The worst my tsh has been is 4.9 miu/L and my t4 has been under range once when it was 11 on a scale of 12-22 pmol/l medichecks where as my t3 has always been okay not sure if there is other issues going on there
B12 was very low so I've been supplementing that
Always took supplements like vitamin d, b, c, magnesium, zinc, selenium and iodine
I dont want to wait for more blood tests and supplementing as I've been waiting too long
Well man ultravit 6th March 2018
FOLATE - SERUM
3.89 - 26.8 R
19.98
ug/L
VITAMIN B12 - ACTIVE
37.5 - 188 R
155
pmol/L
VITAMIN D
50 - 175 R
137
nmol/L
Been suffering with symptoms for 5 years or so
Dry lips
Extreme fatigue
Severe memory loss (had to see a neurologist for, thought it might have been epilepsy or brain tumour)
Clumsiness
Anxiety and depression
No motivation to do anything
Anger problems
No libido
Bad Brain fog
And other less annoying ones that I can't think of
I'm supplementing with zinc 30mg daily which makes me feel a lot better mentally eg can cope with my anger
I use nicotine and coffee to self medicate fatigue, depression, etc
Memory loss is mainly short term like forgetting what someone told me to do a minute ago although I was walking to my friends house and forgot how to get there a few years ago and that's one that sticks with me.
Was on antidepressants for 3 to 4 years which did make me feel better but I knew it was chemical and not real so I came off them because I didn't like the feeling of being on something synthetic
Tried iodoral (iodine and iodide) 50mg for 3 months and it made me feel great cured my fatigue and I wanted to go out and do stuff like see friends and family and just do stuff like hobby wise like fishing college meet people etc but I came off it because I was scared of it sending me hyper as I was feeling too hot at times on it and knew I was taking too much. Now I'm back to the start (also I was taking that while I was on antidepressants worth noting)
Wouldn't risk going back on it again as I was desperate and don't know the risks
So I ordered some ndt to try as all I do all day is sit in the House all day but I'm scared of taking it now in case it damages my thyroid but I'm desperate
The ndt I've got is nature throid 1/2 Train 32mg I know it's only a low dose but I want to see how I react to it before upping it
Any opinions on whether I should take ndt or not, will it damage me if i come off it, is it worth taking it with my symptoms and levels as my levels dont seem too bad and I can't even get a diagnosis
Thanks
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NDT will not damage your thyroid. It will not do anything to your thyroid. It certainly won't make your thyroid better. It is thyroid hormone replacement, replacing the hormone your thyroid can no-longer make itself. It contains 19 mcg T4 and 4.5 mcg T3 for 1/2 grain. Which is a recommended starter dose. From there on, you would increase by 1/4 grain every two weeks, holding at 1 grain for six weeks and retesting. And, no, it wouldn't do any harm if you stopped taking it. Your thyroid would eventually go back to just doing what it had been doing before you started it.
Whether or not you should take it is another matter entirely. The majority of doctors would say no, you don't need it. But, the majority of doctors know nothing about thyroid. They go by the unfit-for-purpose ranges. But, technically, you are hypo when the TSH reaches 3. But, if you have symptoms, then personally, I would say it's worth a go.
But, two provisos:
a) you have found a reliable source from whence you will be able to continue supplying yourself with NDT
b) your nutrients - vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin - have been tested and found to be optimal. Have you had them all tested? Are you supplementing those that are sub-optimal with all the co-factors?
Were you taking magnesium and vit K2 - MK7 with your vit d?
When taking B12 you should also take a B complex because all the Bs work together and need to be kept balanced. I'm not sure it's worth testing B12 when supplementing. You need to be off it for about 5 months to get a true reading, I've heard.
Yes was taking magnesium and k2 although I werent taking them for an entire year as I didn't know you had to take them as well lol that was stupid.
I didn't know you had to take a b complex with b12 either, I'll have to start taking that and I'm not waiting 5 months for a true reading I've already ordered the test so I may ad well do it just to make sure the b12 is working
Nothing to be terrified of. Nothing terrible is going to happen. Just treat hormones with respect and everything will be ok. They're not drugs, like aspirin. They take time to work. But you still need to start low and increase slowly, observe your reactions, and get to know your body. And everything should be alright.
It's just taking something new like what if it makes me worse or panic attack and it makes it worse on an empty stomach because it will kick in straight away or it makes me hyper, stuff like that
If it makes you worse - which is always a possibility, we have to face that - you just stop it. It won't have done any harm, not the dose you're starting on. Or, you ride it out in the hope that it will get better. As you wish.
But, it's rather doubtful that there will be any instantaneous effects. Hormones don't work like that. They take their time. It certainly won't make you hyper! You cannot become hyper because you are hypo. You can become over-medicated, but if you start out on 1/2 a grain, that's hardly going to happen. But, should you feel that it has, just stop it, no harm done.
The worst that is likely to happen in the short term is that one of the fillers in the tablet disagrees with you. But, that could happen with any tablet, vitamins included.
Ok so I know nothing about NDT or vitamin levels but here’s my 2cents.
Your TSH is high, your working hard to maintain your current levels. Your FT3 is Fairly good esp considering your FT4 is at the low end of the range. So you’re a good convertor #bonus 🤗
A little boost would do you good. You’ve got wiggle room with your ranges, for sure. As a good convertor I’d probably go for Levothyroxine rather than adding T3. But maybe my thinking is because I don’t know much about NDT. So 🤷♀️
Yeah it looks like I might be better on t4 but I've heard that a lot of people react better to ndt than Levothyroixine, that might be due to them being poor converters though. I wouldn't know where to buy Levothyroixine or t4 supplements from either so hopefully the ndt works 🙂
Hey 👋 Sorry not true that people react better to NDT. A REALLY high percentage of people do so well on Levo, like 70-80 % of underactive patients. It’s the go to hormone and I think it’s the best place to start. It’s just that most people on this forum have been given dud advice and they’re either not offered enough Levo or their not good convertors or they don’t do well on synthetics. You’re already converting really well, adding T3 might be hard to balance. Feeling hyper and sick with it is way worse than feeling Hypo.
But if you’re set on NDT then start slow and take the advice from NDT users on here ( not me, I can only offer virtual hugs and back pats 😂)
I’m actually quite confused as to what makes you believe you have a thyroid condition? Am I missing something as your tests seem to be in the normal range.
They are in range but some people have symptoms while in range and some people feel completely fine while their levels may be very low, I'm the former.
If the ndt relieves the symptoms then it probably is a thyroid condition and there is something else going on that the levels being in range are hiding.
The UK has a very wide range of tsh compared to say germany and America where I think it is a tsh of 3 and youre diagnosed hypo, (I may be wrong there)
So I think it's worth a try to see if it helps me 🙂
What exactly are your symptoms? From what you’ve said, giving up nicotine and coffee might help. I’ve taken anti-depressants a couple of times (for about a year each time) years ago which got me through whatever was going on at the time and certainly healthier than nicotine which I gave up. Anti- depressants may be chemical but we are all made of chemical elements. Are you having any medical input?
Don’t know how old you are but what you describe doesn’t sound necessarily thyroid related. The main things would be feeling cold when it’s warm to others (I was putting on cardigans in the heatwave of ‘76.) hair loss and weight gain. Menopause? Mine started super early at 42 when doing a degree ..not good but HRT made me a new woman.
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