Advice on increasing vitamins /energy.

[georgiego]

Hi all,

I'm writing in desperation for help. I am a mum of an 8 year old & 2 year old. I am struggling with energy & having so much mum guilt as I struggle to get up and out and keep them busy on a daily basis. My Gp/ endocrinologist have said my levels are normal but I really don't think this lack of energy is normal. I've just turned 40 and I feel 80 as I have aches & pains on a regular basis. I suffer with SIJoint disfunction too & had a herniated disc 6 months ago. I am currently taking 150mg of levo and 5mcg of t3 daily. Thyroid levels ft4 16.7 (12-22) tsh 0.99 (0.27-4.20) t3 4.5 (no range) I got a medichecks test to check my vitamin levels as doctor refused to do my vitamin d. Most of my levels are in the low range so I've started taking Ingennus Vitamin b complex & doctors best vitamin d 2000. Should I double this dose of vitamin d? I am going to start on some vit k2 mk7 also after reading here how important it is. Anything else I can do? Thanks in advance.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

See GP with these results

Ferritin is dire, you need full iron panel test for anaemia. Likely to need iron supplements prescribed

Do you suffer heavy periods?

Are you vegetarian or vegan

Vitamin D is far too low

Just 2 points away from needing LOADING dose of 300,000iu prescribed in total over 6-8 weeks

Suggest you see GP re this too

NHS Guidelines on dose vitamin D required

ouh.nhs.uk/osteoporosis/use...

GP will often only prescribe to bring vitamin D levels to 50nmol.

Some areas will prescribe to bring levels to 75nmol or even 80nmol

leedsformulary.nhs.uk/docs/...

GP should advise on self supplementing if over 50nmol, but under 75nmol (but they rarely do)

mm.wirral.nhs.uk/document_u...

But with Hashimoto’s, improving to around 80nmol or 100nmol by self supplementing may be better

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/218...

vitamindsociety.org/pdf/Vit...

Once you Improve level, very likely you will need on going maintenance dose to keep it there.

Test twice yearly via NHS

vitamindtest.org.uk

Vitamin D mouth spray by Better You is very effective as it avoids poor gut function. There’s a version made that also contains vitamin K2 Mk7

amazon.co.uk/BetterYou-Dlux...

It’s trial and error what dose we need, with hashimoto’s we frequently need higher dose than average

Calculator for working out dose you may need to bring level to 40ng/ml = 100nmol

grassrootshealth.net/projec...

Government recommends everyone supplement October to April

gov.uk/government/news/phe-...

Taking too much vitamin D is not a good idea

chriskresser.com/vitamin-d-...

Web links about taking important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-MK7

Magnesium best taken in the afternoon or evening, but must be four hours away from levothyroxine

betterbones.com/bone-nutrit...

medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

livescience.com/61866-magne...

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

Vitamin K2 mk7

betterbones.com/bone-nutrit...

healthline.com/nutrition/vi...

2 good videos on magnesium

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Vitamin D and Covid

Notice how much vitamin D many of these medics are taking

vitamind4all.org/letter.pdf

[georgiego in reply to SlowDragon]

I did actually go to the doctors & they retested my iron, thyroid & vitamin d only. When I called for results the receptionist said I shouldn't have vitamin D tested as they don't routinely do it & wouldn't tell me the result!! She said gp had wrote "buy vitamin d over the counter". I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My haemoglobin came back as 121 g/l (115-160) I feel really let down by my gp. I sent them a copy of all my results and thats all they retested! Not vegan or vegetarian and heavy enough periods since having my 2nd child.

[pennyannie in reply to georgiego]

Hey there,

Is it possible to see a different doctor at the same surgery ?

I'm sorry, you must feel so lt down, the results speak for themselves.

[georgiego in reply to pennyannie]

Hi there , to be honest I never actually got speaking to the doctor. The receptionist wouldn't let me go past her. I emailed the results to the doctor so yes I think my first step is to actually speak with a doctor. Seems like an enormous task when feeling so lethargic but gotta do it. Thank you.

