Comments on: Have you tested your B12? It’s a deficiency thyroid patients need to catch.

By: adrienne

adrienne — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:27:36 +0000

This page has really helped me ALOT…I had my thyroid goiter removed in 2005 and has been on synthroids every since but I do not understand why Im tried all the time, why I have muscle weakness, why am I so depressed, why do I stay bloated and my doc tells me everything is ok but I know its not ok…Im like a different person that I dont know at all… I think this page has helped me out with some of those answers and I will be talking to my doctor ASAP…Thank you guys!!!

(From Janie: now you know why STTM exists. Patients worldwide report that T4 has left them hypothyroid! Get the revised STTM book to take into the doctor’s office with you, with parts highlighted, bookmarked. )

By: Fran Yule

Fran Yule — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:58:45 +0000

Should have been diagnosed with thyroidism as early as 13 but wasn’t until 9 years ago. I spent most of that time in and out of psychiatric clinics and wards. Not crazy, just had hyperthyroid. I’m mentioning all the disorders I had during the time I went undiagnosed because it may help someone. Epilepsy, Muscle spasms, panic and anxiety attacks, low concentration levels, bi-polar (cyclothymia) disorder, suicidal ideation and attempts, aching muscles and chronic fatigue, and heart palpitations. Recently I have been experiencing both hypo and hyper thyroid flushes. The symptoms are reminiscent of bi-polar episodes but far less sharp – weepy and sensations of grief, irritability, disinterest, and brain either racing or foggy, bruxism, tension, and outbreaks of irrational anger. These symptoms come and go several times in the course of a day.
Your site has been a great help! I realise that one of my deficiencies is B vitamin. And I will find a doctor who listens, thinks and then acts.

By: Deirdre

Deirdre — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 02:38:41 +0000

You wonder who are the Doctors re thyroid illness! NO, Thyroid patients KNOW who are the knowledgeable, questing people in this scenario!!

I’ve NEVER in 25 years of the first symptom/Hypothyroid, in 1986 (diagnosed in Nov., 2001,despite being under Medical “care” all those years), been advised by Doctors,Endocrinologists, Specialist Physician & a Dietitian in 2010 who said there is NO THyroid Diet & gave me a print out from the Mayo CLinic to verify her statement, a need for Thyroid Patients to take Vitamins for Hypothyroidism, nor about a tendency to Gluten sensivity, actually nothing much at all to assist. the latest when I asked about the best thing to do re Gluten intolerance was “don’t eat wheat” nothing else, and this 40 year old GP has a wife with Graves – poor her! Thank you once again for this site Janie and patients who contribute, I shall now go and self-treat (only thing that works re Hypo illness) and advise my 2 sons who are in the same situation, to follow up on B12 deficiency. Started a high quality Vit B Complex Vitamins in Sept., 2010 and the difference was notable – should have been taking them 24 years ago. This made me aware that I needed to do extensive research on the interactions of and be very knowlegeable about Nutrition as the Dietitian is not.

By: Carol Prince

Carol Prince — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:29:35 +0000

I have taken Thyroid medication now for nearly 20 years here in Australia. It has been a merrygo ride of different problems. I found I needed Multi Bs.
But I also found I was sensitive to firstly Dairy then having problems with fatty acids. GPs took no notice although I keep complaining.
Finally I found when I took a new dose of multi Bs I was feeling better, so I looked at the content of the tablets and in it was Biotin. What was that I thought.
I researched it, the answer came back that it was taken for hair loss and nail improvement, that did not apply to me. I researched further and found there is a medical situation where the body is depleted of Biotin. This is caused either by taking too much egg whites or having too many anti biotics! Bingo I thought.
So I went to the health shop and took 150mg of Biotin for a couple of weeks, then I sat myself down and ate a small packet of potato crisps, which I normally would get a reaction to. Namely runs to the toilet. I had not reaction from the greasy crisps…..so I have been taking Biotin a couple of times a week to help me eat fatty acids, also after I have had a dose of anti biotics due to infections.
I have been taking Biotin supplements and b supplements now for 5 years and feel so much better for it.
Biotin used to be part of the B family now it is a vitamen in its own right.
My first research on my own body was 5 years ago and even the gastro specialist when I mentioned Biotin admitted they had not researched it, as back then I had a hard time even on the net trying to find an answer, a recent question I put to the net and I came back with a heap of information on Biotin. I personally think the body builders taking white of egg will be having problems in years to come. But for myself with my Thyroid issues I have a new issue Osteopenia, which I do not need. I think this has been caused by the lack of absorbsion of nutrients going straight through my body thanks to the lack of the right amount of Biotin.
I hope this helps someone or some Medical expert reads this and realizes the importants of further research on Biotin.

