Hyperthyroidism & Supplement Advice, Just been diagnosed
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Need some advise Please.
Have had Crohn's for 20+ yrs. Always had side effects from drugs so been managing it by myself. Last year and a half with strict diet-fruit, veges, oats, nuts&seeds & eggs + Vitamin D. Been working well. Last 3 years been slightly Hypo and advised to take Kelp supplement. Beginning of this year started going Hyper and told to stop kelp & would correct itself. May this year got Covid, then a urinary infection followed by an eye infection which turned into cellulitis. Felt terrible, thought I had long covid, extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, (having been very fit) and my heart feeling like it was going to explode. Then my Crohns kicked in and I couldn't keep any food in, extreme diarrhoea. Am not eating food now, living on hospital drinks which have all your daily vitamins & minerals, but also Iodine! Has settled my bowel down completely.
Blood test last week:
T4 33.6 pmol/L (12-22) High.
TSH <0.01 mlU/L(0.40-4.00) Low
T3 9.3 pmol/L (2.5-6.0) High.
Doctor prescribed Carbimazole 2.5mg. Said low dose as I's sensitive to drugs & this is a very dangerous drug and I had to agree to go on it.
Having read on here I have started L-Carnitine 330mg - 3 times a day.
Plus drinking Lemon Balm tea.
Still on spin bike but only 30mins, as they didn't seem concerned.
Doc to see me again in 3 weeks.
Can I take Bugleweed, Motherwort and should I be on Acetyl L-canitine and if so what dose for these.
Really struggling & would like to get back to eating again.
Any suggestions please.
0 likes, 2 replies
dan73 kiwisandra
Edited
Hi kiwisandra, I was diagnosed with Graves' disease 8 years back. After reading about it on online forums, I also started taking L-Carnitine, Acetyl L-Carnitine, Lemon Balm, Bugleweed, and Motherwort for a few months. For the last few years I have had normal thyroid levels.
Looking back I have to say that the supplements did not have much effect. Instead, I responded very well to Carbimazole.
It must be difficult with Crohn's disease. When your gut settles down, will you be able to incorporate cruciferous vegetables into your diet? These reduce the thyroid output.
You mentioned that you are taking Vit D. In the past, every time I experienced an episode of hyperthyroidism, it started in winter or early spring. For this reason, I am taking Vit D every day. This is very important especially during the winter months, when we get less exposure to sun light.
Regarding Iodine: A low Iodine diet should be followed only at the specific instruction of a physician (for example in preparation for a scan or treatment with radioactive Iodine). For adults the recommended daily allowance of Iodine is around 150 micrograms/day, (pregant women require a slightly higher intake around 200 micrograms/day). Source: Association of British Dieticians. Depending on the amount consumed kelp and seaweed might exceed these.
Another thing I wanted to mention: Were you told what is causing your hyperthyroidism?
kiwisandra dan73
Edited
Hi dan73,
Thanks for your reply.
I always meant to come back and update my post, incase one day, someone like me with Crohns & hyperthyroidism stumbled across my post.
This is what worked for me:
I did 6 weeks of Fortisip Drinks to settle my Crohns. I think I would have been fine with only 2 or 3 weeks. At 3.5 weeks, I added a banana to my diet, a week later, I added an apple as well. This was to maintain my weight.
I increased my Carbimazole to 5mg a day, with no relief.
I introduced both L-carnitine and Acetyl L-carnitine, neither seemed to help much & later on, made me extremely sick. I wouldn't use these again.
I tried tablet Bugleweed & lemon balm, again with no change in my symptoms.
I then got Bugleweed, Motherwort & Lemon Balm (this was the liquid form). These worked immediately & I then weaned myself off my low dose of Carbimazole.
I started introducing foods slowly & went on a Whole food plant based diet (basically its a vegan diet), after huge amounts of research. This includes lots of cruciferous vegetables loaded into my morning smoothie.
At 10 weeks my T3 and T4 were both in normal range. It took another 4 weeks to get my TSH into normal range. It is still there, but now at the higher end of normal, so recently introduced iodine into my diet.
I have had zero support from my doctors & this has all been trial & error.
My Crohns is alot better too, but still not quite there yet.
When everything was back to normal, I slowly weaned myself off the Bugleweed, Motherwort & lastly lemon balm.
I had a scan of my thyroid for Graves antibodies & I was fine.
They have no idea why I got this and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.
Hope you are well and truly on the other side of it now.
Seasons Greetings.