Hello
Just lioking for some advice. The background is - i began supplementing iodine in november, stopped in december because i noticed my hair falling out. I am still having quite bad hair loss.
I paid for a full thyroid profile, doctor said i may be developing hypothyroidism? Please have a look and any suggestions/thoughts greatly appreciated.
Not sure what to do now?
Dont feel particularly bad. A bit lethargic but nothing crazy.
Thanks
Rosanna
Rosanna29
Ferritin: 32.3 (13-150)
Ferritin is recommended to be half way through range, yours is just 14.09%. You could ask your GP to do an iron panel and full blood count to rule out (or in) iron deficiency with or without anaemia. You can help raise your level by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet
apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/in...
Folate: 25.6 (8.83-60.8)
Folate is recommended to be at least half way through range, so 35+ with that range.
B12: 515pmol/L = 698pg/ml
This is a good level for Total B12.
Vit D: 55.5nmol/L
The Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L (50ng/ml) and the Vit D Society recommends a level of 100-150nmol/L so it would be prudent to improve your level. To reach the recommended level from your current level then the Vit D Council suggests between 4,000-5,000iu D3 daily.
Retest after 3 months.
When 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:
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.
naturalnews.com/046401_magn...
drjockers.com/best-magnesiu...
TSH: 0.65 (0.27-4.2)
FT4: 15.8 (12-22)
FT3: 3.87 (3.1-6.8)
A normal healthy person would have a TSH of no more than 2 with FT4 around mid-range. Your results are considered euthyroid (normal) although FT4 is a little low and this will be why your FT3 is also low in range. However, as no-one knows where their levels lie normally (because we're not tested for a baseline when we are well) then these levels could very well be normal for you.
TPO antibodies: < 9 (<34)
Tg antibodies: 179 (<115)
Raised TPO antibodies can suggest autoimmune thyroid disease(Hashimoto's) but yours are low. Sometimes we can low negative TPO antibodies but raised Tg antibodies can suggest Hashi's. However, Tg antibodies can be raised for other reasons.
For now it may be best to concentrate on optimising your nutrient levels so work on ferritin and Vit D and maybe repeat the test.
Okay thanks so much.
Do you think iodine could have caused this and can the anti bodies go away? im so confused. Is it likely to get worse? Is there anything that can help? And also, what else can cause higher than normal anti bodies? Thank you. This feels quite depressing!
Rosanna29
Do you think iodine could have caused this
It's possible that the iodine wouldn't have helped. Many years ago, iodine used to be used to treat overactive thyroid (not talking about the Radioactive Iodine used to treat hyperthyrioidism today), so it can cause or make hypothyroidism worse.
Iodine should always be tested before supplementing, if found to be deficient then supplementation should be done under the guidance of an experienced practioner as there is a protocol to follow and cofactors needed.
can the anti bodies go away?
Antibodies fluctuate, you can test positive one time and negative another, but a negative result doesn't mean they've gone away completely, they can always test positive another time.
what else can cause higher than normal anti bodies?
We all have antibodies, they are made by the immune system to fight foreign substances like viruses and bacteria. But sometimes they attack the body's own cells, tissues, and organs by mistake.
Raised Tg antibodies can be a sign of Graves Disease (overactive thyroid) in which case TSH would be below range and FT4/FT3 over range and Graves Disease needs to be confirmed by testing TSI/TRAb antibodies; or Hashimoto's (underactive thyroid) where you'd see over range TSH with low FT4.
Tg antibodies can also be found in other autoimmune disorders, such Type 1 diabetes, pernicious anaemia, rheumatoid arthritis, and SLE (Systemic lupus erythematosus).
Could this be causing hair loss?!
The low ferritin could be the cause of hairloss, it's a common symptom of low ferritin.
Also, certain vitamin deficiencies can cause hairloss:
hubpages.com/health/16-Vita...
hmm ive actually upped my ferritin since hais loss started happening. haie loss was sudden when i was taking iodine. Definitely think thats caused it somehow.
Okay so theres a possibility i may develop hashimoto's... as i have raised anti bodies and low total t4. its confusing because free t4 and tsh is normal therefore i dont have hypo?
Rosanna29
Your Total T4 is below range. Total T4 measures the T4 that is both bound to protein and unbound (free). It's not a particularly useful test, the better and more useful test is the Free T4 and yours is quite low in range at 38% but as explained this may or may not be your normal level.
