In an earlier post I noted that I was taking 37mg of zinc and 1mg of copper. For every 15mg of zinc you should take 1mg of copper so I just bought THIS supplement to add some extra copper so my ratio is better. I'm now taking 37mg of zinc and 3mg of copper. The early doses helped me raise my Free T3 from 2.2 to 3.5 the normal range for Free T3 being (2.2-4.2)
It is best to be as close to 4.2 as possible so we shall see if adding this extra copper will do the trick! All in all I still feel really good with my Free T3 at 3.5 . I was feeling horrible and still had major hypothyroid symptoms when my Free T3 was at 2.2 even though my TSH was 2.3
Most doctors will tell you you are fine if your TSH is below 3.0 I can not stress enough how important it is to have your Free T3 tested and get it up to at least 3.5
thanks for your answer i have a hashimoto thyroid male 29 few years back before march 2009 i was perfectly fine but was just getting bold so i went to doctor she did blood work and told me i have thyroid problem and gave me some levothyronixe 25mg since i started eating after a month i started feeling more sick like weak but doctor told me its happen in begging i will be fine soon .
ReplyDeletei started getting more hair loss yello eyes and plus allergies and dry eyes black circles around the eyes week teeths these kind of problems i never had in my life i was very upset depress couple months later doctor told me i have a hashimoto thyroids it can not be fixed ever u will have to stay on levothyronix for rest of your life .i always felt sick even after 9 months eating medicine.then i stopped the medicine from 12/28/2009 to 02//02/2011 i always feel better then eating medicine. in feb 2011 i ate higher dose of levothyronixe 75mg for two and half months i start gaing lot of weight and black circles around the eyes until i stopped the medicine in april 20/2011 i am feeling better now but still keep gaing weight raight 25 pound since march 2009.when ever i drink milk or eat cheese i feel lik i over ate,sleepy,feel more tired for next one or two days and if i start eating centrum multimvitamins i get constipation.in 2009 doctor told me i have i have tsh over 7 and thyroid gland have inflmmation and have both thyroid antibodies raising up. i think all of my problem started after i started eating levothyroixe.before going to doctor i was very depress and eating lot of vitamins supplement and drinking lot of protein and drinking soy milk and going to gym every day for workout
if you read this please tell me what blood test should i do from doctor or anything u suppest its been five months i didnt go to doctor thanks
Kabir,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear you are feeling so sick. I would have your doctor test you for:
TPO antibodies
TgAb antibodies
and Free T3
and Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 Tested.
Also I would ask them to take your blood and run a full food allergen panel. This will tell you what foods you are allergic to.
My doctor here in the USA said that 93% of his patients test positive for milk allergies. It is a very common allergy that is linked to Hashimoto's disease.
Also Soy is very toxic to the thyroid and can cause it to not function properly also soy can counteract with your levothyroxine. If you are taking supplements already make sure they do NOT contain Iodine! Iodine is very inflammatory to the thyroid if you have Hashimoto's disease. Please keep me updated and ask me any questions. I hope you get to feeling better soon. :)
Hi Crystal, I found your blog through a babyboard and i have a couple of questions i'm hoping you can help me with. I am hypo/hashis taking 88.mcgs. of Synthroid with TPO 6500. I've been taking seenium and vitamin E hoping it will lower my antibodies. I went to an Naturopathic Dr. that treats hashis, she wants to check my ANA (for lupus), vitamin D, cortisol, and my FT3. Wants me on a gluten-free and diary-free diet. She also gave me supplements magnesium, omegas, to continue the selenium and vitamin E, a "thyroid mix" which is a bottle from her office and i'm not sure what ingredients it has, and IODINE (4 drops daily) I'm very hesitant about taking iodine, iv'e read that people with hashis shouln't take it. but she insisted that my thyroid needed it and that her hashis patient do well.Can you please give me your opinion, advice.
ReplyDeleteMal
Hi Mal!
