Brain fog

[Arabella33]

Hello everyone. Brain fog for me is by far the worst symptom I have. What are all the possible causes of brain fog are and how you over come them? Thank you

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Do you have Hashimoto’s, diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies

Strictly gluten free diet helps or is essential for high percentage of autoimmune patients

Can significantly improve brain fog too

[Arabella33 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks for your reply. I don’t have Hashimotos antibodies or any reactions to foods. I have deficient folate so I think it’s that but wondering what other people experiences are. I also have peripheral neuropathy causing burning sensation brain so I’m foggy and in pain. I do think it’s down to b12 / folate deficiency

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Arabella33]

What’s your vitamin D results

Are you supplementing vitamin D or any B vitamins?

Peripheral neuropathy can start after improving low vitamin D

Have you had both TPO and TG thyroid antibodies tested?

Have you had ultrasound scan of thyroid?

[Arabella33 in reply to SlowDragon]

I was vit de deficient but I optimised I’m 185 now so maintaining that. I had the burning befor then. B12 I was over but folate was deficient so not being utilised.

I’m supplementing with folinic acid as I suspect mthfr test (waiting for results) how much should I dose ?

No ultrasound of thyroid.

Why did it take optimisation of vitamins for thyroid meds to work

Also I’m high cortisol in morning but just waiting to retest.

Thank you 😊

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Arabella33]

Low vitamin D and low B vitamins may be linked as explained here

drgominak.com/sleep/vitamin...

drgominak.com/rightsleep-me...

In YouTube video when Dr Gominak talks about vitamin D levels ...vitamin D at 40ng/ml (USA units) is equal to 100nmol (UK units)

youtu.be/74F22bjBmqE(Not working as expected?)

Many Hashimoto’s patients have MTHFR gene variation and can have trouble processing folic acid.

thyroidpharmacist.com/artic...

Supplementing a good quality daily vitamin B complex, one with folate in not folic acid may be beneficial. Vitamin B complex helps keep all B vitamins in balance

chriskresser.com/folate-vs-...

B vitamins best taken after breakfast

Igennus Super B is good quality and cheap vitamin B complex. Contains folate. Full dose is two tablets per day. Many/most people may only need one tablet per day. Certainly only start on one per day (or even half tablet per day for first couple of weeks)

Or Thorne Basic B or jarrow B-right are other options that contain folate, but both are large capsules

If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results

endo.confex.com/endo/2016en...

endocrinenews.endocrine.org...

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Arabella33]

Can test DNA for loads of stuff here including MTHFR obviously

mthfr-genetics.co.uk

Option to upload existing DNA test results done by other companies like Ancestry or 23 and me for evaluation for under £20

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Arabella33]

Obviously thyroid hormones won’t be very effective until all four vitamins are optimal

[Arabella33 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you for the info.

I’m having trouble as I keep hearing conflicting instructions to deal with low folate and b12. A b12 groups told my to stop all supplements after taking 5mg folic acid to get a true reading of b12, I told them I thought I was mthfr they said for most it’s ok. What’s the point if waiting months to treat just to get a clear test result when I know I have it due to low folate ?

I have folinic acid 800mcg supplements which I started taking and 2000mcg adreno hydroxy b12. I will get the other b vitamins also. I’m getting better you b12 spray as well

Will this be enough and how long until I feel better?

Have many people used this protocol?

Thank you

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Arabella33]

If you have low folate then trying a daily vitamin B complex that has folate in (not folic acid) is recommended

Retest after 6-8 weeks...

As explained by Dr Gominack, you might need additional B12 for few weeks...

[Arabella33 in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you very much for your advice.

Out of interest, why do thyroid meds only work with optimal levels ?

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Arabella33]

Suggest you watch this film ....explains the whole process better than I could

He is particularly talking about Hashimoto’s, but the whole process is common with all patients on replacement thyroid hormones

drbradshook.com/understandi...

[pennyannie]

Hello Arabella

Looking back at your posts I understand you are on NDT and taking 1+1/2 grains :

Do you have a diagnosis and were you previously on T4 only, and has NDT improved your level of wellbeing.

