hi all. I have posted on here before and received terrific answers. People asked for test results for certain vitamins and hormones which I am now able to provide. I have a lot more than I am giving here so any specific questions, please do let me know and I will supply them.
I am in hell. I can't breathe, I'm burping all the time, I have dizzy spells and I am so tired I feel like I could die. Then you get the attendant mental difficulties as well which are not nice. Also my face is now permanently red in the cheeks and nose. Its not a rash and all tests for other autoimmune diseases are negative. I had a fundoplication to stop heart burn which worked but it has not helped the burping. Sometimes also my nasal passages inflame and I get a rash above my eyebrows. I think this is a food sensitivity issue.
I've had a million and one tests and no-one is sure. People have speculated over POTS, SIBO, Lyme or other tick-borne dieases or MCAD. for all of these I need international consultation as it appear that in Japan, no-one knows about these issues. I speak the language just fine, its a structural impediment as opposed to a linguistic one. With the coronavirus in swing, sending bloods to foreign countries is not possible and for good reason. It can wait.
In the meantime, I have recently received Armour Thyroid medication. I have only tried T4 supplements up to now but there is no doctor in Japan who will monitor me on this medicine and I cannot afford international consultation because I have kids and a family and, frankly, we're headed into a financial crisis.
I will take the medicine of my own accord. I get palpitations and have no tolerance for exercise. However, I did a stress test on the heart and several other tests over a period of a year and every single doctor tells me there is no problem there. I will take them for their word despite the scary sensations I get.
I have tried diets. The best one was Low Fodmap and gluten/dairy free. These work up to a point. They don't cure all problems.
I take the following medications as of January 2020
Levothyroxine - 137.5mcg
Vitamin D3 with Vitamin K2 - 3000IU
Magnesium (I forget the dosage)
Turmeric Tablets
My T4 dosage has gone up from 25mcg in March 2018 to today. A rocky ride.
My other test results are as follows:
SlowDragon, it took a while but please see my results:
Blood Calcium:
January 2018: 2.47mmol/L (range = 2.15-2.58)
September 2018: 10.3mg/dL (8.7-10.1)
March 2019: 10.4
July 2019: 10
December 2019: 10.5
Calcium (ALB Adjusted)
March 2019: 9.8mg/dL (8.2-10.2)
July 2019: 9.6
Ferritin
September 2018: 59.1ng/mL (<280.0)
August 2019: 115ug/L (30-400)
December 2019: 53.6ng/mL (<280.0)
Iron:
December 2017: 68ug/dL (56-168)
Folate - Serum:
August 2019: 7.83ug/L (>3.89)
Vitamin B12:
December 2017: 290pmol/L (>185)
August 2019: 157pmol/L (37.5-188)
Vitamin D:
December 2017: 22.6ng/mL (30.0-99.9)
August 2019: 46.8nmol/L (50-175)
Sex Binding Hormone Globulin:
August 2019: 25nmol/L (18.3-54.1)
Someone kindly helped me out with a new software called SPINA Thyr 4.0.1 which suggested that I may be a poor converter to T3. So I have got the Armour medication based on that but now have cold feet (metaphorically) about taking it.
Thyroid Tests in reverse order.
Most recent Thyroid Test (December 2019) (Increase to 137.5mcg)
TSH: 3.68 uIU/mL (0.5-5)
FT4: 1.49ng/dL (0.9-1.7)
FT3: 3.2ng/dL (2.3-4)
2019
June 26
TSH 2.830uIU/mL (0.5~5)
FT3 2.47pg/mL (2.3-4)
FT4 1.84ng/dL (0.9-1.7) High
May 17 (Increase to 150mcg - terrible consequences!) (Immediately lower to 125mcg within two weeks after)
TSH 3.020uIU/mL (0.5~5)
FT3 2.87pg/mL (2.3-4)
FT4 1.53ng/dL (0.9-1.7)
March 04
TSH 2.73uIU/mL (0.35~3.73)
No FT3 measured!
