Update with some optimism and a D3 question

[Pearlteapot]

At diagnosis I was D3 deficient with 18nmol (51-250). My GP put me on a loading dose of 20,000iu twice a week for 6 weeks. I was re-tested on Monday and it is now 70nmol/L (51-250). Since the loading dose finished I have been using a D3/k2 3000iu oil supplement by nature provides.

The question: I am seeing my GP on Friday. I am in range but at the low end. Should I ask her for another loading dose to try to get above 100 or just continue with my daily 3000iu supplements?

Now the optimism. I had a real knock last week when my heart rate spiked so suddenly after two days on 100mg. I had an appointment with a private endo on Monday (booked ages ago). The main complaints I have read about endos in here is that (a) they rely on TSH and don't consider T3 or conversion issues (b) they treat by numbers not symptom and (c) they won't prescribe T3 when it is needed.

This consultant gained my confidence because she immediately said she would send off for a T3 result from my recent blood draw in the same hospital (commissioned by my GP), she said must treat symptoms not by numbers (without being asked) and wasn't against T3 but said various reasons why it is a last resort. She's also testing my cortisol because of my bad initial response to the levo. I feel in good hands and that is a great relief.

Since diagnosis my TSH has gone down from 70.1 to 15 and now to 5.4 (0.3 - 4.20). I feel so much better. (Don't know the T3 result yet). Consultant has increased my dose from 75 to 75/100 so that I am not too anxious about the heart spike thing. SlowDragon had suggested this when I first decided to go up to 100mg. Feels like the right thing to do.

In the brief few days that i was on 100mg I went for a walk where the trees looked so green and so sharp and my mind felt completely alive. I thought, 'oh my god, this is what it is supposed to be like! I haven't felt like is for years!" I'm really hoping that when I go up to 100 on all days that I will feel like that all the time. That would be amazing.

Went swimming in the ponds early this morning. Little duckings skittering about. My brain is no longer liquidising. Things are getting better.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Pearlteapot

The question: I am seeing my GP on Friday. I am in range but at the low end. Should I ask her for another loading dose to try to get above 100 or just continue with my daily 3000iu supplements?

You wont get another loading dose, it's only prescribed for deficiency where level is below 25. Once it's reached 50 it's considered to be in the adequate category and that's when either they might give you 800iu as a maintenance dose or tell you to buy your own.

You will be much better off continuing with your own supplement. Test in another 3 months. 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. Once you've reached this 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/

Are you also taking magnesium? This is another important 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...

[Pearlteapot in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks. Okay, I won't hassle my GP then. Yes I'm taking magnesium. I take the D3/K2 at lunch time so that it is well after my early morning levo. Then some cod liver oil which also has D3 in it. I then take magnesium in the evening as it is supposed to be a sleep aid too. Then I have a magnesium salts bath and then I spray magnesium oil on my body!