Hi everyone - just looking for advice on when to take my folic acid tablet. After weeks of back and forth with the doctors - who said my medichecks blood results did not show a need for a supplement, they insisted on doing a blood test themselves:
this is the result - 2.8 ug/L [2.0 -18.7] with notes Borderline folate level - possible folate deficiency - Please refer to WHO guidance
They have prescribed one month's supply [5mg] with the added comment it is really not necessary with this result 🤔
Do I have to take this away from my T3 and T4, Vit D Vit K? Magnesium is via cream - so assuming that is not an issue with times?
During our conversation he added how my T4 looked good 17.8 [11.0 -23.0] but thankfully failed to spot/berate me on the TSH 0.01 [0.27 - 4.5] outside reference range.
They do not know I am self medicating for T3 - they don't need to know - and they didn't test for that anyway.
I am due to redo my medichecks blood test in a month or so after the increase in T4 after my test in August - so will see what happens with the serum folate level.
thank you all as always for the support and advice👍😀
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Mrsbuns
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Do I have to take this away from my T3 and T4, Vit D Vit K? Magnesium is via cream - so assuming that is not an issue with times?
Nothing should be taken with your thyroid hormone, it needs to be taken on it's own so that nothing affects it's absorption. Most supplements (and medication) should be 2 hours away from Levo, and some need 4 hours.
Supplement-wise:
4 hours - Vit D, oral magnesium, iron
2 hours - everything else
Transdermal magnesium - no problem, use it any time.
I do follow the 4 hours and 2 hours for the others - but as I split my T3 into 3 doses I wanted to work out where to fit it in - I am worried it will be too close to Vit D or Vit K and I was going to create another issue.
Did you know that the first human that took folic acid did so in 1943? It is artificial, synthetic, made in a laboratory. The natural version of folate comes from vegetables and possibly fruit. But you can buy supplements of "real" folate these days and no prescription is required.
If I go to Amazon and search for "methylfolate" (i.e. "real" folate) I get 94 records returned. It usually comes in doses of 400mcg, 800mcg, 1000mcg, or 5000mcg.
Note that 5000mcg is the same as 5mg. I would actually suggest that you buy a dose of 1000mcg methylfolate, since 5mg is an extremely high dose that causes some people a lot of side effects.
There is another consideration when taking folate. The body needs folate to help it make use of the vitamin B12 it has. If the body doesn't have enough B12, and folate is taken it can completely deplete your B12 levels and leave you at risk of neurological symptoms. Please read these links :
To overcome this problem, and prevent it happening at all, you need to have good levels of B12 before you start taking folic acid or any folate supplements, or at the very least take B12 for a week before starting any folic acid or folate.
Do you know your level of B12? If so, what is it?
Another thing you need to know is that there are several B vitamins and it is not a good idea to supplement just 1 or 2 and raise them really high without improving the other levels too.
So, we suggest taking a B Complex containing "activated B vitamins" and if you are already very low in B12 and/or folate take a separate B12 supplement (methylcobalamin) and a separate methylfolate supplement. Once your results for B12 and/or folate are optimal you could reduce dose or drop your separate supplements and just continue with the B Complex alone. If your levels of B12 and folate then drop you would need to continue with the separate supplements but at a lower dose than you took before, since you are just trying to maintain an optimal level rather than raise it.
...
Finally, to answer your question about timing, I would say that you need to leave about 2 hours between taking thyroid hormones and taking B vitamins of any kind.
And when you want to test anything at all, stop taking your B Complex or anything else that contains biotin for a week beforehand for reasons given in these links :
Hi Humanbean - no I did not know anything about folic acid and the fact you can buy real folate with no prescription - I will definitely look into that - thank you.
Do you know your level of B12? If so, what is it?
Another thing you need to know is that there are several B vitamins and it is not a good idea to supplement just 1 or 2 and raise them really high without improving the other levels too.
Yes Vit B12 607ng/L 197-771 - this has dropped from 'over' range as I stopped supplementing in August when I got my medichecks test done >150 [37.5 - 150] sorry different ranges but does show has fallen.
not a good idea to supplement just 1 or 2 and raise them really high without improving the other levels too.
I did exactly that unfortunately - only taking B12 and not a complex - my mistake and not understanding the difference. So I have stopped taking it for now. The advice was to work on my folate serum being so low.
I do observe the 4 and 2 hour recommendations for my current supplements - just wasn't sure where to fit in the folate - e.g. can I take it at the same time as the Vit D or K?
With my B12 still being high would you recommend I start a B Complex now - or wait till my next blood tests?
I think I will get the 'real' folate and not start the folic acid and see where I am on my next test.
I am going to have my bloods done in a couple of weeks time so am going to ask them to take for lots of conditions T3, T4, TSH, folate, cholesterol etc etc and see what the results are and if I can try and act on them when I see the GP
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