Can certain herbs and thyroid blood results

[wishing2go]

Hi everybody

Can anyone tell me if Panax Ginseng would upset my T4 resulting in too high on blood test. ??

Had stable blood results for many years on NDT . Then I have my blood test it was supposed to be for TSH FT3 and FT4 Only they omitted the T3 and I just have the TSH and T4. My TSH is low but it is always low on NDT and is the usual value so not concerned there but the T$ is way out! I put out another post about the blood test and had some very helpful suggestion.

I now need to figure out why because I have no symptoms whatsoever of Hyper thyroidism or thyrotoxicosis . I have used a herbalist for several years and all has been fine. It dawned on me in the early hours of this morning ! that when we had our last consult about 6 weeks ago He said he was continuing with the Panax Ginseng in the mix . I thought nothing of it at the time. On the morning of my blood test had another dose of the "mix " so wonder if that has messed up my blood test results along with some biotin which was in my Royal Jelly supplement!

I judiciously stop all supplements and the Erfa at appropriate times before the test, I did this time except for Herbal mix and Royal jelly !

I would be grateful for any thoughts or input. Thank you all once again

[Tina_Maria]

Hello,

I had a quick search and Panax Ginseng is known to interfere with the conversion of T4 to T3, in particular in patients with adrenal dysfunction. So it is quite possible that since your conversion was interrupted, your T4 levels would have been much higher than usual, hence the high levels in your results. As you mentioned it would have been good to check the T3 at the same time, but I suspect it would have been lower.

Panax Ginseng can interfere with the hypothlamus pituitary axis, it can also lead to anxiety and insomnia due to its stimulating nature. You should consult with a thyroid specialist before considering taking ginseng, as some ginseng forms can interfere with thyroid function and would therefore be counterproductive and contraindicated.

Hope this helps!

[wishing2go in reply to Tina_Maria]

Yes indeed it does !! ,Thank you so very much.

[Tina_Maria in reply to wishing2go]

No worries!

[greygoose in reply to wishing2go]

Ginseng may well interfere with conversion, I don't know, but not to that extent! Even if none of it was converted I sincerely doubt it would take the FT4 up to over 37. That sounds like more Erfa than you could possibly take. Actually, I skimmed through your past posts and nowhere could I find exactly how much Erfa you actually take, but I can't imagine it would be that much.

However, it the article below, it says:

Panax ginseng seems to increase the activity of the immune system. It might make auto-immune diseases worse. Don't use Panax ginseng if you have any auto-immune condition.

So, if you do have Hashi's - and it rather looks like you do - it could have triggered a Hashi's 'hyper' swing causing that high level of T4. That would be my guess.

webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingre...

[wishing2go in reply to greygoose]

Thank you very much for your reply and the link,. I take 3 grains of Erfa by the way.

My blood tests results have been steady for years. I have had overdoses in the past when I was first on Armour and I had symptoms , of heart thumping like mad, restless and so on. There is nothing like that now in fact I feel more hypo if I think about it,and in the last week or so I keep getting leg cramps at night . What you say makes absolute sense. I think Panax is definitely not for me!

All good wishes to you and thank you once again

I

[greygoose in reply to wishing2go]

Thank you, and you're welcome.