I recently had my Dexa scan, waiting for paper result, but I’ve been told I have slightly lower results for a women of my age (38.) I’ve been told my suppressed TSH may be contributing to this. I’m also waiting for a copy of my Thyroid results. She has suggested reducing my T4, not my T3 and taking VIT D. No mention of calcium supplements. I’ll be honest and say I’m nervous now as I don’t want thinning bones. I also don’t want to feel under medicated.
My VIT D levels are 52 nmol (50 -120) any suggestion to get this up?
She also is referring me for a Synacthen test as I was slightly low when she took my blood. Do I stop taking B12, iron before my test? Do I also take my thyroid meds after this test?
Thanks
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Lindsayf
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The Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L (40-60ng/ml), with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health mentioning a study which recommends over 125nmol/L (50ng/ml).
So now you look at how much is needed to reach 50ng/ml and you'll see that they suggest 3,700iu per day.
Bearing in mind that your only 20.8 you could also look at the 2nd table for current level between 10-20ng/ml and you'll see that one suggests 4,900iu D3 daily.
You should be perfectly OK to supplement with 4,000iu D3 daily.
Retest after 3 months.
Once you've reached the recommended 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:
Doctors don't know, because they're not taught much about nutrients, but there are important cofactors needed when taking D3. You will have to buy these yourself.
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. 90-100mcg K2-MK7 is enough for up to 10,000iu D3.
D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds if taking D3 as tablets/capsules/softgels, no necessity if using an oral spray.
For D3 I like Doctor's Best D3 softgels, they are an oil based very small softgel which contains just two ingredients - D3 and extra virgin olive oil, a good quality, nice clean supplement which is budget friendly. Some people like BetterYou oral spray but this contains a lot of excipients and works out more expensive.
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 days.
If looking for a combined D3/K2 supplement, this one has 3,000iu D3 and 50mcg K2-MK7. The K2-MK7 is the All-Trans form
Magnesium should be taken 4 hours away from thyroid meds and as it tends to be calming it's best taken in the evening. Vit D should also be taken 4 hours away from thyroid meds. Vit K2-MK7 should be taken 2 hours away from thyroid meds. Don't take D3 and K2 at the same time unless both are oil based supplements, they both are fat soluble vitamins which require their own fat to be absorbed otherwise they will compete for the fat.
Don't start all supplements at once. Start with one, give it a week or two and if no adverse reaction then add the next one. Again, wait a week or two and if no adverse reaction add the next one. Continue like this. If you do have any adverse reaction then you will know what caused it.
No mention of calcium supplements.
You wouldn't want to be taking calcium unless tested and found to be deficient, plus taking Vit D will very likely increase your calcium level.
You could check out Dr Sarah Myhill's website, she has information about osteoporosis over several artices, here are a couple, some information overlaps:
seaside Susie, you are alway so helpful. Thank you so so much, I really appreciate your help
Im going to try the Nature Provide liquid which is 3000 at 5 drops a day. As I want to take 4,900 a day, how would I do this? Would I take 7 drop a day? I’ll also re test in 3 months.
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