Aching Joints - Cod Liver Oil supplement?

[Jillycee]

I had my bloods done in August this year. Although I feel mostly ok, my joints have been hurting quite a lot recently and I am wondering whether to take some cod liver oil. I am currently taking 100mcg Levothyroxine, 1000mcgs methylcobalamin, complete B complex, Vitamin D3 5000iu and vitamin K2 1000ug. I take my Levo at night and all other tablets in the morning. Would it be ok to add in cod liver oil? Any help would be appreciated.

[Jillycee]

Second page of results. Thanks

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[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Jilllycee

The problem with cod liver oil is that it contains rather a lot of Vit A and a small amount of Vit D. I can't say whether or not it would be OK to take it but I would caution you about the amount of Vit A. Like Vit D, it is a fat soluble vitamin and any excess gets stored so you have to be careful about toxicity.

Here is what the NHS say about Vit A:

nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-...

and they emphasise

If you take supplements containing vitamin A, make sure your daily intake from food and supplements does not exceed 1.5 mg (1,500 µg).

So look at food sources, do you get much Vit A from food? Take that into account if you are going to take cod liver oil, check the Vit A content of the oil.

Your Ferritin is quite high yet your serum iron is a little bit low at only 31% through range, serum iron should be around 55-70% through range (higher end for males). Sometimes ferritin can be elevated due to inflammation or infection, but your CRP (an inflammation marker) isn't raised so one wonders why your ferritin is over range.

Your folate level is very low at just 5% through it's range, it's recommended to be at least half way through it's range.

B12 is marked as high and you are taking a separate B12 supplement, you don't need this, you just need a B Complex but which one are you currently taking? It doesn't seem to be doing much for your folate level. Does it contain folic acid or methylfolate and how much?

Your raised TPO antibodies confirm Hashimoto's which I think you know. Do you have current results for TSH, FT4 and FT3?

Vitamin D3 5000iu and vitamin K2 1000ug

Is your K2 really 1000ug or is that a typo? 90-100ug is enough for up to 10,000iu D3.

Do you also take magnesium as a cofactor of D3? Magnesium helps D3 to work. We need magnesium so that the body utilises D3, it's required to convert Vit D into it's active form, and large doses of D3 can induce depletion of magnesium. So it's important we ensure we take magnesium when supplementing with D3.

Magnesium comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds if taking magnesium as tablets/capsules, no necessity if using topical forms of magnesium.

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

drjockers.com/best-magnesiu...

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Ft4 only 56% through range Ft3 only 29% through range

Helpful calculator for working out percentage through range

chorobytarczycy.eu/kalkulator

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

If you normally take levothyroxine at bedtime/in night ...adjust timings as follows prior to blood test

If testing Monday morning, delay Saturday evening dose levothyroxine until Sunday morning. Delay Sunday evening dose levothyroxine until after blood test on Monday morning. Take Monday evening dose levothyroxine as per normal

Did you remember to stop taking vitamin B complex a week before all blood tests as contains biotin

Results show you are slightly under medicated and poor converter of Ft4 to Ft3

High antibodies confirms autoimmune thyroid disease also called Hashimoto’s

Are you already on strictly gluten free diet

If not ..

Have you had coeliac blood test done

If not get this done BEFORE trialing strictly gluten free diet

Aiming for both Ft4 and Ft3 at least 50-60% through range

[Jillycee in reply to SlowDragon]

I had my tests done first thing on a Monday morning before any food or drink. I take my Levothyroxine at night so took my tablet on Saturday night and then took one on Monday after my test and then again Monday night then back to normal. I will try out your suggestions next time thank you. Is it just the B complex that I should stop taking a week before or B12 also? I have never stopped these before my tests - will definitely do this next time.I have been on a strict gluten free diet for 5 years now. I'm not sure whether I would feel poorly if I did have some gluten now, but I'm not willing to try as I felt so poorly previously.

Thanks for all of the information

😀

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Jillycee]

So last dose levothyroxine was 36 hours before test (not 24 hours) so if you had left 24 hours Ft4 would have been higher ….so probably no room for dose increase in levothyroxine

But very poor conversion of Ft4 to Ft3

As you are gluten intolerant, very common to have poor conversion, likely to benefit from addition of T3 prescribed alongside levothyroxine

Email Thyroid UK for list of recommend thyroid specialist endocrinologists who will prescribe T3 or NDT

...NHS and Private

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