Help with blood results !!

[2hope]

Hi, I am new here. I need some advice on my blood results. I was having hair fall out in clumps, so my GP did my thyroid checks as I am hypothyroid and taking Levothyroxine 125mg. She has asked me to lower my medicine to 100 mg because my levels show I am taking too much thyroxine! I feel so confused because I read that if the dose is too high it can cause unintentional weight-loss whereas I have gained weight without changing my diet. My hair is falling in clumps and in the last couple of weeks I have had a puffy face . Any support will be appreciated xxx

TSH level 0.01 mU/L (0.35 - 4.94)

Free T4 level. 13.2 pmol/L (9.0 - 19.0)

Free T3 level. 4.16 pmol/L (2.43 - 6.01)

I

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Was test done as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

GP only looking at TSH

Ft4 and Ft3 are low so they do NOT indicate over medicated

Low vitamin levels tend to lower TSH

You need vitamin D, folate, ferritin and and B12 tested NOW

request GP test these before you will consider changing levothyroxine dose

Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription

[2hope in reply to SlowDragon]

Yes test was done early in morning, before eating and drinking. My GP doesn’t do Vit D tests so I take the over the counter vit D myself. I told her to check for Iron levels and she said they are fine.

These are some other results but I don’t understand them.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to 2hope]

So you need to test folate, ferritin, B12 and vitamin D

How much vitamin D are you currently taking

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or thyroid antibodies or all relevant vitamins

List of private testing options

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

Cheapest test including thyroid and vitamins often on offer if order on a Thursday

Medichecks Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Thriva Thyroid plus antibodies and vitamins By DIY fingerpick test

thriva.co/tests/thyroid-test

Thriva also offer just vitamin testing

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes antibodies, cortisol and vitamins by DIY fingerprick test

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

NHS easy postal kit vitamin D test £29 via

vitamindtest.org.uk

When testing thyroid

Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .

Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).

cheapest option for just TSH, FT4 and FT3

£29 (via NHS private service ) and 10% off down to £26.10 if go on thyroid uk for code

thyroiduk.org/getting-a-dia...

monitormyhealth.org.uk/

[2hope in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you so much I really really appreciate all the help. I will definitely get all the tests done. What should I do about lowering my dose, I don’t feel I an having too much, I still feel all the hypothyroid symptoms but the doctor said your thyroid is suppressed? and I need to reduce from 125 to 100mg?

[2hope in reply to 2hope]

Sorry I forgot to mention that I am taking the holland & barrett Vitamin d3 400 i.u

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to 2hope]

I would refuse to reduce dose at moment unless have hyperthyroid symptoms

Do you wear a Fitbit or equivalent. Can be useful to show GP you have low resting heart rate

H&B supplements are cheap for a reason and 400iu is really tiny dose for someone with thyroid disease

Test vitamin D, likely to see level is still very low

Recommend you wait till Thursday if thinking of ordering Medichecks test, might be cheaper

Only do test early Monday or Tuesday morning and post back straight away

Only ever do any thyroid test as early as possible in morning before eating or drinking anything other than water and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

Do you always get same brand levothyroxine at each prescription?

[2hope in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you so much for your reply. I don’t wear any kind of fit bit but I definitely don’t have hyperthyroid symptoms.

I am thinking of getting the Medichecks test done, so will wait till Thursday. Are they easy enough to do from home? Where is the best place to purchase Vitamin D because I kniw my gp won’t prescribe it. I asked once and they told me to buy one from any health store.

I have always had the same levothyroxine brand .

This brand

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to 2hope]

Post here from this morning discussing doing blood tests

First time you do one …slow plenty of time…

Only do test early Monday or Tuesday morning

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[2hope in reply to SlowDragon]

This post us helpful!!

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to 2hope]

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...

NHS Guidelines on dose vitamin D required depending on results

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

But with autoimmune thyroid disease ( 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 if not doing Medichecks

vitamindtest.org.uk

Trial and error what maintenance dose each person needs. Often need higher dose in winter than summer

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

[2hope in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you so much for all this information!!! You need to start writing a book! The amount of information you have given us invaluable. Its so hard to talk to a GP, they don’t care about your symptoms, and sometimes they just brush you off when you question them further. Thyroid issues are so much more internal than external. Most people look at you and think you look perfectly fine to me.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Do yo7 know if you have autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto’s diagnosed by high thyroid antibodies

Low vitamin levels are extremely common with Hashimoto’s

About 90% of primary hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroid disease

Low iron/ferritin often linked to hairloss