ReplyDeleteYour doctor sounds like she is on the right track but like you I'm worried about the iodine. I know for a fact that when I took it with antibodies at 602 I noticed my thyroid would go into a flare and make me feel horrible. I actually tried taking it one more time when I lowered my TPO antibodies and it still does the same thing to me. My doctor is dead set against patients with Hashi's taking iodine. It may work for some, but we tend to get enough iodine in our diets here in the USA. If some one has very low levels in their blood then it may work for them, but I personally believe that it does more harm than good for people with Hashi's. If you are going to take Selenium and Vit E I would recommend taking the kind I've linked on this blog. Some forms of vitamins and minerals are better than others. Also take the selenium and E first thing in the morning away from any other vitamins and minerals, they can mess with the proper absorbtion of the selnium and E. Vitamin D deficiency is very common in Hashi's patients and is related to leaky gut syndrome. I take 5,000iu a day of vitamin D. I was also tested for Lupus because once you have one autoimmune disease you have a higher chance of getting another. Going strict off dairy and gluten for 6 months is always a great idea then you will know if your hashi's is food related like mine! You might want to try going of one at a time because you would be very limited to what you could eat if you go off both. That's what did. After 6 months off gluten I noticed no change in the way I was feeling and my antibodies had not dropped at all. I immediately noticed a differenct after going off dairy and my antibodies started to lower.I think you are on the right path! Keep me updated and write me anytime you have a question.
:) Crystal
Hi, i have been diagonosed with hashimotos in 2009 and was just borderline, but they told me to take 25 mcg of levothyroxine, so i've been on it since now. I had no symptoms at all before i took it, i was absolutely fine, the main problem i've been suffering with for 2 years is a constant bloating, i get so bloated after i eat anything, even something small- i only go back to normal if i fast and when i do that, i'm starving my body, i have researched people who experience the same on levothyroxine. I just wish i never got this problem. I don't eat much at all and i was thinking that my hashimotos was caused by nutrition deficiency. Anyway, i've taken myself off levothyroxine (even though i should be on it), because i cannot take it anymore, i just want to be free. I've been taking multivitamins for the first time ever since coming off the levothyroxine and it has iodine in it, should i just take selenium, vitimin E and D? I'm so confused. No doctors care about how it the disease appears, they only care about the results on their screen. They don't even care about natural treatment.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you suggest i do? What vitamins and supplements should i take (is a multivitamin ok?) and should i get an allergen panel done?
Also, if i do have allergies to a food that increases thyroid antibodies, does that mean i can never eat it again?
I would be so grateful if you could help me.
Zoe
Hi Zoe!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you are having a hard time on levothyroxine. I couldn't tolerate it either. I find that to be the case for many people. One problem is it's only treating the numbers on a test not the symptoms or cause of the disease.
I would get a full blood food allergen panel done. More than likely you are allergic to some kind of food. The problem with gluten allergies is that they don't have a good test to really tell you if you are allergic. My doctor told me you would have to consume tons of wheat and gluten for the test to come up positive, so the best thing to do is go off it for 6 months and see if you feel any better. As far as dairy goes, it took alitte over a year for me to get rid of the milk antibodies that were causing my allergic reaction and my TPO antibodies. It can take a year or 2 to completly rid yourself of a food allergy, after all it took you a life time to build them up. It is important to be very strick and take probiotics to allow your stomach lining to heal. After that you can slowly eat small amounts of the food you are allergic to without having a reaction. I now eat dairy once or twice a month in small amounts and it doesn't effect me anymore. You will have to maintain eating limits on how much of what you are allergic to for the rest of your life because you will start to build up antibodies again. I know this sounds hard, but for me it is better than living with an autoimmune disease for the rest of my life.
You can take a multi vitamin but make sure it doesn't have iodine in it. Make sure you take the Selenium and E seperate from the other vitamins. I would also take the other vitamins I link in this blog because they will help raise your Free T3 levels.
Write me anytime you have questions. I am more than happy to help! :) Crystal
Hi, thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly. I once went without gluten for 3 months to see if it was helping, and i thought it was - but i wasn't eating much at all because nearly everything has gluten in it. So i am not sure. I was really hopeful in expecting better blood test results, but i found out that i needed to up my dose of levothyroxine! I was so upset and i found out it was because i was replacing my normal foods with soy foods and soy destructs the thyroid gland, i immediately stopped everything soy and stayed away from anything that could potentially harm the thyroid, i don't even use flouride toothpaste anymore since it could damage the thyroid.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, i will be going to the doctors soon and i will ask for an allergen panel. I will also be going to buy some supplements to help my thyroid.
