Buying Vitamins

[metrorooms]

Good morning advice needed please. Other than the doctor prescribing vitamins for hypothyroidism can any one please tell me where to buy good Vitamins that will help and where to buy them please. Also which Vitamins do you recommend tacking to help. There are so many types and brands it looks a bit of a minefield thanks for any help.

[greygoose]

There are no vitamins for hypothyroid. The only things that help are the things you need. So, before buying vitamins you should get your vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin tested, and supplement according to the results. If you post the results and ranges on here, people will help you work out what you need.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

metrorooms

You don't just buy any vitamins. You supplement with what you need. First of all you need to test to find out what you need. The following are the tests recommended:

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

Post results, with reference ranges, plus units of measurement for B12 and Vit D, when you have them and further help can be given.

I agree with Scrumbler not to buy from high street health shops and supermarket own brands, best brands are from the internet.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

See from previous post you have high TSH and low Ft4

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

Ask GP to test vitamin levels and thyroid antibodies

You may need to get full Thyroid testing privately as NHS refuses to test TG antibodies if TPO antibodies are negative

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)

Private tests are available. Thousands on here forced to do this as NHS often refuses to test FT3 or antibodies

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

For thyroid including antibodies and vitamins

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

If you can get GP to test vitamins and antibodies then cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3 £29 (via NHS private service )

monitormyhealth.org.uk/thyr...

If antibodies are high this is Hashimoto's, (also known by medics here in UK more commonly as autoimmune thyroid disease).

About 90% of all primary hypothyroidism in Uk is due to Hashimoto's.

Low vitamins are especially common with Hashimoto's. Food intolerances are very common too, especially gluten.

So it's important to get TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested at least once .

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/tuk/testing/t...

Link about antibodies and Hashimoto's

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

List of hypothyroid symptoms

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

come back with new post once you get results

[Hidden]

Hey metrorooms, go online to iHerb, they have the best selection.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Hidden]

They may be cheaper than buying the same supplement in the UK but factor in the extra cost of "Duties, Taxes, and Fees Prepaid! All duties, taxes, and import fees are pre-collected at the time of checkout to expedite customs clearance; no further payments are required at the time of delivery" with certain carriers, and VAT plus collection fee in the UK with other carriers, then it's not always worth ordering from iherb.

metrorooms

[Hidden in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh I'm not sure about all these costs as all I ever pay is delivery with dhl, no customs taxes etc. For me it's cheaper than buying it in a health shop, but I'm in Ireland so it may be different

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to SeasideSusie]

If you want US brands, bigvits.co.uk has many of them, as does Amazon

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Yes, I've used BigVits often. Another good one is Dolphin Fitness who always seem to be best for price.

[humanbean]

I use Amazon for checking reviews.

The places I buy most of my supplements are HealthMonthly, Amazon, and Ebay, mainly because I find them convenient to use.

[Hidden]

Orovite tablets (concentrated B vitamins) worked wonder for me when recovering after partial thyroidectomy. The effect they had on me was miraculous, nothing else has ever come near it.

[metrorooms]

Thank you all for your reply's.

[Deniseelk]

We buy from BioCare. Quick delivery too. They always have 20% off so join their mailing list. Last time I hadn’t been sent an offer so I popped shopping in my basket, didn’t buy straight away and within few hours I was e-mailed a 20% off code! Patrick Holford is a great nutritionalist and I have one of his books ( got second hand from charity shop) and he gives great insight into vitamins / what compliments what / time of day to take or even what foods to eat when taking them! Get yourself well informed before you take them and remember to tell your medics about any vitamins and supplements you take!