I have autoimmune thyroid disorder and receive t3 from my doc for it. It is well managed and I’m about 85% through the range for free t3. My t4 is none existent and so is tsh. I’ve been managing my levels well for a few years now.
I’ve been getting bad chilblanes for the past few months. I went to the GP for it and he gave me iron tablets before I even got a blood test. I’ve been taking them for a couple of months now but I’m still getting chilblanes.
I’d been taking iron pills for nearly three weeks by the time my blood test was done. I’ve been taking vit d for a few weeks too now. My vitamin test results from the visit are as follows . Any ideas what else I should do to try to stop the chilblanes??
vit d 44 nmol/l
b12 512 ng/l (211-911)
folate 6.9 ug/l (3-14.4)
ferritin 44 (10-291) I’d been on iron for nearly three weeks at this point
heamoglobin a1c 33 mol/mol (>48 for diabetics)
also see screenshot of all my other blood stuff …
Any thoughts on the above very welcome, thank you xx
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Frances0008
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This is way too low. What dose D3 are you taking? What form - tablets, capsules, oil based softgels, oral spray?
According to the Vit D Council you should be taking 4,900iu D3 daily (nearest is 5,000iu) to raise your current level to the recommended level of 125nmol/L - see
Are you also taking D3's important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-MK7?
b12 512 ng/l (211-911)
This is on the lowish side. According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:
"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".
"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."
folate 6.9 ug/l (3-14.4)
A bit low. Folate is recommended to be at least half way through range so that would be about 9 plus with that range.
A good quality B Complex will help both B12 and folate levels. Consider Thorne Basic B (sometimes hard to obtain or expensive) or
thanks for your response. It’s a better you d4000 spray. Hasn’t got any k2 in it. Do you think it could be low vit D causing the chilblanes or should I be trying to up my levels across the range? I used to take loads of vitamins but I’ve been trying to cut the amount of pills I have to take each day. I did have a baby 14 months ago, which I guess could have brought my levels down. I feel like I shouldn’t be getting chilblanes in summer when I’m still (just!) in my 30s
From what I understand chilblains are caused by poor circulation and can be associated with anaemia but not particularly associated with low vitamins so I don't think it's caused by low Vit D. If it was I'd have been in trouble a few years ago as I have severe deficiency with a level of 15nmol/L.
I've also seen it said that it can be related to certain medical conditions including Raynaud's, connective tissue disease and Sars Cov-2 (which causes Covid).
For your D3 spray, I'd increase it so that you are taking 35,000iu per week.
When taking D3 we need magnesium as this converts D3 into it's usable form, and as D3 aids absorption of calcium from food we need Vit K2-MK7 to direct the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from soft tissues and arteries where it can cause problems like kidney stones, calcification of arteries, etc.
You can get a D3/K2 spray by Better you if that's your preference. Otherwise a separate K2-MK7 can be bought. 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.
Another "all trans" one worth considering if the others aren't availaable:
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.
Your problems are probably being caused by impaired conversion of T4 to T3 caused by your vitamin deficiencies. If you do FB, I loathe it, but the understanding vitamin d deficiency and treatment group was brilliant in helping me when I had d3 in single figures. My groups are the only reason I go on and it's not often. Mine's now around 200. It's more complex than you think, I had to take 10,000iu a day with separate K2 and magnesium in order to raise mine
hiya - I don’t make any t4 or take any at all anymore - I take t3 so I’d guess my conversion doesn’t matter anymore. I’ll check out that FB group tho thank you
Sorry didn't see your first message lol. I'm on T3 only too and I find sometimes I have to vary my dose if I'm stressed for example, I have to raise it a little and if it's very cold I do also but if it's hot I cut it down a little. Do you take multiple doses, I do three times a day 8 hours apart? I suspect your problems are more down to your low d3 and b12 as both are important for circulation. You could, in the meantime, raise your T3 by a quarter of a tablet to see if that helps, I find I have to be right at the top of the range to be properly well but it is a balancing act and you shouldn't be afraid to experiment. T3 has a short life in the body so accidentally overmedicating will wear off quickly if it happens but never raise by more than a quarter of a tablet all the same
Just sticking my oar in, what Seaside Susie said about chilblains and Reynauds/sars-cov2. There’s a thing called covid toe that’s doing the rounds. It’s a post covid thing, affects the toes, looks very like chilblains. Have you had/could you have had covid?
I’ve got a young baby so it’s very likely I’ve had covid again recently. I also had raynards in one of my nipples when I was breastfeeding which made it extremely painful. I’ll look into them both thanks
Covid Toe is caused by the damage the virus does to the lining of blood vessels. It shows more on the toes . I am a podiatrist and rarely saw chilblians before covid but have seen lots since covid. Often younger people only have the covid toes as symptoms.
I just wanted to add chilblains are due to poor circulations and blood vessel constriction (for numerous reasons). Do you exercise or move about regularly?
When I was severely hypo my husband had to massage/rub my feet every day to improve poor circulation. Also I put them in warm bowls of water to improve circulation. Through habit now I still do feet exercises when waiting for the kettle to boil, etc (standing/walking on tippy toe, ankle circles, etc).
Hiya - I’ve been severely hypo before but I’m well treated now and have been for a while so I wouldn’t expect to be getting any symptoms anymore. I do think it’s a circulation thing as I often notice that I can’t feel my feet. I just don’t understand why I have such poor circulation. I have 2 young kids, one age 14 months so while I’m not going to the gym or anything I am fairly active I think. I do feet scrunches too whenever I notice I can’t feel them, which is pretty much whenever I stop for a while, but often when I’m walking around too. I also wear extra socks and bed socks etc. I thought it must be caused by anemia but it’s still not better after two months on pills so I guess I’m just worrying a bit now.
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