Would like to know your thoughts on the following: 2 or 3 years or so ago for me pharmacists put on my levothyroxine scripts take 30 to 60 minutes before breakfast or any medication, but prior to this for 29 years I had been taking everything with it be it medication, food, caffeine, vitamins etc with no problems whatsoever with my results. Now having followed the advice things have been going pear shape ever since ? Will of course update with current situation bloods etc, but I find this quite extraordinary, in other words is it really necessary when I have been ok for 29 years?
It’s not unusual at all for your body and hormone needs to change over time.
With 29 years behind you, you are either in that lovely middle aged period… but not sure if the 1993 in your name is a birthday and you were diagnosed young!
Let us know more about you and definitely your Levo dose (or other doses) and how it’s changed over the years. And yes - please send you TSH, FT4, FT3, Vit D, B12, folate, ferritin and antibody test results with ranges, dates/time of day, and how you prepped (fasted? Last meds/dose timing)
To answer your question, all those years of coffee and food and vitamins etc would have been reducing the available thyroid hormone your body was getting from the replacement you took.
It would be that you took XXX mcgs, ansome would be blocked, and only XX amount was available. But clearly that was all you needed at the time.
There are no studies (as far as I know) that show how much is blocked, but we do know the path exogenous thyroid hormones take in our bodies, and we do know that those things do block or impact absorption of the available thyroid hormones.
If I were you, provided blood tests don’t show any dramatic changes and the brand of Levo remained unchanged (important!) I would go back to what you were doing before. Good luck!
I have cropped personal detail but from some reason I cannot upload it, I get to the pooint where it says describe this image but it won't let me 'post' it???
I have just done that but now reply is not highlighted so I can't post it and it says at the top of the page 'There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again, I have done this countless times???
Your TSH is high showing your body is under replaced, though your fT4 is quite high in range possibly because of low B12 and Vit D you aren't converting well to fT3 which is too low
So you need to tackle to above to help conversion and ask for a referral to Endo as you are likely going to need some T3
If you look at the main post at the top, the name of the person who posted this thread has changed to 'Hidden'. This means that they have left the group.
Did you post this thread with a different account?
According to your post history the last time you posted was 5 years ago.
You're absolutely certain you didn't (accidentally perhaps) create an account with a slightly different name perhaps on a different device as @jaydee1507 suggests? If not, it's a very unusual technical glitch!
No harm taking a loading dose of B12 and Vit D for a couple of months and then dropping back to a holding dose, both should help with conversion of T4 to fT3.
Have you remembered to stop taking your B complex ready for Mondays blood test?
The thing that brings your TSH down is ample replacement, hence your need for T3... so yes I think you'll likely need to add T3 to get your levels up
GP should be able to check folate and magnesium, unlikely they will test zinc and selenium... though I did manage to get a zinc test from mine by saying my Dentist had suggested it due to mouth ulcers (small white lie and I was deficient) zinc and copper have a teeter totter relationship so one being high will lower the other. Many of us take a regular dose of magnesium, there are different forms to choose from good for bones, muscle, relaxation and brain function... and selenium is expensive to test but it is considered safe to take 100mcg per day
Thank you so much. The forum is very reassuring and helpful.
I will certainly increase the D3 to 2000 and add 1000 B12 with my B Complex for a couple of months (can I take B12 and B complex together? Also some say with food some say empty stomach what is your opinion please?
Folate 400mcg is in my B complex. I have just bought a Better You magnesium spray.
For Selenium/zinc I take 2 or 3 brazil/almonds/cashews nuts a day. I have also increased oily fish consumption amongst other 'good' dietary things...
I forgot to stop b complex (how long do I stop it for?) before today's blood test so I cancelled it.
So upping my Levo will not help TSH, sorry to sound dim can't get my head around this
Adding a little more T4 will bring your TSH down a little I expect, you could probably increase by 12.5mcg everyday without it pushing your fT4 above range, you'd need to try it and retest after 8 weeks, hopefully with all the other additions your conversion might improve too 🤗
Stopping B complex 3-5 days some people like to leave it a week
But they contained personal details which you need to remove before posting.
I'm afraid I deleted the images as soon as I realised the personally identifying information and without have looked properly at how you had produced them. If you took photos, then maybe cover the sensitive details and re-photograph?
Basically, information like names, addresses, etc., should be avoided - both yours and any doctors or other healthcare workers.
You can click on the More button and choose Edit - then re-add images.
I saw Dr Peatfield several years ago. He recommended taking thyroid meds with food as it is better for the stomach.
I have done this ever since. However I do avoid tea and coffee with meds and with meals. I take some supplements with breakfast and some with my evening meal.
This has worked for me with no change to my dose needed.
Taking with food also recommended by Dr Myhill, see this link and go down to the heading 'Timing of dosing'.
Good luck. You may feel better on your original scheme. Try it! We are all different. For example I've read that full cream milk is back in fashion; personally I never gave it up!
I value all your replies, so thank you so much..... Have uploaded my recent 'fiasco' plus my private blood test.... would value your input..... I do feel ok at the moment!!!! However, tried to make it brief but here is what happended......
Levothyroxine from 2nd February 2024
Friday 2nd February took 100mcg as advised by my doctor via a text, apparently levels were a little low but of course she meant a little high!!! , TSH 6.6 T4 14.9 .
By day 4, 5th Feb stopped this dose:
Anxiety, dry mouth, muscle aches, hot and cold, couldn’t sleep, palpitations, felt weird appeared to be swinging between hypo and hyper. High BP 159/95 felt dreadful.
Feb 6th,7th,8th and 9th days, reduced back down to 75mcg then decided to try half 12.5mcg therefore 87.5mcg - reasonably ok, but anxiety. BP 144/90
Sat 10th – Tues 13th, By day 3 lightheaded, anxious, hot and cold, achy joints, sleep problems, BP 161/110 normally around 134/83.
Wed 14th reduced back down to 75mg eventually BP ok, 137/83 no light-headedness, little anxious, reasonably ok but not right.
Rang doctor and I explained that stress is very high at moment, mum passed away, having to sell house and buy something etc, I am also a carer for my adult daughter, could this be a factor, as I had felt ok before all this? So she agreed stay on 75mcg and do repeat bloods in 3 weeks time.
Meanwhile I had a private test done with Medichecks, results uploaded.
This test was done at 8.15am, fast 24 hours etc.
I have since upped my Vit D from 1,000 to 2,000 iu and introduced a B12 complex, as of today I feel ok…. Of course my TSH is high plus other things, but…… thoughts would be greatly received. Scared to try and up my levo, I know I am under medicated but feel reasonably ok..
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