I will take selenium and vit E in the morning. Does it matter if it also contains Zinc, Vit A and C and B6? Or must it just be Selenium and Vit E?
What other ones should i take throughout the day and what dosage? I am new to this and i don't want to be taking things i don't need and i don't want to overdose.
I am from the UK so i will have to search around for the supplements.
Oh sorry and one more question, i know it seems unlikely but if the results from the allergen panel are ok and i am not allergic to dairy etc. Should i just keep taking the supplements since i do not need to cut out dairy products? I will try going gluten free again since there isn't a test for it.
You have been a great help and now i feel like there is hope. Thank you for helping me.
Zoe
Hi there! Thank you for sharing your journey, as I've just started mine! I'm interested in finding out more information about the vitamins you've been taking. I have my own blog, covering my journey with Hashimoto's as I try to conceive a baby. I'll mention your blog as a reference point! Thanks! http://futuresupermom.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteZoe,
ReplyDeleteIf you are not allergic to any foods then you should still take the supplements. They helped lower my TPO antibodies from 602 to 300 and put my TSH back to normal before I went off dairy.
You are right to stay away from soy and fluoride. They are both harmful to the thyroid. I use a non fluoride toothpaste too. I also have a water filter that does reverse osmosis so it eliminates any fluoride and chlorine from my drinking water and shower water.
You want to take the selenium and vitamin E together away from any other vitamins. I have posted links to every supplement I take through out this blog. If you click on the links then it will take you directly to the supplements I buy from swansons vitamin company. They are very high quality vitamins and minerals at a very low price. They also ship to the UK and most everywhere else in the world.
Hope this helps! Keep me updated on how things are going for you. :) Crystal
Hi Futuresupermom!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting. Feel free to write me anytime with any questions you might have. Wishing you tons of luck on your TTC journey. :) Crystal
Hi Crystal,
ReplyDeleteI'm very happy to find your blog. I'm 27 yers old Polish girl that has been diagnosed with hashimoto's disease over a year ago. I have been on 50 microgram of Eltroxin(levothyroxine). For about one year I was feeling great,I lost weight, had lost of energy but for the past month and a half I've been feeling very bad. I live in Dublin, Ireland, and here you have to wait for blood test a week, next week I should have them ready.
Now I'm lookig for some good articles and books about Hashimoto because my GP(this is my 4th doctor;((( )doesn't know a thing about it. Could you recomend me any good book/ article about hashimoto please? my e-mail is kasia.czulak@gmail.com
Thanks
Kasia
I would suggest looking into allergies, or food intolerances. I did do the testing for these myself, but these can be unreliable and you can reverse them. I have been doing the GAPS diet which helps heal the gut lining, which seems unrelated, but it is actually all related. What happens is something damaged the gut lining, which caused the intestines to become porous. This causes food particles to be released into the bloodstream and your immune system attacks these particles. This causes the immune system to attack things in the body( like the thyroid)and this is how the condition Hashimotos is developed. The GAPS diet helps to heal the gut lining so you can get back on your feet again.
DeleteKasia,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you are not feeling well. A great book to read is,
Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms? When My Lab Tests Are Normal: A Revolutionary Breakthrough In Understanding Hashimoto's Disease and Hypothyroidism.
Here is a link to it on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Still-Thyroid-Symptoms-Tests-Normal/dp/1600376703
When you get your results please let me know and I can help you understand them and maybe find out why you are not feeling well. :) Crystal
Your blog has been so inspiring to me! I just ordered some selenium, copper, and zinc supplements online.
ReplyDeleteI just started a blog about my journey - http://michelleshashis.blogspot.com/
Thanks for all of the incredible info!
Thanks Michelle!!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! I hope the new supplements help you! Please keep me updated on your journey! :) Crystal
Crystal,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your experiences with everyone!
I have been taking selenium since I got my hashimoto's diagnosis in March. I went on an anti-candida diet for ten weeks and lost 30 lbs. I am working with Dr. Alexander Haskell on my Hashimoto's, whose website is curiously "Hope for Hashimoto's." Do you know anything about him?
