Hi all. I had hashimoto and on Levo 87.5 for years now. These days I am always cold, had no energy and no matter how much hours I slept, I need more after an hour of waking up. I did thyroid tests and these are my results:
Thanks for reply. No morning dose 24 hours before the test.Test done nearly 11 A.M. My doc did not request any tests except ferritin when I complained about my low energy. So, FT4 will not be over range of I increase my dose to 100?
Thanks. I will ask my doc to refer me to do these tests. Currently I started taking Vitamin d supplement with the iron pills. My ferritin was at first 6 a year ago. I took iron pills for six months and it raised to 19 then I stopped iron pills for two months and it dropped to 11.7. So, I currently started taking it again.
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. One spray = 1000iu
Thank you very much for this valuable info. I will read carefully all this and try to increase my vitamin d as much as possible. Unfortunately, I tested vitamin D three years ago. I did not remember now what is the result, but it was under the normal range ( less than 20), and I did not take any supplements till recently. I was dealing with many issues because of Hashimoto and did not consider raising it until recently. I know that I must separate my supplements from thyroid medication at least 4 hours
Hi SlowDragon, and please excuse me Meriam being in your post. I've just read your post saying iron must be taken 4 hours away from Levo and from other meds, and I presume from Liothyronine too. I can't see how to achieve this, can you guide me please? I take Lio between 4am and 7 am (according to when I wake), 2nd Lio around 11 am and third (last) around 4 pm, though sometimes hours later if teaching yoga. I often can't eat until finishing work, around 9.30 pm. I aim to take B vitamins (being vegan) after breakfast so it doesn't disrupt sleep, vitamin C at lunch time, also so it doesn't disrupt sleep. I then need to fit in iron (low ferritin) and vitamin D, K and magnesium (osteopoenia) but I can't stay awake late enough. Also on oestrogen (post menopause) which I take at night but after oestrogen I can't eat breakfast and often skip lunch too, so then I can't take the B vits or C with food. How on earth does anyone manage this and, how important is it to take the supplements 4 hours away from each other? If it's just that the supplements become less effective then would it be better to take them even if just 2 hours apart rather than not taking them at all because the 4 hour gap can't be achieved? I'd really like to know why, what are the consequences of not leaving the recommended time gap. Many thanks for your time and advice.
Iron is best taken with vitamin C as vitamin C improves iron absorption
For many iron supplements, that is absolutely true.
But I don't think it applies if consuming iron in the form of haem (heme) or ferritin - such as might be in liver or various products made from animal sources.
Ah, I see how you can do it, I take my T3 through the day because my job is active whereas I don't need it for sleep, so I don't have an 8 hour gap during the day. Do you not find that the magnesium interferes with digestion if taken after a meal?
I take glandulars not levo/lio but it’s the same principal and changed the timings for that very reason; I couldn’t fit in all my supplements! I now take thyroid glandulars as soon as I wake and just as I fall into bed. A happy accident of this is that I sleep better. There’s still plenty of room for even more improvement but I’m not taking literally hours to drop off any more, which is a blessing
Just one thing on vitamin D, is to get the full benefits of vitamin D you need your level 100-130nmol at this level you get the full protection which includes several cancers inc hormonal cancers according to the studies...
Otherwise SlowDragon has provided excellent support.
In all people, a serum ferritin level of less than 30 micrograms/L confirms the diagnosis of iron deficiency
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
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.
Thyroid disease is as much about optimising vitamins as thyroid hormones
Never supplement iron without doing full iron panel test for anaemia first and retest 3-4 times a year if self supplementing. It’s possible to have low ferritin but high iron
Thanks a lot. I am not vegetarian but just gluten and dairy free. I never do full iron panel but I noticed that when I raised my ferritin from 6 to 19, my fatigue lessened a bit, and my hair start growing after years of not growing at all, my period became much lighter than before. I will read all the links you posted to know better about iron deficiency and low ferritin. I appreciate your help.
I think you’ll start feeling a lot better when your T3 is higher in range. Now there’s lots of ways of getting there as you’ll have read on here - persuade your Doc on a Levo increase, get referred to an Endo who might allow T3 or self source meds. It’s a journey but I’ll just say it’s worth doing. As to your doc, maybe ask to see a different one at the practice and state just how much your health is affecting your ability to work, your relationships etc and remind them the aim of medication is not just to get levels in range but to get symptoms relieved.
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Help with blood work result, please!
Help with my results please
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