UPDATE: one of my supplement has biotin - Thyro... - Thyroid UK

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UPDATE: one of my supplement has biotin - Thyroid S recent batches - stronger?

AnnaSo profile image
27 Replies

hi everyone,

Back in June I gave birth to my lovely daughter and coincidentally also started a new batch of Thyroid S. Prior to that I have been using bottles of the same batch I bought back in 2020 and have been feeling great, consistent with how I’ve been feeling since moving from thyroxine to Thyroid S back in 2018.

Now, since June my T3 levels have gone through the roof. I have been taking 3.5 grains since I established that dose back in 2018 and it always gave me upper range results. Right after birth T3 has jumped to 9.2 (3.5-6.5). I reduced by quarter and month after it was even higher at 9.5. I reduced again by another quarter and month after it went even higher to 9.9!

I’m confused what is going on - is it my thyroid going crazy postpartum or is it thyroid S. It’s difficult to say - I have read that thyroid can go overactive in the first 3ish months to then crash and go under after. At the same time I have come across few post with users saying current new batches seem stronger. But is it the the extreme of my case?

One GP even mentioned perhaps my thyroid healed itself during pregnancy. While I’d love this to be true, I’m unsure if possible. Having said that my first pregnancy healed my food intolerances to gluten and lactose.

I should add that I feel normal, no palps, but my legs seem a bit swollen all over as if I had way too much salt - non pitting? Is that a hyper symptom?

Would love to hear others thoughts and experiences!

thanks for reading such a lengthy post :)

Anna

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AnnaSo
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27 Replies

What is your diagnosis? Hashimoto´s? As far as I know, that is not a reversible condition. I have read about some people developing transient (post-partum) hypothyroidism when pregnant, but I take it from your post that you were diagnosed with hypothyrodism before pregnancy?

I have been discussing Thyroid-S in various forums and some say the version that came out after the pandemic is weaker while others say it´s stronger and some notice no difference. The company denies any reformulation but many users who have been on it for years say they notice a difference. I briefly considered switching to it given the cost of Erfa, but reviews were mixed so I decided against it.

Just out of curiosity: did you take Thyroid-S during pregnancy? I have read that that no T3 should be taken then, only T4.

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply to

Women gave birth on NDT before Levothyroxine came along! I wonder if women with a functioning thyroid suddenly cease making T3 once pregnant, I find it highly improbable. This anti T3 stuff is pure prejudice. I’d want what a pregnant woman with a thyroid made not T4 monotherapy.

in reply to TSH110

I am not arguing with you and I am certainly not an expert on the subject of thyroid hormone replacement during pregnancy. All I have read is that women on NDT or T3 should be transitioned to levo only before pregnancy or at the very least in early pregnancy. Some sources say T3 cannot cross the placenta as readily as T4, while others say that high T3 levels can cause neurological impairment in the fetus. Once again, I don´t know, I am just saying what I´ve read. I have no idea if those statements are just anti-T3 or if there is any truth to them. My impression is just that current medical guidelines recommend T4 montotherapy during pregnancy, and I have not found any evidence that children of women on T4 only drugs are born less healthy than children of women who take T3.

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply to

Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like it was picking a fight with you it’s my opinion that nature knows better than men in white coats and I just find this reasoning from medics absurd. diogenes has recently mentioned that t3 does appear to cross the placenta and at one time it was claimed t4 didn’t pass through it, so the fact is they don’t really know anything substantial about it yet but they behave as if it’s all set in stone. I have grown very cynical of these clains that T3 is dangerous I’m afraid I cant see how if its carefully administered. More and more evidebce supports combination therapy as superior to T4 monotherapy so I really can’t see why pregnancy would suddenly make T4 monotherapy preferable. I could be wrong of course but it makes zero sense to me to subject a fetus to just one thyroid hormone and hope it gets all it needs.

in reply to TSH110

I understand what you are saying. The current trend in the medical community seems to be that T3 is unnecessary at best and dangerous at worst.

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply to

May be it is dangerous because they aren’t very good at dosing - judging from posts on here - with it and Levothyroxine so they could be afraid of litigation if they get it wrong. And they probably really believe it’s the devils work!

Maya_83 profile image
Maya_83 in reply to

Hi,

With my first pregnancy i was on levo only. My son was induced 3 weeks early became we wasn't gaining weight. Once he was born he had severe reflux, was tube fed suffered from eczema, asthma and food intolerance.

Fast forward 5years i discover t3 got pregnant with my daughter. She was born a healthy weight and thriving now with no health problems..... i was much better during that pregnancy too.... just saying..

AnnaSo profile image
AnnaSo in reply to Maya_83

hi Maya! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Means a lot to hear you also had a great NDT experience with your second pregnancy :)

AnnaSo profile image
AnnaSo in reply to

There is few things I feel I need to say.

I’m actually really shaken by your lack of consideration for me in this thread. I just gave birth 3 months ago and you come here and say things like “no T3 should be taken”, “neurological impairment” and “T3 is dangerous” - have you for a second considered how reading this would make me feel?

Thankfully I am quite knowledgeable in the subject so I managed to calm myself down and remind myself of the very reason why I am in NDT and not thyroxine and how successful it has been for me.

