After a lot of battles with the doctor due to my tsh being in range, I took some feedback on here about my t3 & t4 being below optimal for weight loss and feeling better and used this to convince the doctor to try me on levo. I’m starting tomorrow on 25mg dose and closely monitored with a blood test in 4 weeks.
Can anyone give me levo hints and tips or any info I need to know about balancing this with other supplements. I know there’s rules around when to take it. Should I take levo first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, then do my vitamin d, folate and b complex supplements in the afternoon?
I’ve also decided to come off the contraceptive injection to see if this has an impact on how I’m feeling too.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
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nw1991
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Always advised here is to take your Levo on an empty stomach, one hour before or two hours after food, with a glass of water only, no tea, coffee, milk, etc, and water only for an hour either side, as absorption will be affected. Take any other medication and supplements 2 hours away from Levo, some need 4 hours.
From the list of supplements you've mentioned:
Vitamin D - 4 hours away from Levo.
Folate and B complex - 2 hours away from Levo.
Why are you taking a separate Folate supplement, there will be Folate in the B Complex.
You are on a very low starter dose of 25mcg which is usually for children, the elderly or those with a heart condition. Normal starter dose is 50mcg. You will probably feel worse on such a low dose as this will start to switch off any thyroid hormone you are making itself but wont be enough to replace that then give you the extra that you need. You will need regular retesting, first one yu say is 4 weeks after starting Levo, you should then get an increase of 25mcg, then retest every 6-8 weeks after a dose change to check levels.
Always advised here, when having thyroid tests:
* Blood draw no later than 9am. This is because TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day. If looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, an increase in dose of Levo or to avoid a reduction then we need the highest possible TSH
* Nothing to eat or drink except water before the blood draw. This is because eating can lower TSH and coffee can affect TSH.
* Last dose of Levo 24 hours before the test, take that day's dose after the blood draw. This is because if you take your Levo before the blood draw the test will measure the dose just taken and show a false high. If you leave longer than 24 hours the result will show a false low.
* If you take Biotin or a B Complex containing Biotin (B7), leave this off for 7 days before any blood test. This is because if Biotin is used in the testing procedure it can give false results (most labs use biotin).
These are patient to patient tips which we don't discuss with phlebotomists or doctors.
Also, take your Levo on an empty stomach, one hour before or two hours after food, with a glass of water only, no tea, coffee, milk, etc, and water only for an hour either side, as absorption will be affected. Take any other medication and supplements 2 hours away from Levo, some need 4 hours.
Thanks SeasideSusie! Really appreciate it. My folate was so low I thought I should supplement it. Would I be better stopping this and just stick to b complex?
I’m not looking forward to feeling worse on the low dose. The gp did initially say 50mg but changed his mind because he said he didn’t want to send me overactive
The doctor just told me to buy a supplement. Wasn’t much help. I take ingennus super b complex and jarrow formulas methyl folate which is 400 micro grams
I would continue with your folate plus B Complex and retest folate in, say 3 months. Once your folate is in double figures (if range is >3.89) or if there's a range then once it reaches over half way, then I'd drop the folate supplement and continue with the Igennus only.
Thanks SeasideSusie. I use an Epsom salt shower gel containing magnesium but don’t supplement it. I don’t supplement k2-mk7 either. If this is necessary, could you advise a brand that’s reputable for me to look at? Thanks in advance
I have no idea how much magnesium would be in a shower gel and if it's enough to help your body convert the D3 into it's active form.
D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and K2-MK7 directs it to bones and teeth where it's needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems such as hardening of the arteries and kidney stones, etc.
I like Vegavero and Vitabay, whichever is available at the time. My preference would be Vegavero as they're capsules and don't have the additives/excipients that tablets have.
I haven't, as far as I remember, read Dr Coimbra but have read plenty of other articles about Vit K.
MK4 has a short life-span., it has a half life of about 1.5 hours and needs multiple doses during the day when supplementing. MK7 has a half life of about 72 hours, so a once daily dose is enough. So it makes more sense to supplement with MK7.
It's up to each of us to decide what we want to do.
I happened to be looking on the Vitamin D Protocol website and read about Dr Coimbra’s use of MK4; he is my ‘go-to’ for everything vitamin D related as he has been treating autoimmune conditions successfully for circa 20 years using vitamin D. Dr Coimbra’s a professor of neuroscience. I’ll have another read as to why he uses MK4 and not MK7.
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