FT4 1.53ng/dL (0.88-1.81)
2018
August 30
TSH 2.05uIU/mL (0.35~3.73)
FT3 3.0pg/mL (2.2-4.1)
FT4 1.49ng/dL (0.88-1.81)
June 18 (Increase to 125mcg)
TSH 3.74uIU/mL (0.35~3.73) High
FT3 3.3pg/mL (2.2-4.1)
FT4 1.46ng/dL (0.88-1.81)
April 28
TSH 1.61uIU/mL (0.35~3.73)
FT3 3.5pg/mL (2.2-4.1)
FT4 1.6ng/dL (0.88-1.81)
February 13 (Increase to 100mcg)
TSH 4.885mIU/mL (0.450~4.50) High
FT3 5.35pmol/L (3.50-6.5)
FT4 17.64ng/dL (10.0-23.0)
2017
November 11 (Increase to 75mcg)
TSH 12.57mIU/mL (0.40~4.70) High
FT3 4.5pmol/L (3.5-6.5)
FT4 14.9pmol/L (9.0-25.0)
June 19
TSH 3.63mIU/mL (0.40~4.70)
FT3 5.0pmol/L (3.5-6.5)
FT4 18.0pmol/L (9.0-25.0)
There is a lot there. My apologies when everyone must be worried about other things. But I need to solve this problem. Your insights and expertise would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Am I crazy about this? Are my symptoms to do with thyroid? Could they be? Would Armour help? What do I need to watch out for if I take Armour? How do I do it? Any advice is welcome.
Best wishes to you all
PS for those interested, I did an analysis of recent (two years) thyroid test results through SPINA thyr. The results appear to show poor T4-T3 conversion due to a consistently low (from June 2019) GD, and possibly Thyroid Hormone Resistance due to high TTSI from the start of the dataset (November 2017). Any thoughts on that would be welcome too. Am I interpreting this right? Can post results on here.
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DressingGown
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There a lot of posts supporting food sensitivities improve their symptoms. I’d probably keep a food diary for your digestion problems. Wind and gastric pipe run alongside each other so if the acids and reflux can overspill. Thyroid has lots of symptoms you mentioned fatigue breathlessness digestion anxiety etc . Breathlessness and palpitations suggest you haven’t got medication right. If you have breathing problems that aren’t anxiety related you should see someone. I can’t comment on your blood results as different ranges to mine. However although we are all individual a lot of posters say. Ft3 needs to be at high end of range and f4 midrange with Tsh on low end. Maybe post on other thyroid support forums Eg Facebook to see if someone has similar. Hope that helps you.
Well, your conversion isn't brilliant, based on those results. But your TSH is saying that you're under-medicated, and we can't really judge conversion until TSH is lower.
PS for those interested, I did an analysis of recent (two years) thyroid test results through SPINA thyr. The results appear to show poor T4-T3 conversion due to a consistently low (from June 2019) GD, and possibly Thyroid Hormone Resistance due to high TTSI from the start of the dataset
I do not know this SPINA thyr thingy, so could you enlighten us on the abréviations, please. What are GD and TTSI?
I wouldn't have thought that you had Thyroid Hormone Resistance because your FT3 isn't that high.
Your ferritin/iron is very low. Are you doing anything about that? It could very well be the reason for your breathlessness.
So are your vit D and folate.
The only way you can know if Armour is going to help is to try it. If I were you, I would start on 1 grain. See how you feel. If, after two weeks, you feel you need more, increase by 1/4 grain. Then, 1/4 grain two weeks later. Then, I would hold for six weeks and retest.
Remember, that blood tests were designed for people taking levo only. So, you can expect your labs to be different on Armour: TSH suppressed and low FT4. The important number is the FT3. You cannot dose by TSH or FT4 when on NDT/T3. But, more important is how you feel.
As for the burping, personally, I would think that is down to low stomach acid. When hypo, we often have low stomach acid, but the symptoms are the same as for high stomach acid, and doctors never bother to find out which you have. With low stomach acid, the food is not digested quickly enough, and ferments in the stomach, caused volcanic-like eruptions. Hence the acid reflux, heart burn and burping. What you need to do is increase the acid level in your stomach.
I would definitely not recommend you post of Facebook thyroid groups! You can get some really weird and damaging 'advice' on those!
thank you slowdragon. i have increased vitamin d. i bought c and iron. now waiting for the post.
my supplements are now
vitamin b complex
vitamin c
vitamin d3 with k2 (now 4000iu)
iron
magnesium
selenium
turmeric
i failed to mention i take hcl betaine with pepsin. im on two tablets per meal. it worked a treat for two weeks but things went back to normal after that. its hard to tell if i have taken too much or too little because the fundoplication prevents heartburn.
also, do you happen to know how much iron i should be taking? absorption is problematic if low stomach acid. and i dont know which supplements interact with others. all this i better find out and make a regimen.
I do it because I take Vitamin K2 to stop calcium build up in my arteries due to taking Vitamin D. I have slightly elevated calcium. Given the Vitamin K2 is a coagulant (I think thats right - it helps blood to clot I think), I use the turmeric to thin the blood a bit. Sounds crazy, I know. But I take it before going to bed and generally don't have too many problems. And I certainly had these symptoms before taking turmeric. Thanks for the pointer, though. I will consider it!
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Vitamin and mineral advice please - edited and added thyroid results
Desperate for advice
