Has anyone been able to improve t4 t3 conversion with diet, stress management and supplements ? If so what were they ?
Ive found lots of information saying how stress, calorie restriction and vitamin and mineral deficiencies can all prevent proper conversion, but not come across anyone whos tried this approach .
Im hoping to be able to get t3 but as we all know its extremely difficult and other than buying from abroad I think this is going to be my only realistic option.
Thank you in advance .
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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 on levothyroxine
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)
Is this how you do your tests?
First step is to get vitamins tested
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
Yes I had a TT 9 years ago for a retrosternal goitre caused by Hashimotos.
I have my blood tests exactly the way you describe every time for those consistent results.
And I have my TSH T4 and T3 tested too .
My endocrinologists did some vitamin checks in January, Im not sure which were checked though, I know vit D, folate and B12 were checked and some other B vitamins. I was told most were fine just a couple out of range.
Vit B12 was high, just above the reference range. Dont know that range is.
Folate was low at 3 , ( range 0 - 99) I was told to correct it with diet but have been supplementing and eating as well as I can. It was retested 5 weeks ago and was at 15. What role does folate play in thyroid function ?.
Vit D was 78, I did have a deficiency a few years ago and Im on medication from endo for that.
Ferritin I have no idea to be honest, theres no way I can even check if it was tested as the clinic is closed .
Ive used medichecks several times so I will get those rechecked. Id like to get all my vitamins and minerals checked but I simply cant afford it. However Ive read a lot about selenium and Im wondering if its worth getting that checked too.
Once you Improve level, very likely you will need on going maintenance dose to keep it there. As you have hashimoto’s This often needs to be higher than average maintenance dose
Vitamin D supplementation was safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection overall. Patients who were very vitamin D deficient and those not receiving bolus doses experienced the most benefit.
Ive ordered the vitamin tests, Im particularly interested in the ferritin after reading this.
I have hypoparathyroidism ( lost parathyroids during T T) and part of the treatment is vitamin D and take fultium 800iu x 2 and alfcalcidol its well controlled and doesnt cause me any problems. My calcium is just where it needs to be and is closely monitored by my endocrinologist. Its the kind of thing where Id know pretty quickly if it wasn’t but thankfully its all good .
78 for vit D is a bit low for me, it is better closer to 100, but I dont have any of the symptoms that tell me its getting too low, - get very bad bone pain in my legs . Having said that the dose is being raised to get it back to better level.
Ive often wondered about magnesium, heard it can help with a variety of problems so I’ll have a look at those articles.
My endo told me theres an awful of people in the UK who are vitamin D deficient and dont know it, they just put their aches and pains and fatigue down - well just life really. I had awful bone pain before it was corrected, did for years no idea why and did see my gp about it, just fobbed me off though. Annoying when I think a simple blood test would of saved me from a lot of pain.
Ive never given much thought to vitamin levels , and I certainly never of thought your thyroid needs it all to be just right. I naively thought it was just a simple matter of taking a couple of little pills a day.
Ive just seen that, Dr Westin Childs has some youtube videos on it too, definetly worth a look.
Its all given me a lot to think about, I feel a little overwhelmed wanting to fix all potential issues.
Im going with what you suggested first, deficiencies and a really good diet.
I wish just I knew exactly what caused the levo to stop working, something really obvious to concentrate on if you see what I mean.
I just cant get my head around going from it working well for 9 years then literally in weeks it started going horribly wrong, feel theres something Im just not seeing .
I dont think I have changed brands, cant say for certain though as our chemist has chopped and changed brands in the past.
Ive not had any infections, gut issues or antibiotics.
I did have steroids in February this year, Id hurt my trapezius before Christmas that wouldnt heal. It was extremely painful, still horrible but better than it was and they did take the swelling down. Horrible drug though just a week of them and the anxiety was ridiculous and I felt so wired and on edge.
Ive tried to think of anything that was different around the same time as I started to feel poorly and theres only thing that stands out, stress.
In early August we had an extremely stressful time, I felt like I lived on adrenaline for weeks before things gradually returned to anything near normal but even then I still didnt feel like I could relax properly. I felt afterwards that Id been hit by a sledge hammer both physically and mentally, absolutely wiped out by it.
That was August and by October I started feeling that something was a little off and I went down hill from there quite rapidly.
Ive seen numerous videos and articles saying stress can affect conversion but theres a little bit of scepticism in me that questions is it really possible that my state of mind could have such an influence on a hormone ?.
