Morning. Please forgive me, I have two questions.
Firstly since the cold weather over the last couple of weeks I have been experiencing severe leg pain in my feet, calves and ankles. After research, I think this is down to bad circulation and lack of vit D. Can anyone help with this?
Also I have recently been told that adding or drinking anything with ginger in helps with hypothyroidism. Again has anyone any experience of this?
Many thanks
Hi Pens130, I had awful leg and joint pain when under medicated. I didn’t know I needed more Levo and GP sent me to physio and even a hand surgeon for carpel tunnel. Neither was needed- an increase in Levo and optimising my vitamins (following Seaside Susie’s advice) sorted this out. Have you had your vitamins checked? It’s best to check out your Vit D, folate, ferritin etc first (I use Medichecks for both thyroid and vitamins) post the results on the forum with the ranges and take advice from there. It’s ok to supplement with foods in the meantime- ginger is great for reducing inflammation. You could also try turmeric (Curcumin). I like to juice both of these with carrots....but take care as too much ginger can cause a burning sensation in your mouth.
Pebs130
After research, I think this is down to bad circulation and lack of vit D. Can anyone help with this?
You should test your Vit D level and post your result, once we see this we can suggest what dose of D3 you should take (along with it's important cofactors) if this is indicated.
You can do this with a private fingerprick blood spot test with an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:
No idea about ginger, sorry.
Also I have recently been told that adding or drinking anything with ginger in helps with hypothyroidism.
Helps in what way? I love ginger and I'm always drinking it, using it in cooking, but I haven't noticed any improvement in my state of health.
Likewise Greygoose, love ginger and noticed no improvement ... but ... perhaps we'd be worse without it - how's that for a cheering thought!!!
How much Levothyroxine are you currently taking?
Previous post you were only on 75mcg which is likely too small a dose
Low vitamin levels are linked to being under medicated.
Do you have Hashimoto's? Autoimmune thyroid disease diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies ?
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 you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood 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
The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 in top third of range and FT3 at least half way in range
NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine.
nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...
Also what foods to avoid (eg recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours from taking Levo)
All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels
Add results and ranges if you have any
Come back with new post once you get full Thyroid and vitamin testing done. Members can advise on next steps
Thank you for your responses. I am only seeing the return of my leg pain over the last few weeks when the weather has dropped cold. I have felt no pain in the summer months. My dose has been increased to 100mg now.
I was just curious regarding the ginger.
I often think if you are craving something then your body needs it, but be sensible as well! We can often look at something we know isn’t a good idea and drool over it!!! But a single thing I feel is different and may be need to try it. Only a few days ago I posted that I was suddenly craving chocolate and another thing I can’t remember now but it appeared when I looked into it that both said it was caused by a shortage of magnesium. So I’m now a firm believer our body does try to tell us, we just need to learn to listen and act on it.
Me too SilverFox, I recently noticed that I haven't bought brazil nuts for many months though I used to eat some every day - timing matches the point at which my T3 reached the right level.
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