Hello everyone!I wanted to ask if someone knew if any vitamin or mineral deficiency can cause low TSH or the thyroid labs in general.
For context: i had for a long time hypo symptoms even though i am on levo. My tsh was on the low side (around 0.5) so no doctor increased my meds. By chance i found out that I had increased homocysteine, so my doctor prescribed folate supplements. After 2 months on it, my TSH increased to 4.
Is it possible that folate supplements increased my TSH? Or the deficiency caused low TSH? Or is this just a standard hashi swing?
Ps: i know that the rest of thyroid labs are more important. But my doctor doesn't.
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For optimal thyroid hormone conversion and absorption in the body - there are 4 corner stones - ferritin, folate, B12 ad vitamin D and all four need to be maintained at optimal levels to fully utilise any form of thyroid hormones replacement.
I don't know the ranges in Greece - but I aim to maintain all 4 at a good 60% + through ranges- and try to have, as a woman - ferritin at around 100 - folate 20 - active B12 around 125 ( serum B12 500++ ) and vitamin D around 125.
Hello pennyannie ! Thank you for your help! I am well in range on all of them (though not optimal and certainly not within the limits you mentioned). It is only the homocysteine which was out of range.
Anyway, if my my understanding is correct, it is not a matter of absorption or conversion. If it was, my TSH would start high, and decrease once i absorb more efficiently. On my case it was the other way around, it started low, even though i had symptoms, and increased after supplements.
It is like folate fixed some signaling error and my hypo symptoms started being visible on labs if this makes any sense.
And of course wondering if this happened to anyone else with folate or another supplement
Ok then - but just remember the TSH is a very unreliable measure of anything once on any form of thyroid hormone replacement and especially once it falls below 1 -
we should all be monitored on our Free T3 and Free T4 readings and not a TSH result.
It is like folate fixed some signaling error and my hypo symptoms started being visible on labs if this makes any sense.
This could have been coincidental of course, although in this group I have noticed some people with very low B12 inparticular have managed to raise their TSH by addressing a very low B12 level.
It does seem though that once vitamin levels are fixed and at optimal lelvels (not just within the range) that TSH is a bit more reliable.
oh i was not aware that b12 may also cause this. Thanks for pointing it out!Regarding the labs:
Folate: 12 (>5.8)
B12: 369 (160-970)
Ferretin: 146 (25-350)
D: 22 (20-50)
I have the "luck" to be a hashi for a long time, most of it without any issues. So i do have a baseline on the labs i feel good on. Both b12 and ferretin are normal for me. The folate is a bit on the low side than it normally is (normal is about 18). D3 i never tested prior to starting having hypo symptoms so i am not sure if this is normal or not. Seems on the low side.
Finally regarding the supplements, i take folic acid (i am not sure if i answered your question, or if you asked about the exact supplement/company. And i did not answer it in case i break any forum rules about advertising or something). If you want more details let me know!
Your B12 level may be 'normal for you' but its very low none the less. It will not only be causing you symptoms but your thyroid hormone wont be working as well as it should.
Has your doctor retested homocycsteine as low B12 can also cause that to rise?
Are you vegan or vegetarian? If not:
B12 - do you have symptoms of B12 deficiency? The reference range for B12 is very wide and cut off point too low. theb12society.com/signs-and...
If you do then you should discuss this with your doctor for further tests for Pernicious Anaemia.
If not, then start with a methyl B12 sublingual spray or lozenge for a week, then add a good B complex. Once you run out of the separate B12 just continue with the B complex.
I'm not sure which range or units you're measuring Vit D in but almost certainly it needs to be higher than it is. Most people need minimum 3,000iu vit D + K2 to help it go to your bones.
With a high ferritin level have you also had a full iron panel to rule out low serum iron? This is possible even with good ferritin.
hello!I sincerely doubt that i need more B12 than this: as i said, i have a baseline of prior to having hashi as well as with hashi minus symptoms. On all of these cases by b12 was around 350-450. Furthermore my gp thinks thats a great level. So no re testing yet. I will try to test it again though in about a month.
Regarding the b12 symptoms they overlap a lot with hypo symptoms, so i cannot answer which is the cause. Is rhere anything definitive distinction?
Maybe you mean that on cases where i do have hypo symptoms, b12 needs to be higher? Is this possible? If yes this is something i have not thought of before!
Regarding the D3, indeed, i need to increase it. And this is the highest i got with supplements. I cannot manage to increase it, even with 10.000 IU daily. And it causes me a lot of palpitations so i thought of addressing it after my thyroid labs stabilise a bit, in case it causes some weird side effects when hypo.
What do you mean full iron panel? I got labs for ferretin, b12, iron and blood panel (RBC etc). Is there anything else?
Always remember that doctors get no training in nutrition. They would probably tell you your result was good so long as it fell anywhere in the reference range, even 1 point above the bottom of it.
Your result is a serum B12 test which isnt as accurate as an active B12 test. Optimal for the serum B12 test is a result above 500++. That places your result of 369 as less than optimal and some of your symptoms are likely due to low B12.
To make best use of our thyroid hormone we need all key vitamins at OPTIMAL levels, not just in range. A good quality methylcobalmin plus B complex would really help you in many ways.
Regarding the b12 symptoms they overlap a lot with hypo symptoms, so i cannot answer which is the cause. Is rhere anything definitive distinction?
The best way to find out is to start a really good supplement and see if it helps your symptoms.
Rather than taking folic acid which is an inactive vitamin its suggested to take methylfolate which is already converted into an active form and very easy for your body to use. Many people have MTHFR genes which mean their bodies cant easily make that conversion.
A full iron panel would be:
- Serum iron test, which measures the amount of iron in the blood
- Transferrin test, which measures transferrin, a protein that moves iron throughout the body
- Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), which measures how well iron attaches to transferrin and other proteins in the blood
- Ferritin blood test, which measures how much iron is stored in the body
Great info! Can you suggest a b complex supplement you consider good? I know that we are at different countries but maybe there is something similar here. And since you seem to have a lot of knowledge, do you have any feedback on why i cannot raise d3, or why it seems to cause palpitations?
I have a list of suggestions but am unsure what might be available to you in Greece, I'll post it anyway as will give you choices you can look for. Probably you would need to buy it online as often the supplements at pharmacies and supermarkets are low dose and poor quality.
Thorne Basic B is one to look for and this is the label showing quantities of the vitamins which is very high. Compare what you buy to this and try and get similar.
B complex suggestions: Slightly cheaper options with inactive B6:
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