By: Sara Donoval

Sara Donoval — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:51:26 +0000

I had a small goitre in 2001, went to see my GP who ordered my thyroid blood test. This came back within the normal range. Later that year I miscarried our first baby. At the end of 2002 I was expecting again and my goitre grew from medium to extra large size. My midwife referred me to an endocrinologist in Winchester. Unfortunately, I was only seen by his medical student who touched my neck and said it was ok. The TSH test however came back saying that I was hypothyroid. I was then put on Thyroxine and our first baby boy was born in 2003. My goitre looked enormous but I wasn’t concerned about it, just little embarrased and started wearing turtle neck tops. In March 2005 I was forced by my mum to see an endocrinologist privately. The needle test suggested 99% papillary thyroid cancer. I had a total thyroidectomy in May and RAI in November. After that I was put on 175 mcg Thyroxine. In 2006 I was expecting our second baby and was very worried about the effects of the RAI on our unborn baby. My oncologist reassured us that it was safe to continue with the pregnancy. We had a beautiful baby boy born in the summer 2007. In 2008 I was suffering with blurred vision for about 6 months as well as tingling in my arms and legs and I was having headaches. I felt like I was in somebody elses body. I couldn’t recognise myself and had real difficulties to just keep going. In 2009 I was diagnosed with MS. We moved house in 2010 and I asked my GP to refer me to a neurologist in our new area to keep an eye on my MS. My new neurologist has ordered some blood tests and as a result found out that I was wrongly diagnosed with MS. In reality I was B12 defficient. I’ve had my B12 injections and I feel much better but I always feel cold and my slow body and mind motion hasn’t changed that much. After so many years of struggling on T4, I have just found out about the natural thyroid. How do I go about testing it out for myself??? I want and need my life back for me and my children. I have also just started worrying about my younger son. He is a beautiful little 4 years old now and he is bright and happy. He is however clinically showing some signs of hypothyroidism e.g. dry skin since birth, constipation, catches infections very easily, sleeps longer than anybody else in our family and gets emotionally very easily upset. I am hoping to get him checked soon but remembering my ‘normal’ blood test results in 2001 makes me think that we won’t get very far with getting help. I guess I just have to be forceful with our doctors?

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:36:26 +0000

I have been treated for hypothyroidism for 10 years now. At the time preceding my diagnosis I was having fatigue, weight gain, skin changes and sleep apnea. I had 3 physical exams in the month preceding my diagnosis and no one ever suggested a thyroid study (I was in graduate school, had small children, and worked nearly full time in a busy ER, so of course I was fatigued). The only reason I had one is that it was required for sleep studies! Of course my TSH was too high to be quantified. A recent ultrasound indicated my thyroid gland to be absent, apparently consumed as a result of Hashimoto’s. Later I went to my doctor for symptoms that I described as “male menopause”. He told me that he didn’t believe in that but was willing to run a testosterone test, which led to the discovery of a pituitary adenoma, which suppressed testosterone secretion. Most recently, last fall I began to feel increasingly fatigued and depressed. Since these feelings have been present much of my adult life, I merely coped with them. By December I was having thoughts of suicide, and when a numbness started in my feet and began going up my legs, I knew I had to find out what the problem was. My doctor did a neuro exam and found that while my legs were not completely numb, I had lost all vibratory sensation in my legs. Since my symptoms now were resembling MS, I was referred to a very knowlegable neurologist. After the initial exam, I was sent out to get labs drawn, one of which was a B12 level. This came back at a level which was too far below the reference range to quantify. So now I am taking vitamin B12 injections and the numbness has receded from my hands and has gradually been receding down my legs, but is not yet gone. It saddens my to think how much of my time was wasted just feeling depressed. I can’t really blame the general practitioners whom I’ve seen as they have been generally helpful and the total sum of knowledge of the human body is too vast for any one person to master it all. However, I do fault the endocrinologists that I’ve seen, none of whom ever gave my any information about the risk of low B12 levels, associated with hypothyroidism.