At the moment your results are considered euthyroid so no, you don't yet have hypothyroidism. But there's a possibility that you may have Hashimoto's and this is where the immune system attacks and gradually destroys the thyroid and eventually causes hypothyroidism.
I would work on the nutrient levels as suggested, repeat the test in 3-4 months and see where all your levels lie then.
You might want to Google whether taking iodine can cause hair loss.
thanks so much
hey just asking for some of your thoughts - went to the gp today about feeling not myself etc and to talk about the blood results. she stated total t4 isnt something that is that useful as it is bound in the blood and we don't really need to pay attention to it like ft4. she also said anti bodies are quite normal. she suggested i could have CFS.
please let me know your thoughts on this.
thanks
Rosanna29
she stated total t4 isnt something that is that useful as it is bound in the blood and we don't really need to pay attention to it like ft4.
She is correct, mainly.
I said in my reply above that Total T4 is not a useful test. It does measure the T4 that is bound to proteins, but as I explained it also measures the T4 that is unbound, the Free T4, the name of the test is Total T4, not Bound T4. Fortunately, Free T4 can be measured separately and that is the test result that is useful, which I explained above and it seems that your GP agrees.
she also said anti bodies are quite normal.
Yes, as I said in another of my replies above:
We all have antibodies, they are made by the immune system to fight foreign substances like viruses and bacteria. But sometimes they attack the body's own cells, tissues, and organs by mistake.
Read about them here: thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
You know that the body produces antibodies as part of a normal immune response to foreign invaders, like viruses and bacteria. It happens that certain body proteins, going peacefully about their business, can get attacked by the immune system, even if they have done nothing wrong. When this happens the body cells being wrongly attacked can be damaged and destroyed. This can happen in a number of ways, but we of course are most interested in the thyroid.
However, it's not normal for antibodies to be raised, so the reason for them being raised needs to be discovered.
As I said above, raised Tg antibodies can be a sign of autoimmune thyroid disease - Hashimoto's or Graves. It's more frequent for TPO antibodies to be raised in Hashi's, but we can have negative TPO but positive Tg antibodies in Hashi's.
Look again at thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
The next group is the TG Ab. These levels rise as well as the TPO Ab levels in autoimmune thyroiditis, but to a lesser degree.
....
Any level of antibody titre should be regarded as at least potentially suspicious of future illness.
Also look at verywellhealth.com/thyroid-...
Anti-thyroglobulin (Anti-Tg) Antibodies
Thyroglobulin (Tg) is a protein that helps the thyroid gland function properly. Anti-Tg antibodies are associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
she suggested i could have CFS.
Ask her to do a test to confirm CFS. She can't. There is no test. CFS is a diagnosis of exclusion - any other conditions that can cause the symptoms need to be ruled out first.
Ask her what she is basing her suggestion of CFS on. Take with you the list of signs/symptoms of hypothyroidism from ThyroidUK, tick of those that you have. I think you may find that every symptom she says is CFS is also a symptom of hypothyroidism.
List of signs/symptoms: thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
But also, look at the symptoms of low Ferritin:
drhedberg.com/ferritin-hypo...
◾Weakness
◾Fatigue - also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Difficulty concentrating - also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Poor work productivity
◾Cold hands and feet - cold extremities also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Poor short-term memory - memory loss also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Difficulty remembering names - memory loss also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Dizziness - also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Pounding in the ears
◾Shortness of breath - breathlessness also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Brittle nails - also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Headaches - also a symptom of hypothyroidism
◾Restless legs
My thoughts: your GP, as with most doctors, knows very little about the thyroid, they aren't taught much except to look at a number and if it's anywhere within range you can't have hypothyroidism. Modern doctoring is very lazy. Doctors don't seem to be able to diagnose by symptoms, they are taught to diagnose by numbers.
My suggestions are exactly the same as before.
Ferritin - ask for an iron panel and full blood count - rule out or in iron deficiency or iron deficiency anaemia.If neither of these then help raise ferritin by eating iron rich foods.
Vit D - supplement to achieve the level recommended by the Vit D Council/Vit D Society (100-150nmol/L) regardless of what your GP says of your current level.
Also, to exclude any possible problem with B12, do an Active B12 test. The test you've had done is Total B12 (like Total T4 the Total B12 test measures the amount of both bound and unbound B12, it's the unbound (active B12) that is important as that is what is available for the cells to use). We can have a good Total B12 level but a poor Active B12 level. Medichecks do an Active B12 test for £39.
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