Anyway, I think we have the same bodies! I started out with chest pain and anxiety attack. However, my antibodies were in the 800s! After months of struggling with different natural approaches (all of which included selenium supplementation) my antibodies went up to the 900s, but finally fell down to the 400s (less than half of what they were at my diagnosis).
After this, I had a food allergy blood test, and I am extremely allergic to casein as well, and had no idea! Your blog has given me hope that if I have the right discipline about eating and supplementing, I can achieve similar results.
I do have some questions for you, though. When you say you avoided dairy.....do you mean you just didn't eat dairy products (cheese, ice cream, milk, etc.)? Or do you mean you avoided dairy like someone with a severe peanut allergy? What about goat's milk/cheese? I was shown to be less allergic to it, but my understanding is that it does have a small amount of casein in it.
I would love to talk to you more about this! It's amazing that a person can rid themselves of a "disease" like this altogether, when doctors tell us there is "nothing we can do." I hope to do so myself and spread the good news far and wide!
Crystal,
ReplyDeleteYou went dairy free, but did you also cut out gluten from your diet or do you still consume products with gluten? People suggest it and I am not sure since tests are not 100% whether it needs to be cut out our not? I would like to follow all your recommendations since I have just gotten diagnosed with Hashimotos, Thanks so much for helping all of us!!!!
Thaddeus,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first went off dairy I was VERY strict. I read every food lable and made sure it had NO casein or dairy by products. I stuck to this for 6 months then the holidays came and I was alittle bad and had some dairy(in moderation)then went strict off it again for another 6 months. I now eat dairy every so often. I do tend to lean more towards goat milk products as goat milk only contains one of the proteins that cause allergic reaction in humans. Cows milk has 2 proteins and has the one that most people are very allergic to. Now that being said I do take breaks where I won't eat any dairy for a month. I think it's good to give the body a break and make sure the antibodies do not build up in your system again. Hope this helps. Write anytime you have questions. Crystal :)
As far as gluten goes. My doctor told me that the test is unreliable so the best thing to do is go off gluten for 6 months then see how you feel and have your Hashimoto's antibodies retested. That will give you a good idea if it causing a problem for you. Crystal :)
ReplyDeleteHi Crystal,
ReplyDeleteHow much zinc/copper should you take a day? My TSH is 6.1, T4Free - 1.19 and T3 Free is 2.6.
Hi Crystal,
ReplyDeleteI am so confused - my TSH is 0,03, my fT4 is 17.6, and my FT3 is 11.04. I am not allergic to gluten or dairy but I keep a healthy organic diet. I am still veryvery tired all the time and have no labido. I do take supplements. What would you suggest?
Pleaseee help me! It is now June. For some reason in September of 2011 I got strep and ever since then I have felt soo different. I feel "out of my body". I finally talked to someone who told me me to get thyroid checked. My first test came back hypo ever since then I've had about 4 and they are normal. I go to an endocrinologist and my antibodies are 161. This was devastating to me, I am only 18 and they told me they don't know what will happen in the future. My doctor put me on prozac at first, I had to go see a specialist on my own and now she says I don't need medicine because my levels are normal. They don't know how I feel. I sleep all the time, I am depressed and I do not want to gain weight or lose hair. I have thought about giving up a lot and ending it. This "disease" has ruined my life. My doctor and specialist have told me there's nothing I can do. I researched and I'm now taking vitamin d3, vitamin B 100, biotin,b 12 injections, iron for anemia, and a multi vitamin.I am going to order some selenium and vitamin e tomorrow. Is there anything else I can do to not become hypo?? Please help me. Noone knows how I fee and every doctor I've had has been an idiot honestly. I am my only hope. Please get back to me. I would realy appreciate it!!! Any other vitamins?
ReplyDeleteTo the anonymous, very important part of managing Hashimotos is a diet, autoimmune diet, which excludes dairy, gluten, soya, eggs, coffeine, sugar, and all grains if needed. It might seem extreme, but I had same symptoms and was very depressed, I'm second year on the diet, and I'm better much better, I stillhave mood swings varying according to my female hormone cycle, but it's nothing like before/ I'm going to add supplements which are talked about in this blog, too.
ReplyDeleteDana