Hi everyone, I have been on 5mcg of t3 alongside my 75mcg levo for just over a week (and 10mcg the week before) and it is clearly helping - I feel more aware, my constipation and reflux has improved and most importantly for me I have been able to reintroduce some solid food and up my calories from about 1200 a day to 1500 which has been an incredible relief. I am still however experiencing some discomfort - throughout the day my heart rate increases from the 60 it is before to 75 ish and I experience some internal shaking/vibrating, occasional palpatations and periods where my heart rate makes me feels quite uncomfortable and sometimes even a bit dizzy.spacey and short of breath. Strangely it also seems to come and go - somedays its better and sometimes I go all day with barely anything and other days like today it's been bad all day. I don't feel overmedicated and I can't imagine I would be on 5mcg when my t3 before starting was only 16% through range - I am still cold and have started gaining weight despite still eating so little and it feels like I need more but I can barely tolerate this. I wonder if it's a cortisol issue - I had a cortisol blood test done in october and it was low normal and I sometimes feel quite stressed and also have anxiety issues - shortly before I got very ill last year I felt very stressed all the time with similar symptoms I have now occurring sometimes. The bad period the last couple of days also started after a mini adrenaline burst the night before and has lasted ever since after having previously felt like I was tolerating it much better. I also since starting the 75mcg of levo started having days where I wake up at 4/5am sometimes with a racing heart and hot temperature and struggle to get back to sleep. I am also aware that low vitamins contribute to low tolerance of thyorid hormone and also conversion. My latest results are:
B12 238 (range 200-1000)
Ferritin 28 (range 15-250)
Vitamin D 52 (up from 38 after supplementing) (range 75-200)
I have ordered b12 sublingual have a 3000iu vitamin d spray and have a better you iron spray but don't know how to increase ferritin levels well - back in 2018 my ferritin level was 3 and I was put on 3 months of high dose ferrous fumurate and my level only increased to 30. I also know I won't be able to tolerate any high dose iron supplement right now with my poor digestion.
Could these vitamin levels and possibly low cortisol be the reason I can't tolerate T3 well? if so what can I do to help my body tolerate it better? Is it also possible that if I got my levels to optimum in the future I wouldn't need T3? At the moment I really don't want to stop the 5mcg of T3 despite the symptoms because this is the first time I have been able to eat for a long time and I don't want to go back to how I was so is it OK to stay on it?
Thank you all so much for your invaluable help.
Written by
liaratsoni
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!B12 238 (range 200-1000) - before supplementing you have to make sure you don't have Pernicious Anaemia - another autoimmune condition. I also have P.A.
B12 should be nearer 1000. Ask GP to check for P.A. - there is also a P.A. HU site and you could also ask a question from them.
Ferritin 28 (range 15-250) - too low. (other members will respond what is needed to improve this).
Vitamin D 52 (up from 38 after supplementing) (range 75-200) Too low - again other members will respond how best to increase Vit D.
Adding 5mcg of T3 into your dose of T4 ! I believe 5mcg of T3 is too low - the recommendation of a T3/T4 combination is on a 1 to 3 or 1:4 basis.
Before you supplement with B12 I'd suggest you get checked - first of all - that you do not have pernicious anaemia. We can develop other autoimmune conditions and P.A. is another serious condition and needs proper treatment i.e. A B12 injection every three months for life.
I actually have been tested for pernicious anemia before I was diagnosed with central hypothyroidism as my b12 has been around 205 the last few years - I had both intrinsic factor and parietal cell anitbodies come back negative so its highly unlikely I have it thankfully. Do you think I should try an increase back up of t3 then? Thank you!
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
My folate was 11.2 (range 2-17). With the b vitamins is there a set number of hours it needs to be taken away from levo/litho? Thank you for the info about biotin and testing also! Once I start taking the b12/liver/vit d etc how long should after should I retest and expect to see improvements? Thank you!
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