Herbalife with Hypothyroid medication LevoThyroxin.

[fairloop]

Hi, I have Underactive Thyroid and taking Levothyroxine 100mg to keep the balance. To help achieve my weight loss I am considering Herbalife shakes along with Yoga and exercise. I am keen to find out from the group if someone had tried this before and would love to hear their thoughts. Thank you.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

fairloop

Herbalife is made from soy, the last thing that we Hypos should take (unless fermented soy). It also has a high sugar content.

Best avoided.

If you are struggling to lose weight then you are probably undermedicated and have low FT3. It's low T3 that causes symptoms and makes weight loss difficult.

Do you have any current test results to share so that we can make suggestions? If so, please post results, with reference ranges, for:

TSH

FT4

FT3

Thyroid antibodies

and because optimal nutrient levels are needed for any thyroid hormone to work, it's also important to test:

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

[fairloop]

Thanks Susie. My Serum TSH level from test in Jan is 4.78, previous reading was in August it was 12.10 ( I was on 75mg then). I dont have other readings as they are not included in the NHS test results. Should I request my GP for a blood test for all items?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to fairloop]

fairloop

Your TSH in January is too high, I wouldn't be surprised if it's over range. With such a high TSH your FT4 will be low, as will your FT3.

Was your dose increased after the January result?

Is TSH all that is being tested?

You can ask your GP to test everything, chances are that he either can't or wont do them all. In which case you can do a private test like hundreds of us here do. We have some recommended labs that do all those tests in one bundle, currently only offering fingerprick or "arrange your own phlebotomy" version of tests:

Medichecks Thyroid Check ULTRAVIT medichecks.com/thyroid-func...

Currently 25% discount with code SPRING25

or

Blue Horizon Thyroid PREMIUM GOLD bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk... (previously known as Thyroid Check Plus Eleven)

Both tests include the full thyroid and vitamin panel. They are basically the same test but with the following small differences:

For the fingerprick test:

Blue Horizon requires 1 x microtainer of blood (0.8ml), Medichecks requires 2 x microtainers (total 1.6ml)

Blue Horizon includes Total T4 (can be useful but not essential). Medichecks doesn't include this test.

B12 - Blue Horizon does Total B12 which measures bound and unbound (active) B12 but doesn't give a separate result for each. Medichecks does Active B12.

Total B12 shows the total B12 in the blood. Active B12 shows what's available to be taken up by the cells. You can have a reasonable level of Total B12 but a poor level of Active B12. (Personally, I would go for the Active B12 test.)

Blue Horizon include magnesium but this is an unreliable test so don't let this sway your decision, it also tests cortisol but that's a random cortisol test and to make any sense of it you'd need to do it fasting before 9am I believe.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Do you have recent thyroid blood test results you can add, you may not be on optimal dose levothyroxine

Do you always get same brand of levothyroxine?

Extremely important to regularly retest vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Improving nutrients improves conversion

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Even if we don’t start on full replacement dose of levothyroxine most patients need to slowly increase dose upwards until on full replacement dose

If you weight more than 63kg you are likely in need of dose increase

Kilo to stones and pounds chart

thecalculatorsite.com/conve...

NICE guidelines

nice.org.uk/guidance/ng145/...

1.3.6

Consider starting levothyroxine at a dosage of 1.6 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day (rounded to the nearest 25 micrograms) for adults under 65 with primary hypothyroidism and no history of cardiovascular disease.

BMJ also clear on dose required

bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m41

[fairloop in reply to SlowDragon]

thank you

[fairloop]

I do have Serum free T4 level, this was 15.7 in Jan 20 and 14.7 in August 19.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to fairloop]

So dose was increased to 100mcg after January results

Bloods should be retested 6-8 weeks after EACH dose increase

So you need bloods retested

For full Thyroid evaluation you need TSH, FT4 and FT3 plus both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested. Also EXTREMELY important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Low vitamin levels are extremely common, especially if you have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto's) diagnosed by raised Thyroid antibodies

Have you had thyroid antibodies tested?

Ask GP to test vitamin levels and antibodies if not tested yet

You may need to get full Thyroid testing privately as NHS refuses to test TG antibodies if TPO antibodies are negative

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

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin

medichecks.com/products/thy...

Medichecks often have special offers, if order on Thursdays

Thriva Thyroid plus vitamins

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Come back with new post once you get results

The aim of Levothyroxine is to increase the dose slowly in 25mcg steps upwards until TSH is under 2 (many patients need TSH significantly under one) and most important is that FT4 is in top third of range and FT3 at least half way through range

NHS guidelines on Levothyroxine including that most patients eventually need somewhere between 100mcg and 200mcg Levothyroxine.

nhs.uk/medicines/levothyrox...

Also note what foods to avoid (eg recommended to avoid calcium rich foods at least four hours from taking Levo)

All four vitamins need to be regularly tested and frequently need supplementing to maintain optimal levels

Soya needs to be completely avoided for anyone with thyroid disease

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to fairloop]

Range on Ft4?

How long between last dose levothyroxine and blood test?

TSH was far too high

[fairloop in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you so much for sharing these details, I was not aware of this at all. I took my Thyroxine and hr or max 2 before the test. I will consult with GP if they dont prescribe then I will go with private checks recommended. appreciate you for sharing these links.

[fairloop in reply to SlowDragon]

2hrs

[Cooper27]

I would generally caution against replacement shakes - they're essentially an ultra-low calorie diet, and going too low on calories will lower your T3 levels, potentially making your hypothyroidism worse. Only eating 1200 calories per day will typically reduce T3 levels by 30%.

You should focus on nutrients, so look into things like the Rainbow Diet, Paleo (no need to go strict, but it's about focusing on whole foods and limiting processed things). You need to fix low minerals (including magnesium, zinc, B Vitamins, not just the main 4 that are tested). Probiotics will also be helpful. You also need to be sure your medication levels are right.

[fairloop]

Would it help better if I take multivitamin supplements along with levothyroxine?

[Cooper27 in reply to fairloop]

From what I understand, you have to be careful with multivitamins because some include vitamins that aren't good for those with thyroid issues, and also because certain combinations stop you from absorbing properly. I've never fully understood it.

For me, I used supplements recommended by Izabella Wentz in some of her books, as I generally trusted her to understand what was safe for the thyroid...

[fairloop in reply to Cooper27]

Thank you.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to fairloop]

We never recommend multivitamins

Always get vitamins tested FIRST before supplementing anything

Then only supplement what’s needed

You will see thousands of posts on here about importance of testing and improving to optimal levels vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

Most multivitamins contain iodine, definitely not recommended for anyone with Hashimoto’s

Iron in multivitamins binds to other vitamins

Multivitamins are frequently full of cheap poorly absorbed ingredients

You are due thyroid retest after increase in dose

Come back with new post once you get results of vitamin testing and new thyroid testing

[fairloop]

Thank you. I will come back after the tests. Appreciate your help with this.