New blood test results. 11 month on NDT - Thyroid UK

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New blood test results. 11 month on NDT

Latucu profile image
5 Replies

Good morning. I just received my Medichecks blood test results and I would appreciate any comments regarding.

The doctor of Medichecks suggest to reduce my NDT dose. I’m taking Erfa 2.5 grains a day at the moment.

I’ve been taking NDT since January and it has been a life changer. I can see improvements on my energy levels, no more brain fog, I finally started loosing weight. I like to say that now, when I wake up in the morning, I feel awake! But I been feeling that the changes and improvements have stopped…

Because I was feeling better, I started to focus on my gut issues that were really bad, and started working with a nutritionist, fighting a bacteria they found me and changing diet (I’m on a gluten, diary, sugar free diet since May) but I neglected my vitamins intake and that’s very clear on the results.

Many thanks, Ana

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Latucu
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SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering

Latucu

When did you take your last dose of NDT before the test?

On the day before dose should be split into 2 or 3 and the last part of the dose should be 8-12 hours before the blood draw.

Latucu profile image
Latucu in reply toSeasideSusie

Hi, yes, I split it into 2 and take the last dose at 8pm. Test was following morning 7.30am, before any food or drink

SeasideSusie profile image
SeasideSusieRemembering in reply toLatucu

Latucu

OK, in that case you may be slightly overmedicated as your FT3 is over range. This may be OK but I prefer to keep my FT3 in range. You could see how you feel with a reduction of 1/4 grain. Or maybe Levo plus T3 would be a better match for you then you could tweak doses of each to suit rather than have the set ratio of T4:T3 that NDT gives.

Your B12 is too low at 58.1 as Active B12 below 70 suggests testing for B12 deficiency. I would ask your GP to do this for you and check to see if you have any signs or symptoms, if you do list then to discuss with your GP in support of testing:

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

b12d.org/submit/document?id=46

Don't take any B12 or B Complex or folic acid before further testing as this will skew results.

Shame the Folate test couldn't be done, this is important as folate and B12 work together.

Vit D at 71.5nmol/L is on the low side. The Vit D Society and Grassroots Health recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L, with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health mentioning a study which recommends over 125nmol/L.

If you want to improve your level then to reach the recommended level from your current level, you could supplement with 3,000iu D3 daily during the winter months then retest at the end of March.

Once you've reached the recommended level then a maintenance dose will be needed to keep it there, which may be 2000iu daily, maybe more or less, maybe less in summer than winter, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. This can be done with a private fingerprick blood spot test with an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:

vitamindtest.org.uk/

Doctors don't know, because they're not taught much about nutrients, but there are important cofactors needed when taking D3. You will have to buy these yourself.

D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and Vit K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems such as hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, etc. 90-100mcg K2-MK7 is enough for up to 10,000iu D3.

D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds if taking D3 as tablets/capsules/softgels, no necessity if using an oral spray.

For D3 I like Doctor's Best D3 softgels, they are an oil based very small softgel which contains just two ingredients - D3 and extra virgin olive oil, a good quality, nice clean supplement which is budget friendly. Some people like BetterYou oral spray but this contains a lot of excipients and works out more expensive.

For Vit K2-MK7 I like Vitabay or Vegavero brands which contain the correct form of K2-MK7 - the "All Trans" form rather than the "Cis" form. The All Trans form is the bioactive form, a bit like methylfolate is the bioactive form of folic acid.

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...

Ferritin doesn't seem too bad but it's recommended to be half way through range (82-ish with that range) although some experts say that the optimal ferritin level for thyroid function is 90-110ug/L.

Was there a CRP test done?

You can help raise your level by eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, and including lots of iron rich foods in your diet

bda.uk.com/resource/iron-ri...

everydayhealth.com/pictures...

Don't consider taking an iron supplement unless you do an iron panel, if you already have a decent level of serum iron and a good saturation percentage then taking iron tablets can push your iron level even higher, too much iron is as bad as too little.

Latucu profile image
Latucu in reply toSeasideSusie

I tried Levo and T3 for 6 months last year but it didn’t work, there’s wasn’t much improvement. I could try reducing 1/4 grain.B12. I contacted my GP for low B12 a year ago and they ordered new tests and pernicious anemia was discarded. I was taking Igennus B complex and Methyl B12 but as I mentioned I stopped when I was healing my gut problems. I just reorder them.

Vit D. Same as vit B12, it was improving after taking Doctors Best for several months. I stopped and it went down… Just reorder it.

Vit K2. Tried to order Vitabay because it was the one I used last year but is sold out in Amazon. Trying to found it elsewhere.

Magnesium. I never stopped since I started supplementing last year. I’ll continue.

Iron. I’ll increase the iron rich food into my diet.

CRP HS 1.24 mg/l (0-5)

Thanks!

pennyannie profile image
pennyannie

Hello Latuco ;

Your results look pretty much like mine on NDT and yes, I too experienced weight loss around a year in and have dropped a couple of dress sizes.

So pleased this seems to be working well for you and once your vitamins and minerals are back on track you may find that you need to reassess your dose as your conversion will likely improve with optimal ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D.

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