Hello ,Im not sure if im posting in the right place or not ?But gonna give this a go anyway and hope for the best !
So... I have been feeling awful for years but mostly the last 5 or so ,
I developed chronic ectopic heart beats which most doctors try to deny exist (they most certainly do exist) extreme fatigue and exhaustion inflamed joints osteparthritis chronic pain etc etc ..so was diagnosed with vitamin d deficiency peri menopause and also the very dismisive fibromyalgia.
For many years i have had concerns about my thyroid as i have all the classic symptoms but all doctors tests come back normal .I am aware that this happens often since they dont look in depth .no doubt cost effective for them.
I decided to take matters into my own hands and get tested privately as i have been feeling particularly awful over the last few months,at the same time i am awaiting bloods from the doctor too ..
I have recieved the results from medi checks today ..and i have tested positive for both thyroid anti bodies amongst other things.
I have a feeling that my doctor will probably dismiss these results as my thyroid appears to be healthy at the moment .I also think they will probably be annoyed that i have taken the test but the truth is that due to many bad experiences in the past i do not have that much faith in the medical profession .
My mother also has thyroid issues and she also had to fight to be taken seriously .
So anyway !i am just wondering if anyone has any thoughts they could offer me regarding these results ?
I would be so appreciative as im feeling quite anxious about the whole thing .
Which test did you do? Just thyroid or thyroid plus vitamins (ie ULTRAVIT test).
Please post all the results and include the reference ranges. Ranges vary from lab to lab so we need the ranges that come with your results to interpret them.
SeasideSusie will not have seen your reply as you inadvertently replied to yourself ! Easily done ! I have tagged her so she will be along soooooooooon !
Yes, raised antibodies suggest autoimmune thyroid disease, aka Hashimoto's, which is where the immune system attacks the thyroid and gradually destroys it.
At the moment your actual thyroid hormone results are considered euthyroid (normal) as TSH is about where one would expect to see it in a normal healthy person (ie no more than 2), your FT4 though is low at only 22% through the range but your FT3 is currently not too bad at 42.97% through range. T3 is the active hormone which every cell in our bodies need so the body will do it's utmost to push out as much of this hormone as it can when the thyroid is struggling.
To get a diagnosis of Primary Hypothyroidism, GPs in the UK require TSH to be over 10 (some other countries will diagnose when it hits 3). To get a diagnosis when Hashi's is present you would need TSH to be over range with raised antibodies. You may get a diagnosis if FT4 goes below range.
As you have had the UltraVit test, please also post the other results as well, as requested. Low nutrient levels can bring their own symptoms and problems which can overlap with symptoms of hypothyroidism. Hashi's tends to lower nutrient levels, even cause deficiencies, and optimising these levels can help in the meantime whilst awaiting thyroid results deteriorating.
Some members have found that adopting a strict gluten free diet can help, although there is no guarantee.
Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks.
You don't need to be gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease for a gluten free diet to help.
My b12 is fine bit my vitamin D is low as it always is despite taking suppliments and has been for years.
Worryingly my iron levels are suddenly too high despite being deficient for years and being /vegetarian /vegan
And my crp is also raised which it was on previous tests months ago .
No idea what to do next .I have a week to wait for doctors blood test results and appointment ..
Saying something is "fine" or "low" or "high" isn't a lot of help. If you post the results (with ranges) as requested we can comment further.
For example, you say you are taking Vit D supplements, what is your level, what dose are you taking (it may not be enough to raise your level), are you taking the correct form of D3 (ie softgel, tablet, capsule, oral spray; is it being absorbed properly, not all forms are), are you taking D3's important cofactors - one of them helps the body convert Vit D into it's usable form?
Are you saying Active B12 is fine because it's over 37.5? Did you know that Active B12 below 70 can suggest B12 deficiency? 100+ would be a decent level. So what is your result?
By iron levels you must mean Ferritin (that's not iron, that's your iron store) unless you've had an iron panel done. Ferritin can be high due to inflammation or infection, Hashi's causes inflammation so could be the cause of your high ferritin. CRP is an inflammation marker and again could be high due to the Hashi's. But how high is high?
So much hangs on nutrient levels where hypothyroidism and Hashi's is concerned. We are trying to help so it would help us to help you if you posted these results as well.
Ferritin - recommended is approx. 50% through range which would be around 82ish. You are not massively over range and possibly this is due to the Hashi's.
CRP - as mentioned could also be due to the Hashi's, or maybe you had an infection at the time of the test which would raise both CRP and Ferritin.
Folate and B12 - both OK.
Vit D - low at 40.6nmol/L.
You haven't said how much D3 you are supplementing.
The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L and the Vit D Society recommends a level of 100-150nmol/L. To reach that level from your current level you would need to be supplementing 5,000iu D3 daily.
As you have Hashi's, for best absorption you might find an oral spray is better than other forms (eg BetterYou). Some people with Hashi's have done well with an oil based softgel, eg Doctor's Best. Avoid tablets and capsules, they are the least absorbable forms.
Retest after 3 months.
When you have 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:
Doctors don't know, because they're not taught much about nutrients, but there are important cofactors needed when taking D3 as recommended by the Vit D Council
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 D3 as 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 magnesium as tablets/capsules, no necessity if using topical forms of magnesium.