By: Erik

Erik — Sun, 01 May 2011 23:00:15 +0000

This is a great article. I can tell you through experience from 15 to 21 I was the fat kid, girls would literally walk away from me. At 21 I started drinking more water and once again started taking my vitamins. I can tell you, I am now a pretty thin and attractive guy finally at 22. I lost about 50 pounds. I am enjoying my life, I am no longer depressed and I am full of energy, that energy I miss from my pre 15 days. I know I was vitamin deficient. Keep spreading the word.

By: Karen

Karen — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 23:22:12 +0000

Linda
Did you know that according to an article on Medscape “Long-Term Metformin Treatment Linked to Vitamin B12 Deficiency”?

By: Linda Dabulewicz

Linda Dabulewicz — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 04:02:51 +0000

Thanks so much for the vindication. I have been in pain and misery for many years. I have been hypothyroid or so I thought for 17 years. 8 months ago I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and put on Metformin since then my health seemed to go down Hill and I felt like I was going to kick the bucket very soon. Dr said everything was normal and recommended a psychiatrist. I may be goofy but I wasn’t inventing my pain. My body temp was running 96.8 in the summer. My hands feet and legs were burning and tingling, I was too weak to climb stairs I bruised easily.I had IBS and chest pain When I looked up at a flock of geese flying overhead I fell down. I was afraid to drive at night because I couldn’t tell where I was. My family finished my sentences because I forgot what I was talking about. I felt dead, period exclamation point. MY grandmother had had pernicious anemia but my misery was of my own imagining? I told my doctor to test me for B12 . He humored me and threw in a Vitamin D test too. He consceeded and said my Vitamin D was low and told me to take 1,000 units of D but said my B12 was ok. I had already begun to take both D3 (2,500 units) and B12( 1000mcg) 4 days before the blood test was done. Here are my numbers:
B12 373
vit D 27.1
Obviously , I am deficient in both vitamins. I feel so much better already. I am warmer, my bruises are fading away, my blood sugar is almost normal , I am sleeping better and only a few toes are still tingling . I haven’t had any joint pain my body temp is up to 97.8 on average now and I feel happy. I haven’t had any diarrhea or chest pain in 5 days All is not perfect . I am still dizzy when I look at the sky and I have trouble walking in the dark . I lose my balance and I still forget the word I want to say. I hope it isn’t perminent. The G>D> doctor still wants me to see a Psychiatrist and my Thyroid test has me flummuxed.
My TSH is 1.58 and my T4 is 1.0 what is that all about???
Linda
PS I asked the doctor to mail me all my blood work for the last 5 years. I would like to see where things are going since I doubt very much he ever compared notes over the years.

By: Sara R

Sara R — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 04:50:08 +0000

I’ve had Hypothyroidism for 20 years, and had never heard any connection to a B12 deficiency until now. I am mad because I am reading several places that anyone with hypo should have their B12 levels checked on a regular basis. I was just diagnosed with a deficiency, and I have been complaining for years of fatigue, and achy legs, and not once did my DR ever even suggest checking my B12. I remember asking once to have my potassium checked because I was having muscle weakness, my arms would hurt to fix my hair or fold clothes. Well it came back fine. Everytime I complain of symptoms they would recheck my thyroid and it usually came back “within the normal range”. Now I am wondering how long my B12 has been declining. It wasn’t until I was having the numbness, tingling, and burning sensations that they checked it.