Question 1 I’m going to do have private test though medicheck, as my doctors won’t test my T4 & T3 when is the best time to do it, I’m scheduled to have a blood test in September to retest my levels by my doctors practice.
Question 2 Since being diagnosed with hypothyroidism 2 1/2 years ago
I’ve always had 100mcg by Mercury pharma & 75mcg by teva.
But now they can’t get Mercury pharma & they gave me Accord 100mcg could this affect my TSH , T4 T3 levels now I’m taking a new brand, or it shouldn’t matter too much.
I’ve tried other pharmacy in my town & they saying the same thing, they don’t have it or can’t get it , even though I mention that Mercury pharma might of had name change.
My TSH. Currently when tested 24th of May 0.09. I’ve been feeling fine, although my periods are still up & down & the doctor said I’m not perimenpause, after doing test’s.
this is how I found out I had hypothyroidism.
Thank you for reading.
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Bookworm90
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Question 1 I’m going to do have private test though medicheck, as my doctors won’t test my T4 & T3 when is the best time to do it, I’m scheduled to have a blood test in September to retest my levels by my doctors practice.
Always advised here, when having thyroid tests:
* Book the first appointment of the morning, or with private tests at home no later than 9am. This is because TSH is highest early morning and lowers throughout the day.
In fact, 9am is the perfect time, see first graph here, it shows TSH is highest around midnight - 4am (when we can't get a blood draw), then lowers, next high is at 9am then lowers before it starts it's climb again about 9pm:
If we are looking for a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, or looking for an increase in dose or to avoid a reduction then we need TSH to be as high as possible.
* Nothing to eat or drink except water before the test - have your evening meal/supper as normal the night before but delay breakfast on the day of the test and drink water only until after the blood draw. Certain foods may lower TSH, caffeine containing drinks affect TSH.
[* If taking thyroid hormone replacement, last dose of Levo should be 24 hours before blood draw, if taking NDT or T3 then last dose should be 8-12 hours before blood draw. Adjust timing the day before if necessary. This avoids measuring hormone levels at their peak after ingestion of hormone replacement. Take your thyroid meds after the blood draw. Taking your dose too close to the blood draw will give false high results, leaving any longer gap will give false low results.]
* If you take Biotin or a B Complex containing Biotin (B7), leave this off for 7 days before any blood test. This is because if Biotin is used in the testing procedure it can give false results (most labs use biotin).
If all you want to test is TSH, FT4 and FT3 then Monitor My Health is cheaper and it's an NHS lab at Exeter Hospital so if you need to show the results to your GP then they may be more acceptable coming from an NHS lab rather than from an independent private lab even though they're all accredited.
Question 2 Since being diagnosed with hypothyroidism 2 1/2 years ago
I’ve always had 100mcg by Mercury pharma & 75mcg by teva.
But now they can’t get Mercury pharma & they gave me Accord 100mcg could this affect my TSH , T4 T3 levels now I’m taking a new brand, or it shouldn’t matter too much.
Accord (also reboxed as Almus and Northstar in 50mcg and 100mcg dose size) is well tolerated by many members here. Theoretically, as long as you're not sensitive to any of the fillers then as the active ingredient is the same it shouldn't affect y our TSH, FT4 or FT3 levels.
I’ve tried other pharmacy in my town & they saying the same thing, they don’t have it or can’t get it , even though I mention that Mercury pharma might of had name change.
Did you say what that name might have been changed to?
They should be looking at Advanz, Mercury Pharma and Eltroxin, they are all the same tablet made by the same people, see helvella 's post here:
I take my meds around 6am every day, but have taken them later sometimes like 7am/ 8am when it my day off from work. Do I need to strict on what time take my meds. I don’t eat until a hour after my meds,
Also when I do have blood test, is taking my meds at 6am the day before & having my blood test Around 8am / 8.30am the next day, okay time gap for having my blood test & giving them a better reading. Or would it best to take my meds a little later the day before
That good that changing brand wouldn’t make such difference, unless I don’t get on with certain fillers. It good hear many do get on with accord.
At the moment I’m only taking Vitamin D, prescribe my doctor as my levels are low
One a month. Do you think full thyroid test, that includes vitamins / antibodies etc would be better?
And if I chose home test, where I prick my finger, is that easy to do?
I would like to chose the option for blood draw & I did speak to one of the nurses at my local hospital about is it okay for them to do it for me, as I was thinking of doing a private test & the nurse said it will be okay, but they are always different nurses on each day. So I’m nervous of going back and they say sorry we can’t do it, even though one of the nurses said it was okay.
Yes I did mention the name, not sure I pronounced correctly.
I take my meds around 6am every day, but have taken them later sometimes like 7am/ 8am when it my day off from work. Do I need to strict on what time take my meds. I don’t eat until a hour after my meds,
That's fine. I take mine any time between 3-5am, depends what time I need the loo!
Also when I do have blood test, is taking my meds at 6am the day before & having my blood test Around 8am / 8.30am the next day, okay time gap for having my blood test & giving them a better reading. Or would it best to take my meds a little later the day before
I would adjust the time the day before and get as close to 24 hours as possible.
At the moment I’m only taking Vitamin D, prescribe my doctor as my levels are low
One a month.
Doctors don't know, because they're not really taught anything about nutrition, but when taking D3 there are important cofactors that are needed:
Magnesium - this helps the body convert D3 into it's usable form. There are different types of magnesium each helping specific things - see
So you'd need to decide which one is right for you and take magnesium 4 hours away from thyroid meds, preferably in the evening as magnesium is calming.
Also, Vit K2-MK7 is another important cofactor as 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.
Like D3, Vitamin K2-MK7 is fat soluble so needs fat to be absorbed. Best taken at a different time of day to D3 otherwise they will compete for the fat to be absorbed.
