I was diagnosed Hashimoto's and take Metavive as prescribed by Dr P; it's whole bovine thyroid gland. Lately, I'm unconvinced that I'm taking enough because of being unable to shift some stubborn weight and chronic insomnia but also, I wanted to know what my thyroid status is without help, so I stopped taking everything for a week, including all my supplements:
Pure Encapsulations OptiFerin-C (not sure if it's ferritin or iron and anyway don't really know the difference)
B12 in the form of methylcobalamin
Viridian D3 liquid
Viridian folic acid (soon to swap to folate)
Selenium in the form of Brazil nuts
Viridian Acerola (vit c)
All of the above are at the high end of normal but I can't find anything for ferritin - will perhaps order a test
I'd really like to know what you think of these results in terms of what thyroid hormones I'm producing on my own and also your advice about where they ought to be to help with sleep. I'm at my wits' end with taking an age to fall asleep and then waking multiple times. Melatonin, valerian and magnesium help somewhat but not enough. I'm a stubborn case as far as sleep, I've done without much for 20 years and feel I need to crack it to help my thyroid. Amazingly, I feel ok but am I just used to functioning on little sleep?!!
And what about ferritin and the difference between it and iron.
Written by
Noelnoel
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Your TSH is suppressed, but your FT4 is only 24.76% through the range, which is very low. No FT3 result? That's the most important number, it's the active hormone.
But, just one week off the hormone isn't enough time to make a different. There will still be some Metavive in your system. And, it's not long enough for the TSH to rise - that can take a long time. So, this isn't really a fair test of anything.
I've done without much for 20 years and feel I need to crack it to help my thyroid.
Nothing you do or take is going to help your thyroid if you are hypo. Metavive doesn't act on the thyroid in any way. You need to take exogeneous hormone because you can't live without it, but you're not going to bring your thyroid back to lie, I'm afraid.
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)
If/when also on T3, Or Metavive make sure to take last third or half of daily dose 8-12 hours prior to test, even if this means adjusting time or splitting of dose day before test
Is this how you do your tests?
Ft3 is only 37% through range
Helpful calculator for working out percentage through range
Thank you SlowDragon for pointing out that it may be my low T3 affecting my sleep. That is so useful to know. Not sure whether to increase my metavive... will have a think or maybe just go ahead, increase and see what happens
Ah yes! It's so small, I didn't see that. A bit low, but we don't know how well you convert, so that still doesn't prove anything in the context of your experiment.
Yes, I realise nothing’s going to restore it but a consistently good sleeping pattern is crucial for overall well-being and will slow further deterioration of the body’s functionality, including the thyroid gland
Metavive may act on the thyroid as it might contain hormones although as it is OTC it has to say it doesn't. "Real" NDT might be more effective and cheaper.
This I take twice daily. I don't know much about NDT or where to get it and really, the only reason I take Metavive is because I sort of understand the theory behind taking a porcine thyroid gland. Of course this quantity in each capsule isn't guaranteed, given that no two pigs are the same! It's a bit hit I miss I suppose
Care to enlighten me on the benefits of NDT because I'm all for cheaper if the quality isn't compromised
Probably need to increase dose a bit until FT3 is higher in range (at a guess, at least 5.5). Most NDT contains 9mcg T3 and 38mcg T4 per grain (60mg tablet) - the amount is standardised - and is porcine. From Thailand is cheapest but currently hard to get anything from overseas. If you ask for PMs in a new thread, people can recommend suppliers
I wanted to know what my thyroid status is without help, so I stopped taking everything for a week, including all my supplements...
I'd really like to know what you think of these results in terms of what thyroid hormones I'm producing on my own
Impossibly to say at the moment. Metavive has no declared hormone content but as it's a thyroid glandular there may or may not be some. However, for the purpose of testing we treat it the same as any NDT and you would need to be off it for at least 6-8 weeks for your levels to stabilise, maybe even longer to see what you are producing on your own.
**
As for your vitamins:
All of the above are at the high end of normal but I can't find anything for ferritin - will perhaps order a test
Well they're not according to the results you posted on 12th May so assuming they're recent test results why order another test at the moment:
Needs to be 100-150nmol/L according to the Vit D Council/Vit D Society.
How much D3 are you taking? You should be taking 5,000iu daily along with D3's important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-MK7.
You should retest 3 months after starting the 5,000iu daily supplement.
Once you've reached the recommended level of 100-150nmol/L 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:
B12 422 ng/L. (179.0-1162.0) - ng/L is the same as pg/ml
According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:
"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".
"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."
If taking B12 we need a B Complex to balance all the B vitamins, not just folic acid or folate.
Serum iron: 55 to 70% of the range, higher end for men - yours is 8.41% through range
Saturation: optimal is 35 to 45%, higher end for men - yours is 16%
Transferrin: Low in range indicates lack of capacity for additional iron, High in range indicates body's need for supplemental iron - yours is 42.86% through range
Ferritin: Low level virtually always indicates need for iron supplementation - yours is 3.24% through range
As these results would suggest iron deficiency, it would be a good idea to have a full blood count to see if you have iron deficiency anaemia. Your GP should be looking at this and prescribe accordingly, monitoring regularly whilst taking iron tablets.
Iron tablets should be taken 4 hours away from thyroid meds, with some Vit C to aid absorption. They should also be kept away from other medication and supplements by 2 hours.
And what about ferritin and the difference between it and iron.
Serum iron: this is the amount of iron in your blood.
Serum ferritin: this is your iron store, i.e. how much iron is stored in your body. When your iron level is low, your body will pull iron out of “storage” to use.
We should only supplement with iron if we know we are iron deficient and the only way to know that is to have an iron panel done. Taking iron when you don't need it is not a good idea, too much iron is as bad as too little.
**
As for the Brazil nuts, does the packaging say "Grown in selenium rich soil" and say which area? If not then there is likely to be very little or no selenium. The nuts have to be grown in selenium rich soil for there to be any selenium content. Eastern Amazon and Central Brazil have the highest amounts:
Hi SeasideSusie and thank you for taking the time to reply. I haven’y read your response completely yet but those results I posted last week were my daughter’s. Apologies for the confusion. I will post her most recent results soon but the ones you see today are mine
Everything I said about the thyroid results refer to you as those are your thyroid results then.
Everything I said about vitamins tests refer to the results posted in that other thread so what we need to see are your own vitamin results, and if you can also say what doses of the supplements you are taking.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
A bit low, but we don't know how well you convert, so that still doesn't prove anything in the context of your experiment. 
Can I have your thoughts on my latest bloods please?
More blood test results, advice/thoughts please
Latest blood results please can I have some advice
Please help with interpreting recent blood results. 
Blood result - thoughts please