[pennyannie in reply to georgiego]

Well, I'm afraid we have all been there - but these results are very real and not an illusion - good luck, and keep us in the loop :

[georgiego in reply to pennyannie]

Thank you so much penny Annie. I know I can't go on feeling like this.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to georgiego]

You are legally entitled to copies of your blood test results and ranges

Heavy periods are symptom of being under medicated thyroid wise

Also when iron levels are low heavy periods are more common...chicken and egg

You need full iron panel

humanbean and SeasideSusie are the iron experts

Look at increasing iron rich foods in diet

Eating iron rich foods like liver or liver pate once a week plus other red meat, pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate, plus daily orange juice or other vitamin C rich drink can help improve iron absorption

List of iron rich foods

dailyiron.net

Links about iron and ferritin

irondisorders.org/too-littl...

davidg170.sg-host.com/wp-co...

Great in-depth article on low ferritin

oatext.com/iron-deficiency-...

drhedberg.com/ferritin-hypo...

This is interesting because I have noticed that many patients with Hashimoto’s disease and hypothyroidism, start to feel worse when their ferritin drops below 80 and usually there is hair loss when it drops below 50.

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Thyroid disease is as much about optimising vitamins as thyroid hormones

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

restartmed.com/hypothyroidi...

Post discussing just how long it can take to raise low ferritin

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first

Post discussing why important to do full iron panel test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Why low ferritin needs improving

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[georgiego in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you SlowDragon. I'm really trying to eat more iron rich food, im just not sure I could do the liver.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to georgiego]

Hide it in curry, stews, sheep pie, Lancashire hotpot etc

Personally I love liver ....and my ferritin is way too high...so have to limit iron rich foods!

[georgiego in reply to SlowDragon]

Will get the husband to do it & then I won't know its there 😀 gosh I couldn't imagine being really high in ferritin lol...hopefully some day.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to georgiego]

Post menopause helps obviously

Ferritin 240....but iron is not high

Some of us, especially with Hashimoto’s....inflammation causes high ferritin

[pennyannie in reply to georgiego]

Asda have little tubs of frozen chicken livers - they are very clean and very mild :

Defrost a tub a week, flash fry in a little olive oil and then whizz down into a pate and add a little mayo if it looks too dry:

Store in the fridge and each morning take a spoonful, with a dollop of Hellman's to help this medicine go down :

I now just take this just to keep my ferritin up at around 100 :

But you will need a lot more help than just this, and ferritin does take it's time building up and saying put.

[georgiego in reply to pennyannie]

Brilliant. Great advice. Thank you. I will definitely give it a try. Fingers crossed it goes down OK 🤞

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Just 5mcg T3 is likely too small a dose

It’s enough to significantly lower TSH, but not giving high enough Ft3

Suggest you try adding 2nd 5mcg dose T3 approx 12 hours after 1st dose

Retest in 6-8 weeks

Day before test make sure last 5mcg T3 is approx 8-12 hours before test

Last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Test as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water

Are you currently on strictly gluten free diet

If not, get GP to do coeliac blood test

[georgiego in reply to SlowDragon]

No I'm not gluten free. I did get tested for it years ago when getting diagnosed with graves but I will try to get a recent one. I will definitely try the extra 5mcg to see what happens. Thank you.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to georgiego]

So you previously had Graves Disease?

Low vitamin levels affect Thyroid hormone working

Poor gut function with autoimmune disease can lead leaky gut (literally holes in gut wall) this can cause food intolerances. Most common by far is gluten. Dairy is second most common.

over 80% find gluten free diet helps, sometimes significantly. Either due to direct gluten intolerance (no test available) or due to leaky gut and gluten causing molecular mimicry (see Amy Myers link)

Changing to a strictly gluten free diet may help reduce symptoms, help gut heal

As you have had negative coeliac blood test done already you can just trial gluten free diet

Trying gluten free diet for 3-6 months. If no noticeable improvement then reintroduce gluten and see if symptoms get worse

chriskresser.com/the-gluten...

amymyersmd.com/2018/04/3-re...

[georgiego in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes I started off with graves & hyperthyroidism but everything went haywire after having my first child so I ended up getting RAI. I will give it a try. It kind of overwhelms me at the thoughts of it but if it helps me feel better I will do it. Thank you.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to georgiego]

It’s easier than you might expect...Once you get your head around it

Especially if you see significant improvements it’s easier to stick to

[georgiego in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes thats true and I'll not know until I try. Thank you.

[Mostew]

Nettles are great for iron . Make a tea , or if you have nettles round were y oh live you can make a nice nettle soup

[georgiego in reply to Mostew]

Interesting. I'll look into that too, thanks.