All my previous results and history now in my profile.
29th DECEMBER 2020
Stopped all vitamins including iron 5 days before test and Levo 24hrs previous (delayed dose) test done at 8.45am
ALSO been on GLUTEN AND LACTOSE FREE diet now for 5/6 WEEKS. Better results in T3 and T4π than before
Serum free T4 17.1 (10-18.7)
Range for T3. 5.6 (3.5 - 6.5)
TSH 0.18(0.38-5.5)π€
29th DECEMBER 2020
ferritin still very low to say I have been supplementing 200mg x 3 a day! Plus eating liver, spinach, beetroot, apricots, etc etc!! And gluten free lactose free diet!
Very very interesting articles. I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with the doctor and raise a few of the ideas as this is happening regularly. We have become the best of friends after our disagreement over whether I should lower my levo. So much so that when my TSH came back low this time the message was leave dosage and recheck in 6 weeks along with iron....ππ
This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimotoβs disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.
I do bleed heavy... I was considering having the mirena coil fitted but wasn't sure like the pill if it interfered with levo... Not done enough research yet!
ferritin still very low to say I have been supplementing 200mg x 3 a day
I just wanted to point out that raising iron and ferritin can be a very slow process if it has dropped a very long way as yours did. It took me almost two years to raise my ferritin to optimal. And despite the fact I achieved that eventually my serum iron was still too low.
In an earlier post of yours I replied on the subject of your iron :
Serum Iron 19 (9-30) --- 47.62% of the way through the range
Transferrin Saturation 22% (15-50) - Much too low
Transferrin iron 3.5 (2.5-3.8)
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If I compare the above results with the ones you've quoted today - 29th December 2020 :
Ferritin 15 (10-322) --- Fractionally improved --- 1.6% of the way through the range
TIBC 60 (45-81) --- Improved --- 41.7% of the way through the range
Serum Iron 15 (9-30) --- 28.6% of the way through the range
Transferrin Saturation 25% (15-50) --- Very slightly improved
Transferrin iron 2.4 (2.5-3.8) - Contradictory - should be much higher with low iron
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Ferritin - Still a long way to go - optimal will be roughly 166 - 220
TIBC - Contradictory - Result has improved but almost improved too much considering your iron/ferritin are both still too low.
Serum Iron - This is too low, but is more in keeping with your ferritin level than your previous result which was almost too good to be true given your other results. Optimal for iron with the range you've given is about 55% - 70% of the way through the range i.e. 20.55 - 23.7
Transferrin Saturation - Optimal is 35% - 45%. Yours is too low, and shows that you need more iron.
Transferrin Iron - Contradictory - As I said above this should be much higher with low iron.
Your ferritin, serum iron and transferrin saturation all agree that your iron is too low and should be raised. For now, I would stick to trying to raise your iron/ferritin and don't worry for now about the TIBC and the Transferrin Iron. They may be contradictory, but improving your general health with the right thyroid hormones and optimising other nutrient levels should help. I suspect your poor liver results might have something to do with the contradictory results.
I would suggest buying ferrous fumarate 210mg and taking 1 three times a day just to see if it works better for you than the ferrous sulfate, leaving sufficient gap (a minimum of four hours) between the iron and the thyroid hormones you take.
Igennus vitamin B complex contains all B vitamins and vitamin C as well
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 is another option that contain folate, but is large capsule
If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results
Individual tests might have their own page on that site.
I'm not knowledgeable on the subject of improving liver health. The only things I can tell you are :
1) Alcohol will damage liver but I know you've previously said you rarely drink.
2) A high carb diet is not good for liver health - it will increase the risk of fatty liver. Perhaps you could try increasing healthy fats and protein and reducing carbs. I don't know anything about your diet so this might not be helpful.
3) I have a supplement book which recommends the following (in very general terms) for liver problems. It does say that seeing a proper doctor is recommended :
Vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, selenium, grapeseed or pine bark extracts, milk thistle, globe artichoke, dandelion root and liquorice.
I would suggest you do your own careful research on the things listed in connection with liver health. I doubt that taking them all would be a good idea!
Liquorice will raise blood pressure in many people. There is a kind of liquorice called DGL liquorice which is supposed to have less effect on BP, but I find even that raises my BP so I would suggest caution with it. Make sure you have a gadget for measuring BP at home and check it regularly.
Vitamins E and A are fat soluble so will be toxic in overdose, unlike vitamin C which is water-soluble and excess will be excreted through the kidneys.
Selenium is often recommended for people who have thyroid disease.
I've never tried grapeseed, pine bark extracts, globe artichoke or dandelion root and don't know anything about them.
I have found milk thistle to be helpful in recent years but when I was a lot sicker than I am now I couldn't tolerate it.
Brazil nut are supposed to be good but I can't stand nuts!
Brazil nuts contain selenium only if they are grown in an area with good levels of selenium in the soil. Packaging should say whether this is true or not.
Personally, I've always stuck to taking supplements. I started with a dose of 200mcg per day but I found after a short while that it made me feel worse. I reduced to 100mcg per day and have been fine on that dose ever since.
I heard good thinks about milk thistle
Yes, milk thistle is a classic supplement to take to improve liver health and is the one I would go for.
I would also suggest that you take the vitamins I mentioned, even if you only take one bottle of them then stop. At least you will know whether they help or not. And I would suggest that everyone with thyroid disease should be taking vitamin C every day anyway.
There is a problem with vitamin A for people with thyroid disease. Many products that are sold as vitamin A are actually beta-carotene, not real vitamin A. Beta-carotene is a pro-hormone i.e. it has to be converted to vitamin A in the body in order for it to become the real vitamin.
Unfortunately, people with thyroid disease are often extremely poor at converting beta-carotene to vitamin A. Beta-carotene (from supplements or food) builds up and in people with long-term untreated or under-treated thyroid problems the beta-carotene can turn parts of the body orange.
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