Natural Desiccated Thyroid was successfully used for over 100 years to treat hypothyroidism and prior to any blood tests, guidelines or rules and regulations.

Originally the doctor would listen to your symptoms and if he suspected hypothyroidism he would give you a little nugget of pig's thyroid to chew on. When you returned to the doctor, if your symptoms were not reduced enough, he would carve you off a slightly bigger piece of pig thyroid to chew on. This process would continue until your symptoms would be relieved and then the doctor knew how much pig thyroid you needed each week to keep you feeling well.

When on NDT you dose to the relief of symptoms, simply, slowly increasing by 1/4 grain every week monitoring temperature and blood pressure.

As a guideline it is suggested that if you get up to 2 grains, you stay on this dose for 6-8 weeks letting it ' bed in ' and then take a blood test to see where your levels are, compared to the bench blood test you did, before starting on NDT.

If there is no improvement in your T3 this may not be the right medication for you.

If your symptoms have reduced but not completely, and your T3 increased you continue slowly upping your dose until such time as you feel a little different, maybe anxious, nervous and uncomfortable within your own body and then you drop back down to the dose you were previously on and that is your dose on NDT and in my experience you will continue to improve as this final dose beds in.

There are no blood tests for NDT : though it will work better for you if you maintain your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D at optimal levels.

On NDT my TSH is low suppressed, my T4 comes in at the bottom end of the range and my T3 comes in at the top or slightly over the range.

My results vary slightly depending on the time of the blood draw, last medication, my vitamins and mineral levels, and if I've eating anything in the meantime.

These ranges and the guidelines were introduced to be used with T4-Levothyroxine.

I have Graves Disease and am post RAI thyroid ablation and now manage lingering Graves, thyroid eye disease and hypothyroidism. I did have high reverse T3 because of the nature of Graves but I do not believe it hindered my recovery even when on T4 though obviously I am fairing much better now, self medicating with full spectrum thyroid hormone replacement.

[Arabella33 in reply to pennyannie]

Hello,

Yes I’m on 1.5 grains NDT I was not on t4 before and ndt did improve my symptoms but not entirely my ft3 is 4.92 (3.1- 6.8) so my dr will not increase. I agree with the old metholody of increasing slowly until you feel anxious and then dropping to find your dose but my dr will not so that. I could do it myself but I’m scared.

My folate was very deficient 3.09 (3.8-22) so I’m supplementing with that Hope the brain fog is down to b12. If not I’m at a loss and I will have to start experimenting with t3 myself.

Do you know anything about b12 and the other bs?

Glad to hear you are doing better.

[pennyannie in reply to Arabella33]

No thyroid hormone replacement works well unless your B12, folate, ferritin and vitamin D are maintained at optimal levels, so through trial and error I 've now some understanding of where my vitamins and minerals need to be for optimal conversion whether I am taking T4, T4 + T3, or NDT, or NDT + T3 or T4 :

What are you scared of, you probably know more about How To Treat with NDT than your doctor who is restricting your dose on a blood test result which is not how you treat with NDT.

Even following this doctor's thinking - your T3 isn't even 50% through it's range, so why is this doctor not increasing your NDT ?

[Arabella33 in reply to pennyannie]

Thank you for your reply. Apologise my ft3 is 5.92 - typo !

But I agree with what you’ve said - I feel I could have increased another half grain until anxious hyper symptoms slightly rose and then reduced. It’s how it used to be done and i am in no way hyper or anxious.

I do need to get folate up, and then I will look at increasing myself slowly and carefully.

Out of interest, do you know why thyroid meds do not work without optimal vitamins ?

[pennyannie in reply to Arabella33]

Ok then, but you are still in range at around 78% - so what - if you still have symptoms : increase NDT in 1/4 grains - not halves - you just need a little bit at a time : 1/4 containing approximately 9T4 and 2.5 T3 :

I don't know the answer but it makes sense to keep your strength strong and solid anyway and it works as I've found out regaining my health through this amazing website.