90-100mcg K2-MK7 is enough for up to 10,000iu D3.
For Vit K2-MK7 my suggestions are Vitabay, Vegavero or Vitamaze brands which all 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.
Vitabay and Vegavero are either tablets or capsules.
Vitabay does do an oil based liquid.
Vitamaze is an oil based liquid.
With the oil based liquids the are xx amount of K2-MK7 per drop so you just take the appropriate amount of drops.
They are all imported German brands, you can find them on Amazon although they do go out of stock from time to time. I get what I can when I need to restock. If the tablet or capsule form is only in 200mcg dose at the time I take those on alternate
Do you think full thyroid test, that includes vitamins / antibodies etc would be better?
If you haven't tested vitamins lately then yes, Vit D, B12, Folate and Ferritin should be checked at least once a year.
I don't have a problem with them but some members find them impossible. If you want to try one I have some tips I can post but if you can get a blood draw that's fine.
My brain has turned to mush. Is this a good deal and something you might be interested in?Cerascreen. co.uk have a tub of Vitabay Vit D3 and K2 powder-365 servings , taken every 5 days. Don't know if K2 is K2-mk-7 or is "all trans" or not?
It is usually £22.90, but if use code 10YEARS there is 20% off, making it £18.32.
Totally confused.
Looked at Amazon and they had Vitamaze K2 MK-7 tablets but have buckwheat germs bacteria, and I have an intolerance to buckwheat, which I would avoid.
Rather than piggyback onto Bookworm's thread, can you please start your own thread to ask these questions.
Are you asking if I am interested in this or for yourself?
I am quite happy to look into this for you but not happy to contribute to taking Bookworm's thread off track.
Also, before I answer questions about taking D3, can you please say what your current Vit D result is so that I know that I am assisting you with the right dose of D3.
Think I replied to myself with 2nd message, re Vitabay Vit K2 powder in "all trans" form 400ug from Cerascreen, for £29.90, but £23.92 with discount code, 10YEARS.
I'm afraid I didn't see this post because you didn't reply directly to me so I didn't get notification, to get a notification that you have responded to a member's reply you need to click the blue REPLY directly beneath their message (it will say Reply to xxxx above where you type your message) and this then automatically triggers an email to let the member know you have responded.
Here are my tips for doing fingerprick tests:
* Be well hydrated, drink plenty of water the day before, and before you do the test.
* Some people take a shower before hand, some run up and down the stairs to get blood flowing. Personally, as I can't run up and down the stairs, I circle my arm round, windmill style.
* Have a bowl full of hot water, dip hand in and out, swish around, hand needs to go red. If blood flow stops, you can always swish round in the hot water again.
* Stand up to do the test. Make sure your arm is straight down when collecting the blood. Either use a small step stool to raise yourself well above the work surface, or put the collection tube on a lowish shelf or use an ironing board to get the perfect height.
* Prick finger on the side, not the tip. I find that half way between the nail bed and tip is about right, or maybe slightly nearer the nail bed rather than the tip. Middle finger seems to be best for me, if flow stops I then go on to ring finger.
* Do not squeeze your finger to get the blood out, it can damage the blood and it may not be usable
I've recently done 2 tests. The first one there was very little blood coming out which was unusual for me so I used a second finger and between the two I gradually filled the tube. However, when I checked the prick site for the first finger the actual cut was very small and as I've had some of these lancets fail before I put it down to that. When I did the second test this is what I did
* Prick my finger as usual, at the same time try and make a very slight twist with the lancet (the blade retracts very quickly so you have like a nano second to twist the lancet). I'm not talking 90 degrees or anything, just a very slight twist to make the cut just slightly bigger, it doesn't hurt or cause a blood bath! This made a big difference, 11 generous drops of blood filled the tube in less 2 minutes.
If you supplement with Biotin, or a B complex containing it (B7), leave it off for 7 days before doing any blood tests as it can give false results when biotin is used in the testing procedure, and most labs do use it.
Sometimes the sample has haemolysed, ie the red cells rupture. This may be due to:
* bacteria (so clean area thoroughly and allow to dry)
* intense exercise (so don't go mad trying to get the blood to flow prior to the test)
* squeezing the finger to get the blood out (you can gently "milk" the finger but don't squeeze)
* shaking the tube vigourously instead of gently inverting it.
* sample collection was prolonged
* if there was a long delay between sample collection and analysis
* there is too little blood in the tube and too much coagulant for the amount of blood
Sometimes there's not enough blood in the tube to do all of the tests so it's important to fill the tube to the line.
Remember to do the test no later than 9am, nothing to eat or drink except water before the test, last dose of Levo 24 hours before the test (adjust time the day before if necessary), post sample back the same day to arrive next day (I always pay extra and use Royal Mail's Special Delivery Guaranteed Next Day by 1pm service as their Tracked 24 hour return envelope doesn't guarantee that it will arrive next day). Do test and post back Monday or Tuesday just in case there are any delays in delivery. Don't do the test during a heatwave as blood may spoil on it's journey to the lab and keep an eye out for any postal strikes as you don't want your sample being held up by that.
Folate I imagine is low, do you have the reference range.
If there is a proper range with upper and lower limit then it's recommended to be half way through range, eg with 3.89-19.45 that would be at least 12. With the 8.83-60.8 range then that would be at least 35.
Where there is no proper range, as in the first two examples, then we always suggest aiming for double figures.
Whatever your is it's not folate deficiency but low folate and if your range is like any of the first 3 then taking a good quality bioavailable B Complex containing methylfolate (not folic acid) and methylcobalamin (not cyanocobalamin) and no Vit C, such as Thorne Basic B will help raise your level.
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