How do I work out what strength to take? I’ve been feeling slightly ‘hypo’ in the last month, I’ve been 6mths on combo meds, I’ve taken to combo treatment like a duck to water, loved it, it’s changed my lifestyle. I’ve finnished my house renovations, got a job and handled some serious melt downs from 3/4 teenagers! So knowing how much stress plays a part in deterioration of thyroid health I thought, yep probably hypo, need to up my meds. Good job I didn’t before I did my bloods as it turns out it’s my nutrients that are lacking and my thyroid health is good. So here’s my results and how do I know what strength to take?
B12 65.3 (37.5- 300)
Ferritin 64.8 (13-150+)
Folate 5.8 (8.83-60.8)
Vit D 47.2 (50-375)
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B vitamins best taken in the morning after breakfast
Igennus Super B complex are nice small tablets. Often only need one tablet per day, not two. Certainly only start with one tablet per day after breakfast. Retesting levels in 6-8 weeks
Or Thorne Basic B or jarrow B-right are other options that contain folate, but both are large capsules
If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results
I had supplemented all of them but stopped around October when I had a lot of workmen in the house do my schedule went out the window and this is on line with me then running if of steam half way through Nov.
B12 and ferritin are worse than when I was really hypo back in March 2019 but my Folate was better back then. Vit D has been much better but I definitely can’t take my eye of the ball. I do already eat lots of meat and green veg, I’ll try liver but it’s probably not something that I could make part of my weekly diet 🤢
Reference range: >70*; * between 25-70 referred for MMA
Folate 5.8 (8.83-60.8)
This is folate deficiency and your GP should prescribe folic acid. Get the further testing for B12 deficiency done before taking anything for the folate deficiency as folic acid masks signs of B12 deficiciency.
Ferritin 64.8 (13-150+)
You just need to eat liver, liver pate, black pudding or other iron rich foods regularly to get this half way through range and to maintain it there.
Vit D 47.2 (50-375)
The unit of measurement will be nmol/L.
The Vit D Council/Vit D Society recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L. To achieve that you could take 4,000-5,000iu D3 daily for 3 months then retest.
Once 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:
There are important cofactors needed when taking D3 which are mentioned below in bold.
D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and Vit 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.
Good D3 supplements are oil based softgels, eg Doctor's Best, which give good absorption. Avoid tablets and capsules as their absorption is poor. Some people like an oral spray such as BetterYou which is absorbed through the mucous membranes in the oral cavity so bypassing the stomach.
Was and then the last 4wks I’ve become really lazy about being careful. It was so hard not to get caught up in the run up to Christmas. My genetic testing already suggests that I have a higher predisposition to coeliacs so I’ve been foolish not to keep it going. I don’t get much bloating or pain, or bowel trouble so it can be hard to understand why gluten free would be good for me. However now I think I understand the connection. My intolerance means that I’m more prone to low stomach acid, more prone to less absorption which leaves me open to anaemia. So lesson learned, I can’t eat gluten. I also will probably have to always supplement.
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