At this stage all you can do is work on optimising your Vit D level, maintain your other levels, keep an eye on your ferritin level, and maybe try a gluten free diet and supplementing with selenium. Continue to test your thyroid levels and if it goes over range with raised antibodies come back and tell us and I have an article which you can show to your GP which says in those circumstances you should be started on Levothyroxine.
Believe it or not (hard to i know with my all over the place posts this afternoon)
I am reasonably knowledgeable around vitamins nutrition and things .
I am quite on it in terms of diet etc but of course no matter what i do eat/ exercise etc weight is a huge problem and always has been .
I have always been quite fit until recently where i have developed spinal stenosis and struggle with walking now this is making me feel worse.
I take between 2000 and 5000 vitamin D3 oral spray and have also been on monthly prescribed vit D3 last year which didnt touch my levels at all.
I take magnesium powder as matter of course and have just started taking zinc and vitamin E as these were low using chronometer .I dont take calcium becauce of the artery hardening thing but do seem to get ok amounts from my diet a long with vitamin K .
Selenium also seems ok looking at nutritional profile but i eat a couple of brazil nuts a week to keep it up.
As for the CRP it quite often is slightly raised but i have recently had a nasty bout of flu and i think some sort of cold when i did the test so who knows.
I feel bad for ranting about the doctors as they are not all bad at all on a personal level ..just difficult when you know there is something wrong and you just get dismissed and almost gaslighted.
This has been going on for a long time .
So i guess its likely when i see my doc next week she will still tell me i dont have a thyroid problem ?and or theres no treatment available until my thyroid is actually failing ?
Do doctors even aknowledge hashimotos?
I guess these are things i need to look into.
I will hang about the forum here and do some reading ..
Again thankyou so very much for your replies and apologees for my frantic-ness.
So i guess its likely when i see my doc next week she will still tell me i dont have a thyroid problem ?and or theres no treatment available until my thyroid is actually failing ?
Do doctors even aknowledge hashimotos?
Most doctors dismiss antibodies as being of no importance and know little or nothing about Hashi's (they call it autoimmune thyroid disease here in the UK).
Hashi's isn't treated, it's the resulting hypothyroidism that's treated. However, as mentioned if you can get a TSH result over range, but not necessarily 10, plus raised antibodies, an enlightened doctor should prescribe Levo and I have an article that's useful there but, of course, no guarantees that a GP will accept it.
As for Brazil nuts, that is very hit and miss as they have to be grown in selenium rich soil to contain any selenium and that varies tremendously, Eastern Amazon and Central Brazil seem to be the best according to honey-guide.com/2012/11/19/...
One member has mentioned that Marks & Spencers Natural Brazil Nuts do state on the packet information about selenium so that's worth checking out. If the packaging doesn't state that they're grown in selenium rich soil (preferably the region) then there's unlikely to be much, if any at all, and in that case supplementing is the best bet.
Its so appreciated.I may look into some kind of natural all in one type suplimentation.maybe some kind of supergreen or hemp powder .?
Is it adviseable to take iodine as im sure it used to be with thyroid issues?
Sorry for the questions ..i dont expect you to answer them im sure you are busy on here .
Its a strange thing to feel relieved but sad about my health at the same time.Its been very helpful to have people confirm to me what ive known for a long time that my issues quite likely arent fibromyalgia ..or atleast not everything is that anyway.
The next hurdle is going to be bringing all this up with the GP .I doubt it will go down too well ..without sounding too paranoid
I did have a different doctor say something very odd to me last year after some blood results ,that "not everything is down to sex hormones you know ,there are other hormones that can cause your kind of symptoms" when i asked him what he meant ?he wouldnt answer.I asked him if he was talking about adrenals but he just quickly changed the subject and left me scratching my head.
Anyway i am going off on another tangent now !
Thankyou again very much i will so some research .
Its so appreciated.I may look into some kind of natural all in one type suplimentation.maybe some kind of supergreen or hemp powder .?
I'm not sure what you mean by 'natural', but 'all-in-one', no, there isn't. There are multi-vits, of course, but we discourage their use on here for all sorts of reason.
I don't know about hemp powder - might be worth looking into - I use hemp balm and find it very good for a lot of things, like my horrible flaky nails, and those unscratchable itches we hypos get. But, it won't replace things like vit D and other nutrients.
I've also used CBD oil, which is great for ataxia and back pain, (run out at the moment, so haven't used it in a while, and find my back pain returning). But, once again, it's use won't replace the basics like B vits, etc.
Most things are worth a try, to see if they help. But, remember that what helps one person could make another feel worse. You just have to experiment for yourself. But, don't start a whole bunch of things at the same time. Take one for a couple of weeks before starting on the next one, just to be sure it suits you.
Is it adviseable to take iodine as im sure it used to be with thyroid issues?
Absolutely not. Do not take any iodine whatsoever unless you've been tested and found to be deficient. And, then, only take it under the supervision of an experienced practitioner. It's not something to self-treat with.
Nothing will help you if you don't need it, there are no super-nutrients. And more is not better, and can even be dangerous. And, never was that more true than with iodine. Too much can cause cancer and other unpleasant problems. So, I'd stay away from it, if I were you.
Oh, there are still an awful lot of people - including doctors - that still believe that all you have to do for a thyroid problem is throw iodine at it! And that's only one of the ways they make their patients sicker!
Terrible !when are they going to sort this stuff out honestly..
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