UPDATE!!! *** GP upped my Levo to 125 mcg from 100 mcg!!
Hello. Advice if I could please ask . After failing miserably at trying to loose weight and constantly picking weight - NOW up 4.5 stone in two years! And constantly just feeling ill in many forms . I have decided to become more informed on what I CAN DO.
The Izabella Wentz books - I have started reading the “ 90 Day Protocol “ is it necessary for me to have read the “ Root Cause “ first ?
I also have a book called “ Thyroid Healing “ by Anthony William & then another called “ Healing Hashimotos by Dr Sharon Lee Rasa”
Any input welcome please. Please tell me it is possible to loose weight !!!
I am actually sitting in a coffee shop now ( having tea) waiting to see my GP and BEG to have my meds increased.
I have attached labs. ( last week tested ) thank you!
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If you're on levo only, it might benefit you if you can take a T4/T3 combination. You'd have to source your own T3. It is not a miraculous weight loss tablet, but it does raise your metabolism.
Ask your doctor or Endo first and if neither will prescribe put up a new post, which will be closed to answers on the forum, but if a member or members know, they will send you a private message.
Unexplained weight gain seems to be the commonest query on the forum. People are puzzled as usually they haven't changed what or how they eat but weight is gradually increasing..
Hi. Thank you. I just got an increase 20 minutes ago from 100mcg to 125mcg.
My vitamin D I test every time. I have been on a 4000 I.U dose for 2 months . I asked GP to prescribe for me but he told me NHS don’t do that. And pharmacy told me that’s to High without prescription from GP! Even though I supplement my Vitamin D still remains on the cusp of just being normal. I take D3 with K2. X
It's good that you have had an increase in your Levo, this is exactly what your FT4 result suggests.
The aim of a hypo patient generally, when on Levo, is for TSH to be 1 or below or wherever it needs to be for FT4 and FT3 to be in the upper part of their reference ranges, if that is where you feel well.
So you need to concentrate on getting FT4 higher in range and also see where your FT3 is. If they stay in balance you don't need T3. If your FT4 goes high and FT3 is low then conversion is poor (you are not currently showing poor conversion). You may need further increases in Levo so make sure you are retested 6-8 weeks after this increase. Being optimally medicated may help weight loss.
As SlowDragon says, your ferritin could be better, half way through range is recommended and it looks like that range is 13-150 so you could aim for 80+, and eating liver, etc, is the best way to raise ferritin.
Active B12 is OK but I'd want mine over 100.
Folate looks OK
I'd consider a good B Complex which will help raise B12 and maintain a decent folate level. Consider Thorne Basic B or Igennus Super B.
Ignore what the Pharmacist says about your Vit D dose, I suggest you be guided by the Vit D Council/Vit D Society who recommend that Vit D should be 100-150nmol/L. What is your current level?
What form of D3 do you take - softgels, tablets, capsules, oral spray?
Well, you're taking the amount of D3 that the Vit D Council recommends for your level to achieve their recommended level, so you could continue with that or, as we can't make any Vit D naturally at this time of year, you could possibly increase it a bit, maybe average 5,000iu daily. However, your level does seem to be increasing very, very slowly, only going from 63.5 in June to 67.2 currently. I managed to increase my severely deficient level of 15 to 202 in 2.5 months by taking Doctor's Best softgels. There doesn't seem to be much difference between Doctor's Best and NuU so I wonder if you might fare better with an oral spray (eg BetterYou), some people do.
Are you taking your D3 and your magnesium 4 hours away from your Levo?
We should always retest 6-8 weeks after a dose change.
Before looking at taking extra T3?
Your current results do not sugget that you need T3. At this point you need more Levo which you have just had prescribed.
The ranges in your picture aren't that easy to read but they look familiar and I think they are as follows (in brackets)
FT4: 11.9 (12-22)
FT3: 4.45 (3.1-6.8)
Your FT4 level is minus 1% through range which is why you need the increase in Levo.
Your FT3 level is 36% through range which shows your body is converting T4 to T3.
The only reason you would need T3 is if you don't convert T4 to T3 well enough. You need to get your FT4 into the upper part of it's range by increasing Levo, then see where your FT3 level lies. If your FT4 is high in range and your FT3 is low in range that suggests poor conversion and that's when you start considering adding T3. But before adding T3 we need optimal nutrient levels so that thyroid hormone can work properly and good conversion to take place. If FT3 remains low when nutrient levels are optimal then consider adding T3.
Yes . I take Levo at 7am. Then my psych meds at 9:00. ( I am weaning off these and was on these a few years before the High TSH was. However I was never tested for antibodies - so who knows if I had it before) I then take all Vitamins at 1 pm. Then I take me other psych meds at 8pm.
I take a range of Vitamins at one time.
Vit D3
Vit K2
Ferratin with Folic Acid
Magnesium
Vitamin A.
I need to get more B12. But I normally took that in am at 9am .
Your TG antibodies are very high so confirms cause of your hypothyroidism is due to autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto's
Are you on strictly gluten free diet?
Or tried it?
Hashimoto's frequently affects the gut and leads to low stomach acid and then low vitamin levels
Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone
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
While still eating high gluten diet ask GP for coeliac blood test first or buy test online for under £20, just to rule it out first
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
Hello. Thank you for response. Actually to be honest I have just started reading her book! So I want to do the 90 day protocol. I do eat Gluten. What is very strange is that for last two years Nov 2017 - June 2019 my Thyroglobulin Ab Ranger from 2000-2262 iu/ml however the last test showed it at 830. So from June to now it’s decreased.
My thyroid peroxidase Ab has gone from 79.6 iu/ml to 40.
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I just bought some ! 
Start Over or Decrease Dose
Where to start?
T4 made me put on weight
Weight gain...what did your levels need to be to start losing weight?
