Thyroid and Selenium???

[Danyele]

hi,

I am hypothyroid. Just borderline but when I had my T4 and T3 taken last time I tried low carbing my T3 was on the lower (but normal) range. I know that low carbing can decrease your conversion of T4 to T3 so I was thinking that taking 50 mcg of Selenium would help. Anyone have any thoughts???

thanks,

Danyele

[Natrushka]

First off, thanks Danyele, I spent the last 20 minutes learning about selenium - never would have done that othewise :)

I imagine you've done some reading up on this too, to be asking the question. The following are two links to info on this supplement for those who haven't had that benefit:

Supplementwatch.com on Selenium (http://www.supplementwatch.com/supatoz/supplement.asp?supplementId=255)
Wholehealthmd.com on Selenium (http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,10055,00.html)

Selenium is a powerful anti oxidant and immune system booster that works in tandem with other anti oxidants in your system to combat free radicals - it has been shown to be particularly efficient in lowering cancer risks, in helping deal with the inflamation of lupus (an auto-immune disease), in helping supress eruptions of shingles and cold sores and in preventing heart attack and stroke.

The most concentrated food source for selenium is the Brazil nut; a single one contains 120 mcg, (which is about twice the RDA). Seafood in general, as well as poultry and meat, are also good sources. So are grains, especially oats and brown rice.

DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) for adults for selenium is 55-70mcg a day and is usually provided for in your daily diet - I checked this out on Fitday.com (under the reports tab) and I average 100mcg a day eating LC. Most multi vitamins will have 20mcg. Supplementing with selenium is suggested at a dose of 100-200mcg with a caution that selenium toxicity can occurr at levels of 900mcg a day.

I can see why you'd ask - a lot of the diseases selenium helps regulate are auto-immune diseases, as is hypothyroidism :idea: I'd suggest checking your multivitamin and checking with www.fitday.com to see what your daily intake of selenium is and then look to supplementing with it. I know that's what I'm going to do :)

Nat

[Danyele]

hi,


Thank you so much for the post and for the great info. I appreciate it. I do have an account set up at fitday.com so i'm going to check out my selenium levels on it today. I didn't realize there was a section for checking vitamin and mineral levels. Thanks again

danyele

[Texasgal]

Hi Danyelle! I am also hypothyroid. Are you taking any medication to control it. I am severely hypothyroid, so I must take my medication. If you are not on any medication, I suggest you get on something. Cynthroid is the medication that is usually prescribed. Serious complications can arise from not being on medication for it. As far as the selenium, I dont know anything about that and hypothyroidism.

[Natrushka]

Originally posted by Danyele
I didn't realize there was a section for checking vitamin and mineral levels.

The reports tab gives you many options - this is one of my favourites (Am I meeting my nutritional needs for ____ ). I routinely check this on days when I feel swollen for sodium/potassium levels :)

Nat

[Danyele]

hi Texasgirl,


I was on 100 mcg of Eltroxin a year ago then bumped up to 200 mcg of Eltroxin then wa taken off of that and put on 180 of Parke-Davis Thyroid(in USA it is Armour) and I was still feeling very bad. I went to a naturopath who put me on a natural supplement(food for the thyroid containing kelp, copper, zinx, L-tyrosine, Bovine Pituitary Extract) and it brought my TSH down to 0.9. feeling good now.

danyele

p.s. thanks again for telling me about the reports sec. Nat. It is so helpful

[Jeanner]

Hi......

I've been told to add 100mcg of selenium daily to what I average through my diet. Also I've read that-and spoken first hand with other hypos regarding taking maca root. It's supposed to help a great deal with energy. I have ordered some and they recommend the powdered form.

In addition when first diagnosed it can take anywhere from 6-12 months to be stabilized once treatment begins. Right now I am taking .15mcg of Levoxyl. At my appt. this week my endo did some labs. She says if my T3 is on the low end of normal or not quite right she will consider changing me to thyrolar or adding cytomel. She also says that many hypos feel much better with the combination of T3 and T4. I am VERY thankful to have found a doctor who is open to treating me based on how I am feeling-NOT solely on my labs. She also says MOST hypos do not feel good until their TSH is between 1 ans 2.

She also says that many hypos are not properly diagnosed because doctors are using the tsh and not looking at T3 and T4 also which can be an early indication of mild thyroid failure. In my case my nech was very puffy-what I thought was fat was actually goiter. And my TSH was quite high which was indicative of HASHI'S.

[slim gym]

Jeanner, how did the Maca root work out for you?

[Jeanner]

with balancing out my hormonal issues. Also adding the maca to my lc woe has increased my energy levels 10 fold. In 2 weeks I go in for labs and we'll know then whats what!

[slim gym]

Thanks for the fast response!

Please keep us posted on your results.

[leborland]

I've been trying Maca Root and noticed the following: Energy is higher, I sweat a lot easier than before, I feel more heat in my body (I used to be cold all the time), my menstrual cycle is confused (I haven't taken it long enough to know what effect it's having, but I'm late and I'm not usually), I need less sleep.