Could anyone help with early thyroid symptoms? I have just had some blood tests that have come back indicating low iron and vitamin D which I have had before about 4 years ago. I visited the doctor due to a burning and scalloped tongue for 5 months. I was also tested for thyroid disease as my father and eldest sister have this and my middle sister has lupus. ( autoimmune diseases run riot in my family) I don’t really understand the results but it seems to be ok. They tested serum TSH level which came back 1.8 miu/L [0.2 - 4] . I’m sure this means more to the people reading this than me. I have been taking vitamin D and iron for over a month combined with B12, vitamin C and folic acid. My tongue still feels the same. I’m hoping that the vitamins just need more time to kick in. Any advice is welcome.
Many thanks
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Buff1234
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This result is euthyroid (normal). However, this doesn't give a full picture of thyroid status. You also need FT4 testing at least, and preferably also FT3 and thyroid antibodies. Your surgery may only do TSH if that is in range, which is wrong because there is a form of hypothyroidism that is possible with an in range TSH but low FT4, so it's essential to test TSH with FT4 as a minimum.
If your surgery can't or wont get the additional tests done, then you might want to consider what hundreds of us here do and that is private home testing with one of our recommended labs. Please ask for details if you wish to consider this.
I have just had some blood tests that have come back indicating low iron and vitamin D which I have had before about 4 years ago.
I have been taking vitamin D and iron for over a month combined with B12, vitamin C and folic acid.
What were these results? Can you please post them, along with their reference ranges, and units of measurement for Vit D and B12.
Are any of your vitamins prescribed?
What doses are you taking?
Vit D supplement has important cofactors as recommended by the Vit D Council -
Are you also taking these? If your Vit D is prescribed, your GP wont know about these cofactors as they don't tend to learn much, if anything, about nutrition.
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 if taking tablets/capsules/softgels, no necessity if using an oral spray
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 if taking tablets/capsules, no necessity if using topical forms of magnesium.
Ferritin level - 18 ng/ml [10 - 322] prescribed ferrous fumarate 210mg 3 times per day
Vitamin D 68 nmol/L [75- 250] prescribed 20000u 2 to be taken per month for three months.
I’ve started taking the B12, vit C and folic acid to add to the ones prescribed.
I guess I’m just curious if anyone had the same tongue issues before they were diagnosed. If my tongue doesn’t settle down in the next few weeks I’ll return and ask for more thyroid tests......if they’ll do them.
As mentioned, TSH alone is not enough to check your thyroid status. You need the full thyroid panel.
Your ferritin level is dire, I expect you have iron deficiency anaemia. Are you taking each iron tablet with 1000mg Vit C to aid absorption and help prevent constipation?
With a Vit D level of 68nmol/L (27.2ng/ml) I'm actually surprised you're prescribed D3, above 50nmol/L doctors don't normally prescribe.
Taking 40,000iu per month is not enough to raise your level, it works out at 1,333iu daily which is just about a maintenance dose for someone with a decent level already. It's also been said that daily dosing is better than weekly, fortnightly or monthly dosing.
The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L (50ng/ml) and the Vit D Society recommends a level of 100-150nmol/L (40-60ng/ml).
To reach the recommended level from your current level the Vit D Council suggests supplementing with 3,700iu D3 daily
along with the important cofactors mentioned above.
Retest after 3 months.
When you've reached the recommended level then you'll need a maintenance dose to keep it there, 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 an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:
B12 and folate should be tested before supplementing. If B12 is very low you need to be tested for B12 deficiency/pernicious anaemia. Methylfolate is recommended rather than folic acid, but this shouldn't be started until B12 is tested and if necessary B12 injections/supplements started first. If supplementing with B12 then a B Complex is needed to balance all the B vitamins, not just folic acid. As you have such a poor ferritin level and have had Vit D prescribed, I would stop your B12 and folic acid supplements and test B12 and folate.
I’ve bought some vitamin c to take with the iron but they’re not that strong. I will up the dosage of the vitamins as your suggestions and then if I am still having trouble with my tongue I’ll return to the G. P.
B12 is 305 ng /L [211 - 911] (ng/L is the same as pg/ml)
That's low. According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:
"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".
"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."
B12 deficiency can be a cause of burning tongue. Check for signs of B12 deficiency here
If you have any then list them to discuss with your GP and ask for testing for B12 deficiency/pernicious anaemia. Stop the B12 and folic acid supplements until further testing has been carried out, they will mask signs of B12 deficiency and skew results.
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