Thyroid supplements?

[HelenaJ]

I have had a total thyroidectomy and am wondering if it is worth taking an all-in-one thyroid supplement. What do you think? Please advise.😊

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Have you checked levels of ferritin. Folate, B12 and vitamin D recently? These are the key thyroid vitamins and support thyroid health. We don’t recommend supplementing these without testing levels first.

[cjrsquared]

what’s in the thyroid supplement? As a fellow TT sufferer of10 years, I would suggest testing vit d, ferritin, folate vit b12 and only supplementing if deficient. Iodine should be covered with your thyroid hormone replacement medication. Levothyroxine (t4) has 4 iodine molecules and liothyronine (t3) has 3 iodine molecules so if on adequate replacement you shouldn’t require addition iodine. As you have no thyroid your body can’t utilise iodine to create the active hormone.

I would suggest private testing for TSH, ft3 and ft4 to assess peripheral conversion of the synthetic hormone from the inactive form ft4 toft3 the active form. Good luck on your journey.

[greygoose in reply to cjrsquared]

1 molecule of T4 has 4 atoms of iodine. 1 molecule of T3 has 3 atoms of iodine. Hence 100 mcg T4 has 65 mcg iodine and 100 mcg T3 has 48.75 mcg.

[cjrsquared in reply to greygoose]

Absolutely correct, thank you for correcting my poor reply.

[greygoose in reply to cjrsquared]

You're welcome.

[cjrsquared in reply to greygoose]

😃

[greygoose]

If you haven't got a thyroid, why would a thyroid supplement help you? It wouldn't even help you if you had a thyroid. These things are just glorified multi-vits for the worried well. They don't actually do anything, and are not recommended here for multiple reasons, not least being the fact that you would be taking things you don't need. Which at best is a waste of money, and at worst could be dangerous.

As others have said, get your core nutrients tested and just take what you need according to the results. We can help you with that if you post results and ranges on here.

[HelenaJ]

Thank you all for your helpful replies. Makes sense to get tested first!

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Very important to test vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 at least once year

Low vitamin levels are extremely common when on replacement thyroid hormones

Low vitamin levels more common as we get older too

What vitamin supplements are you currently taking

Were vitamin levels tested before your thyroidectomy

Request GP include testing these at your first retest after thyroidectomy

Test thyroid and vitamin levels 6-8 weeks after any dose change in Levo or any other significant changes

Recommended that all thyroid blood tests early morning, ideally just before 9am, only drink water between waking and test and last dose levothyroxine 24 hours before test

This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)

Private tests are available as NHS currently rarely tests Ft3 or all relevant vitamins

Post all about what time of day to test

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Testing options and includes money off codes for private testing

thyroiduk.org/testing/

Medichecks Thyroid plus BOTH TPO and TG antibodies and vitamins

medichecks.com/products/adv...

Blue Horizon Thyroid Premium Gold includes BOTH TPO and TG antibodies, cortisol and vitamins

bluehorizonbloodtests.co.uk...

Monitor My Health also now offer thyroid and vitamin testing, plus cholesterol and HBA1C for £65

(Doesn’t include thyroid antibodies)

monitormyhealth.org.uk/full...

10% off code here

thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...

Only do private testing early Monday or Tuesday morning.

Link about thyroid blood tests

thyroiduk.org/testing/thyro...

Tips on how to do DIY finger prick test

support.medichecks.com/hc/e...

Medichecks and BH also offer private blood draw at clinic near you, or private nurse to your own home…..for an extra fee

[Brightness14]

I had my TT back in 2015 it's a shock certainly. I was put on Levo for the first time for 6 months feeling ill I then joined this site.

I posted questions had answers and acted on them, the people on here are great and they know their stuff too. I only got well after listening to the good advice on the site.

Good Luck.