Hi All,
I have hypothyroidism and coeliac disease. I’ve been feeling really unwell over the past three weeks: fatigue, brain fog, headaches, lightheadedness, palpitations, breathlessness and tingling in my hands. I’ve had some private blood tests done; can anyone shed light on what might be causing these symptoms?
Thanks,
Mel
Flossiewestie2020
Ferritin: 44 (13-150)
This is low. Ferritin is recommended to be half way through range (82 with that range).
You can help raise your level by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet
apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/in...
Don't consider taking an iron supplement unless you do an iron panel, if you already have a decent level of serum iron and a good saturation percentage then taking iron tablets can push your iron level even higher, too much iron is as bad as too little.
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Vit D: 88nmol/L
This isn't bad; however, the Vit D Council recommends a level of 125nmol/L and the Vit D Society recommends a level of 100-150nmol/L.
If you wish to improve your level, to reach the recommended level from your current level, based on the Vit D Council's suggestions you could supplement with 2,000-2,500iu D3 daily.
Retest after 3 months.
Once you've reached the recommended level 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:
Doctors don't know, because they're not taught much about nutrients, but there are important cofactors needed when taking D3 as recommended by the Vit D Council.
D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and Vit K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems such as hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, etc.
D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds if taking D3 as tablets/capsules/softgels, no necessity if using an oral spray.
Magnesium helps D3 to work. We need Magnesium so that the body utilises D3, it's required to convert Vit D into it's active form. So it's important we ensure we take magnesium when supplementing with D3.
Magnesium comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds if taking magnesium as tablets/capsules, no necessity if using topical forms of magnesium.
naturalnews.com/046401_magn...
drjockers.com/best-magnesiu...
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B12: 289pmol/L = 391.6pg/ml
This is on the low side.
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."
Check for signs of B12 deficiency here:
b12deficiency.info/signs-an...
b12d.org/submit/document?id=46
If you have any then list them to discuss with your GP and ask for testing for B12 deficiency and Pernicious Anaemia. Do not take any B12 supplements or folic acid/folate/B Complex supplements before further testing of B12 as this will mask signs of B12 deficiency and skew results.
If you don't have any then I'd suggest taking a good quality, bioavailable B Complex such as Thorne Basic B or Igennus Super B.
**
Folate: 27.50 (8.83-60.8)
Folate should be at least half way through range so with that range you're looking at 35+ and the methylfolate in the B Complex will help push your level up.
**
TSH: 2.64 (0.27-4.2)
FT4: 17.1 (12-22)
FT3: 3.11 (3.1-6.8)
These results show that you are undermedicated.
The aim of a treated Hypo patient on Levo, generally, is for TSH to be 1 or below with FT4 and FT3 in the upper part of their reference ranges.
Your FT4 is 51% through range and your FT3 is a mere 0.27% through range. You're not making any T3 and that is the active hormone that every cell in your body needs.
So you need to get your TSH down to below 1 to give you the highest possible FT4 then look at your FT3 to see how well you convert T4 to T3.
Are you still taking 100mcg for two days and 75mcg every third day? If so you need a general increase of 25mcg per day at the moment, so 125/125/100.
Your less than optimal nutrient levels wont be helping, good levels are needed for thyroid hormone to work properly, but poor levels also bring their own symptoms, so you need to address these low nutrient levels as well.
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Thyroid Antibodies
Your raised antibodies suggest that you are positive for autoimmune thyroid disease aka Hashimoto's which is where the thyroid is attacked and gradually destroyed.
Fluctuations in symptoms and test results are common with Hashi's.
Most doctors dismiss antibodies as being of no importance and know little or nothing about Hashi's and how it affects the patient, test results and symptoms. You need to read, learn, understand and help yourself where Hashi's is concerned.
Some members have found that adopting a strict gluten free diet can help, although there is no guarantee.
Gluten contains gliadin (a protein) which is thought to trigger autoimmune attacks so eliminating gluten can help reduce these attacks.
You don't need to be gluten sensitive or have Coeliac disease for a gluten free diet to help.
Gluten/thyroid connection: chriskresser.com/the-gluten...
stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...
stopthethyroidmadness.com/h...
hypothyroidmom.com/hashimot...
thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...
Supplementing with selenium l-selenomethionine 200mcg daily is said to help reduce the antibodies, as can keeping TSH suppressed.
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Cortisol - I'm not good with serum cortisol tests but yours looks low. If pennyannie is around hopefully she can comment.
Sorry but I've nothing to offer on Cortisol - I take adrenal glandular as well as NDT but have never even had mine tested.
OK, sorry pennyannie I'm mixing you up with someone else, can't for the life of me remember who it is then 🤔 (when I find out I'll make a note of the member's name!).
Is it Hidden ?
Whose a clever girl Lesleyg13 🤗. Thank you. Just going to make a note, obviously my memory is taking a little rest 🤣
No, I cheated! I was sure it began with the P, which you'd already given me, so I put cortisol in the search box because it was bugging me that I couldn't remember it either!
Thank you for all of this; it’s really helpful. I am a bit confused though because I’ve been gluten free for five months (I have coeliac disease) but it seems like my vitamin levels have gotten worse since then! Also, my T3 levels used to be a much higher percentage. It doesn’t make sense! I’ve also been taking supplements during that time too, which were specifically tailored to me by a nutritionist: zinc, B complex, vitamin C, omega 3, selenium and vitamin D3 with K2. I feel like I’ve been doing all the right things but things are getting worse!
I’ve been back on ferrous fumerate for the past week as my ferritin levels dropped - is this bad?
Also, I started taking 100mcg of Levothyroxine everyday a week ago. Should I still increase it by 25mcg a day?
Thanks again for all of your help - I really appreciate it.
I may ba able to help on your cortisol, but what time of day was it taken? Cortisol varies throughout the day so is at it's highest level first thing in the morning & then drops through the day, so it's important to know what time it was done.
It was done at 10am.
Okay , it's slightly on the low side but nothing drastic. Ask your GP to do an early morning one between 8-9am & referral to an Endo who understands pituitary/adrenal issues as not all of them do. I can' point you in the direction of one if you tell me by PM where you live.
Thank you - that would be really helpful. I live in Bristol.
Both BRI & Southmead have good Endocrine doctors. 
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