDragon]

The vit D I supplement myself so guessing either it was fine or it wasn’t tested. I been on vit d for a good few months . I was prescribed folic acid tabs 5mg a day for 3 months, and ferrous fumarate 210mg to be taken twice a day for 3 months. The last blood test was for my celiac test but was either told normal or no results (from receptionist). Doctor was already 45 mins past my appointment and still two a head of me so had to go. Hence why I left that surgery. Won’t know what results were till Tuesday next week when I go see my new doctor. The reason I want to try natural thyroid is because after researching as much other thyroid as I can, this one seems to be the one that makes a majority feel like a new person. I want that. I hate feeling heavy, tired, fat and on edge, also not sleeping well with brain fog. It’s depressing. X

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to HypoMorgan]

OK

Post results and ranges when you get them. Members can advise on next steps with vitamin levels

Presumably you have autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto's diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies, which is why they did coeliac blood test

Hashimoto's frequently affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels

Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working so it's essential to get these optimal for thyroid hormones to work well

Poor gut function can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.

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 GP should doncoeliac blood test first - you need to double check with new GP that the test was negative. We have had several members get blood test say coeliac, yet never told

Assuming test is negative you can immediately go on strictly gluten free diet




(If test is positive you will need to remain on high gluten diet until endoscopy, maximum 6 weeks wait officially)




Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2018/04/3-re...

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

scdlifestyle.com/2014/08/th...

drknews.com/changing-your-d...

restartmed.com/hashimotos-g...

healthcentral.com/article/t...

With Hashimoto's many patients find vitamin D mouth spray is good as avoids poor gut function. Also don't need to take four hours away from taking Levothyroxine. An hour away is fine

Essential to test vitamin D at least yearly when supplementing as too much can be toxic. But frequently with Hashimoto's we need higher dose than average, not uncommon for levels to remain low despite supplementing. In which case need to increase dose

Taking vitamin C alongside each ferrous fumerate iron tablet can help improve iron absorption

Eating liver or liver pate once a week, plus other iron rich foods like black pudding, prawns, spinach, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily vitamin C can help improve iron absorption

FERRITIN

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

drhedberg.com/ferritin-hypo...

restartmed.com/hypothyroidi...

[HypoMorgan in reply to SlowDragon]

I will get the results wrote down on Tuesday and ask for other tests to be done. Yes I believe it’s my antibodies. My diet is very much chicken, salmon beef on occasion, green veg whole grain pasta and rice, whole grain bed not very often and sweet potatoes. I stay away from white carbs unless it a very rare occasion. I mainly eat meat with veg or sweet potato fries. Will try gluten free stuff. X

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to HypoMorgan]

If trying strictly gluten free diet it does need to be absolutely strictly gluten free to be effective

B-Free bread is pretty good

I never eat pasta, so no idea what gluten free pasta is like

Watch out for hidden gluten in loads of foods. Sauces etc. You need to read all labels

Absolutely no wheat, barley or rye

Gluten free beer is good

[HypoMorgan in reply to SlowDragon]

I will try the bread and check my foods. I do eat pasta and sure gluten free pasta is rank. So I will just stop eating pasta. And I don’t drink ( except special occasions) so no worries there. Will post my results on Tuesday. Thanks xx

[silverfox7]

Changing medication is no easy fix and I feel time and money would be better spent getting optimal on your present medication. Vits etc play a big part in improvement with any type of medication so I should start with that as it takes time depending how low lefts are. I spent 5 months sorting out my conversion issues by testing then taking Vit D, B12, folate and ferritin. Then I went back to NDT as been better on that when I first started out back in the days when the NHS prescribed it.

[LAHs]

Armour might be your answer but first establish your vitamins, minerals and metal levels to see if you are deficient in any of them. All of these factors have been listed above - (except for Selenium, they always miss that one out), you really, really need Selenium optimal, it's the catalyst for the T4 to T3 conversion. You will need all of these factors optimal for the whole endocrine system to work. After that is achieved then start increasing your Levothyroxine dosage - watching your blood pressure (BP) and pulse rate.

The reason I suggest this is that when I was on a good brand of Levothyroxine (~10 years ago now) my doctor was enthusiastic about my self experimenting. I slowly raised my Levo dose feeling ill all of the way until I hit about 140 mcg, then suddenly I started to produce Free T3 and voila, I felt very well and started to lose weight. The problem was that my doctor and I were fumbling around in the dark neither of us had a lot of information. My TSH had hit .002 and the Endo freaked out (it turned out that didn't matter) so we had to dial back my dose - which put me back to square one. By the time my doctor and I understood all of the details, that brand of Levo went out of business. I never did find another brand which worked for me and so I turned to Armor NDT - and never looked back. It would be best if you could give Levo a chance to work first, it's simpler and cheaper. But, if it simply doesn't work then by all means start on Armour. btw, you are very lucky to find a doc who will prescribe Armour

[HypoMorgan in reply to LAHs]

I don’t have a doctor at moment and off to see my new one next week for first visit. I have given Levo over a year and I can’t carry on feeling this way. I was told I was anemic and was prescribed folic acid and iron tablets (strong ones). My previous doctor didn’t give me my last two bloods as they either didn’t get sent off or bloods results never came back, hense why I have left that surgery.

I have a 2 year old boy that for the last year I have had little to no energy to play with most of the time, and continuously gaining weight when I eat well and don’t drink . Except water. So the armour I have ordered and taking it myself. I can’t afford 300 to go see a specialist to prescribe me it. And the doctors are not listening to how my body and mind feels being on levo. I haven’t got it yet, and have just ordered the full thyroid blood test off medicheck so will see what my results say then. And I will post them. Before I switch to armour of course x