As for your statements regarding medication during pregnancy, I feel similar to TSH110 .

- A healthy pregnant woman also produces T3, so why would the T3 taken via NDT be any different?

- You mention the risk of too much T3 - too much of anything is dangerous in pregnancy, including paracetamol. That doesn’t make paracetamol dangerous nor does it make T3 dangerous- in right amounts.

- The push towards thyroxine is simply because endocrinologists and obstetricians have absolutely no clue how to deal with a pregnant NDT patient. They force you take medication they are familiar with so that they know how to manage dosing and interpret the blood test results.

- Changing medication in pregnancy is the actual dangerous stuff - how do you know what dose would be right and how long would it take to reach the optimal dose needed without triggering TSH up ? And high TSH in pregnancy is linked to miscarriage- this is a fact.

- Lastly, both my endocrinologist and obstetrician said T3 does not cross the placenta and does not have any impact on the baby. Baby only uses mothers T4

- There is a reason why some women are on NDT - why would they risk making themselves sick all while they grow a new life?

Please NO further discussion on T3 in pregnancy on this thread. My post was about recent Thyroid S changes.

in reply to AnnaSo

You are really overreacting to a simple question I asked. It´s funny, but I had the impression this forum was less dogmatic than many others, and that members were nice to each other. Apparently, I was wrong. Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply to my posts, you were most helpful and my experience here was 95% positive.

AnnaSo profile image
AnnaSo in reply to

I’d appreciate if you were not labeling my feeling as overreacting, I suffer from anxiety.

Hypopotamus profile image
Hypopotamus

There have been numerous accounts of women who developed thyroid problems after giving birth, and others who saw their hypothyroidism go. (I have also heard the same about M.E./Fibro Myalgia etc) It's a pity that you the medication changed for you at the same that you had your baby.

As regards the Thyroid-S, I noticed a distinct difference with my latest batch bought in Feb this year. While I had been fine on S, I didn't feel as well on the 'new' stuff. After a story too long to go into here, I have landed up halving my dose of S, and adding 50 mgs of thyroxine, and I seem to be fine on that.

Framboise profile image
Framboise in reply to Hypopotamus

Please could you let me know the batch number of the Thyroid-S you've had to reduce?

Hypopotamus profile image
Hypopotamus in reply to Framboise

TA21076 15/10/21

Framboise profile image
Framboise in reply to Hypopotamus

Thank you, this fits and is concerning, especially as there's very little comment anywhere else.

in reply to Hypopotamus

Just out of curiosity: how much did you pay for the latest batch of Thyroid-S?

Hypopotamus profile image
Hypopotamus in reply to

About 75 pounds.

in reply to Hypopotamus

For 500 pills?

Hypopotamus profile image
Hypopotamus in reply to

Yes.

AnnaSo profile image
AnnaSo in reply to Hypopotamus

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your experience! Glad you managed to find a solution, it’s so disheartening when we finally feel well and then it’s all over because of the new formula. I’m secretly hoping it’s just a dodgy few batches!!!

After reading through another post on here I realised I was taking biotin- my breastfeeding supplement has biotin in it so it most likely it gave me some false high reading. I will be retaking the bloods in few days when biotin is gone from the system. I probably didn’t need to lower my dose at all and taking less is probably what makes me feel off *facepalm*

TSH110 profile image
TSH110

This is a very good article about remission in thyroid disease you may find of value in determining if a remission is occurring in your case:

thyroidpatients.ca/2020/04/...

My thyroidS supply is old batch it’s gone out of date now I haven’t got any new ones for comparison. Interesting that they may be more powerful now . I started on 1.25 grains but need 2 now been on it for about 7 or 8 years now it’s been a lifesaver for me.

Mine won’t ever go into remission my thyroid atrophied to a tiny non functioning crisp of a thing, after long bouts of hyperthyroidism with short hypo slumps inbetween, became long bouts of hypothyrodism with short crazy hyper spells inbetween. Mine is atropic (no goitre) autoimmune thyroiditis, it starts like Graves and ends like Hashimotos. The thyroid cannot regenerate itself fully like say a liver can. Once it atrophies it’s curtains. It’s Hypo for life ☹️

Congrats on the birth of your precious daughter too ☺️

AnnaSo profile image
AnnaSo in reply to TSH110

I was just saying to Hypopotamus that I realised my supplement has biotin in it - so 99% sure that’s behind the funny results. No remission for me either I suspect! And I have lowered my dose no wonder I feel off now- feeling swollen was my top3 hypo symptom so I wonder if I made myself under… :/ doing blood test tomorrow to recheck- will keep you guys posted!

pennyannie profile image
pennyannie

Hello AnnaSo,

I have found no difference between the ' old ' and ' new ' Thyroid S reformulated grains.

AnnaSo profile image
AnnaSo in reply to pennyannie

thank you for letting me know! That’s reassuring :)

mintgreenish profile image
mintgreenish in reply to AnnaSo

Congradulations and the very best with your new baby girl!

AnnaSo profile image
AnnaSo in reply to mintgreenish

thank you so much! :)

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply to pennyannie

that’s interesting and reassuring thanks for posting

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