Hi new here. What vitamins to take and avoid with Hashmotos?

[Shineyhappypeople]

Just wondering

[Jaydee1507 Administrator]

You might be interested to read this similar thread. healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Low vitamin levels are extremely common in hypothyroid people due to low stomach acid. This means that you cannot absorb vitamins well from your food. Vegan and vegetarian diets in particular can cause issues.

Multivitamins are not recommended in this group for a number of reasons, including being too low a dose to raise levels to optimal, including iodine which is not recommended when hypo and including iron which prevents absorption of the other vitamins and should be taken apart from other vitamins/Levo.

Testing of key vitamins ferritin, folate, B12 & D3 is recommended to see how low levels are and then once supplementing you need to retest to assess how well your supplements are working.

Sometimes your GP will test levels if you find an open minded helpful one. Otherwise private tests are available, see link for companies offering private blood tests & discount codes, some offer a blood draw service at an extra cost. thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...

There is also a new company offering walk in & mail order blood tests in Crawley, Hove and Reigate areas. No charge for blood draw in clinic. Check to see if there is a blood test company near you. onedaytests.com/products/ul...

Only do private postal testing early Monday or Tuesday morning.

[Shineyhappypeople in reply to Jaydee1507]

Thank you very much

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I see you’ve made another post asking for recommendations for practitioners, but would 100% recommend that first you test privately for TSH, FT3, FT4, antibodies and key thyroid vitamins. Testing these with a private practitioner/ via a private hospital will cost far more than a home test.

thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...

Once you have the results, share them on the forum in a new post.

[humanbean]

I don't think you should avoid any particular nutrients, but in some cases it is recommended that you have a test before supplementing, and only supplement if your level is low in range or under range.

The vitamins and minerals that people should be cautious about :

1) All the fat-soluble vitamins - if the amount taken is excessive it gets stored in fat and can cause toxicity symptoms at high levels.

The fat soluble vitamins are A, D, E, and K (which comes in K1 and K2 forms which have different functions).

Take a look at the overdose symptoms of the various vitamins :

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitam...

2) The water soluble vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin C) are mainly safe. The one to be wary of is vitamin B6 in high doses - it can cause neuropathy in both deficiency and toxicity :

Deficiency : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitam...

Toxicity : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megav...

...

As for minerals...

This link lists the conditions that may occur in deficiency and toxicity :

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miner...

Calcium : Personally I wouldn't take calcium unless I was found to be low in it or deficient. Excess amounts can end up lining the arteries.

Iron : The body has no mechanism for losing iron apart from in really tiny amounts in faeces, and in menstruating women. If iron levels are too high iron can deposit in organs such as the heart, liver, brain, and that is definitely not desirable.

Life with too little iron is miserable and needs to be treated. Having too much iron is highly undesirable and must be avoided. The best test is an iron panel.

Iodine : Iodine can be tested in various ways. The best test is a non-loading test from urine. Too much iodine can have very bad effects. It is unclear (to me - I'm not a doctor) what they might be :

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodine

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iodin...

Too much iodine can cause hyperthyroidism in some circumstances, but in others it can increase the severity of hypothyroidism. I think that low or high levels of selenium can alter the effects of low or high levels of iodine. You'll have to research this one yourself because I get muddled up by it. But I definitely wouldn't take iodine without a non-loading urine test first.