Stress, adrenals and thyroid are very closely linked
First step is to get all vitamins optimal, distress (as much as possible) and then consider doing FULL thyroid and vitamin test privately
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)
Is this how you do your tests?
Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins
Getting levels optimal can significantly improve symptoms
Perhaps in few months, if still not settled consider an adrenal profile ...see where your adrenals are now ....or perhaps once postal service returns to normal. If you did test now you would definitely need to pay for tracked special delivery
It turns out not only have I not been getting the same brand of levo consistently it seems to change month to month.
I have another health problem thats irrelevant to this situation but it does mean that my husband organises my medication. Its just put into a pill box in my bedside drawer I dont usually see box.
Anyway it was always the same brand for years, mercury pharma but for a while now it seems to change brands from month to month. I have a 3 month supply in the cupboard and all different brands.
My husband cant remember when it changed he said possibly in the last year or so but he cant be certain.He said that I did ask if the brand had been changed because something felt not quite right but again he cant remember when that was.
Id of thought all brands of levo were pretty much the same, obviously not.
Could it make enough of a difference to alter tsh and conversion ?
Ive no idea if its the reason but its enough for me to insist on mercury pharma from now on.
Yes thousands upon thousands of patients can not change brands
ALWAYS get same brand of levothyroxine
Teva brand especially can seriously upset many people
Teva brand contains mannitol as a filler, which seems to be possible cause of problems. Teva is the only brand that makes 75mcg tablet. So if avoiding Teva for 75mcg dose ask for 25mcg to add to 50mcg or just extra 50mcg tablets to cut in half
No other medication or supplements at same as Levothyroxine, leave at least 2 hour gap.
Some like iron, calcium, magnesium, HRT, omeprazole or vitamin D should be four hours away
(Time gap doesn't apply to Vitamin D mouth spray)
Levothyroxine is an extremely fussy hormone and should always be taken on an empty stomach and then nothing apart from water for at least an hour after
Many people take Levothyroxine soon after waking, but it may be more convenient and perhaps more effective taken at bedtime
Physicians should: 1) alert patients that preparations may be switched at the pharmacy; 2) encourage patients to ask to remain on the same preparation at every pharmacy refill; and 3) make sure patients understand the need to have their TSH retested and the potential for dosing readjusted every time their LT4 preparation is switched (18).
Yes I always take it an hour before breakfast and well away from other medications. I have to take calcium both in medication and diet and I know it can affect the levo so its always at least 4 hours after and vit D isnt taken until much later in the day.
Im going to check that link out, I have been researching too .
I have found some research that says calorie restriction can reduce t4 t3 conversion and Im certainly guilty of near constant dieting, although stopped for a break over a year ago. Id lost 6 stone over a few years but was constantly yo-yoing back and forth by a stone or so until eventually it just stopped altogether, took me all my time not to put weight back on, couldnt lose an ounce.
I tend to think Ive trashed my metabolism and do wonder if all that dieting could be at least partly to blame for it my levo stop working properly.
For now Im just concentrating on eating healthy well balanced meals, and Im just hoping all those years of dieting havent done permanent damage to my metabolism.
No. I've been swallowing supplements for years now and can't seem to raise some levels or keep others there and nothing improves my conversion. I just had the Dio2 gene test done and now I know I inherited a faulty gene from one parent that affects my ability to convert T4 to T3.
Thyroid disease is far more complicated than I realised, and it shows how different we all are too.
Its a fine balance of having everything just in the right place, when its right its good and when its not it can be so disabling. I dont think it has to be much to alter that balance.
In hindsight I think I had thyroid problems long before I was diagnosed, I did have the usual tests for years before hand but always came out within the reference range that doctors insist is so perfect.
Id seen my gp numerous times for this as well as my problem with breathing , I couldn’t lie on my back and breath properly. He never did anything for that just insisted it was my weight that was causing it.
One day I was very ill, racing heart rate, shaking and more so my husband called the doctor out. By pure chance it was different doctor and within a few minutes she got me an urgent hospital appointment for the next day.
Long story short I had what the consultant described as the biggest retrosternal goitre he’d ever seen, and that I have Hashimoto's . I told him that Id been back and forth to my gp for years his reply was he couldnt comment on that but for a thyroid to grow so big and covered with nodules it takes years for it to get to that state.
It took a long time to get medication right but for most of the last nine years its been reliable and Ive felt much better for it, but when its not its so very very not right.
Its 9 years since my TT and until coming here I never knew about any of things that can have an influence in thyroid function, I was told a tablet a day is all anyone needs.
If only it was that simple .
Thank you very much for your reply and I hope you find the answers you need to get and keep you well.
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