Iron and Hashimotos

[Nini87]

Hi there,hope everyone is keeping safe in this trying time. I have a query. I have Hashimotos but my symptoms would suggest otherwise as I am loosing weight at at rapid weight and my eyes are bulging and my gums very irritated(does anyone experience this?) , hair falling out, acid reflux. I’ve been told my Iron is low by alternative muscle testing, I’ve been told this numerous times but my bloods suggests otherwise as my transferrin saturation is high so this would indicate too much Iron but this is strange to me as I wasn’t consuming any iron through diet as I’ve had a lot of food sensitivities. Does one follow ones gut and advice from the muscle testing and take iron or stay clear ?

Thank you

Niamh

[greygoose]

Personally, I would get blood tests done.

If you have Hashi's and are losing weight, could be that you're having a Hashi's 'hyper' swing.

[Nini87 in reply to greygoose]

Thank you for your reply. I had bloods recently and still under active with high antibodies. I have a lot of low iron symptoms though so that alarms me

[greygoose in reply to Nini87]

I meant blood tests for iron and ferritin.

When people have difficulty absorbing nutrients, they sometimes lose weight. It could be that the Hashi's has caused you to have low stomach acid, which will affect your digestion and absorption of nutrients, so your iron/ferritin, vit D, vit B12, folate, etc could all be low. And, we always advise getting them tested.

[Nini87 in reply to greygoose]

Cheers for reply. I had my iron checked and I seem to have an overload of iron which I can’t make sense of . High transferrin saturation.

[greygoose in reply to Nini87]

So what were your serum iron and ferritin results and ranges?

[Nini87 in reply to greygoose]

Hey , so my Iron is 26.3 and my transferrin is 2.70

My transferrin saturation is 39 and it’s above range so it indicates I have too much iron but I have all symptoms of low iron

[greygoose in reply to Nini87]

Ranges? It's very important to always put ranges when you give results because they vary from lab to lab. Just saying something is above range does not give enough information.

[Nini87 in reply to greygoose]

Hey hey , apologies , so my results are on left, ranges on right

Iron 26.3 10.7-32.2 umol/ L

Transferrin 2.70 2.03-3.60 g/L

Transferrin saturation 39 21-36%

Thank you

[greygoose in reply to Nini87]

No result for ferritin? Ferritin is your store of iron. The body puts iron into ferritin and takes it out as necessary. If you don't have enough iron in the bank, so to speak, you're going to have symptoms of low iron.

[Nini87 in reply to greygoose]

No no ferritin results but things is the transferrin saturation is high so that would indicate high iron no?

[greygoose in reply to Nini87]

Iron is very complicated, and I don't pretend to know much about it. But, as far as I know, transferrin is a protein that transports iron round your body. A high level doesn't tell you how much iron is in your system, it tells you how much iron is being transported.

A high level would be around 50%, so yours is only just over-range, so probably not high enough to worry about. And, if it were very high, I think it would be an indication of some other diseases, rather than the amount of iron you have. But, I could be wrong. I'm still learning.

[Nini87 in reply to greygoose]

Hmmmm interesting, when I looked it up it suggested that I had too much iron in my body so I put a stop to iron supplementation but my lips are very pale, I’m constantly cold and I’ve lost weight so it would make sense I would be low on it.

[greygoose in reply to Nini87]

You really need your ferritin tested. That would give you a better idea.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, with Hashimoto’s

How much levothyroxine are you currently taking?

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. Both companies often have special offers, Medichecks usually have offers on Thursdays, Blue Horizon its more random

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Hi Nini 87,

I now have a diagnosis of thyroid eye disease (TED) as well as Hashimotos. One of the classic signs is eye protrusion. I also had a hyper swing (with the Endo originally thinking I had Graves). I too lost weight.

It’s very important you take selenium daily to help with your eyes and get them checked by an ophthalmologist as soon as you are able. If they are dry use preservative free drops regularly (I line HycoSan Extra). TEDct provide useful information on how to treat TED & are very helpful on the phone if you have any questions. Keep posting if you need any further support!

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I forgot to mention that my gums/ tongue improved by listening to forum members & taking a good B complex ( I recommend Thorne Badic B)

[grumpyold]

Hi Nini 87, I have genetic haemochromatosis as well as Hashi's. High transferrin saturation can be a symptom of that. I get my iron levels tested every 6 months or so through Medichecks.

[Nini87]

Cheers for your reply, ya I hear that has something to do with the liver . You obviously don’t supplement with iron then?