The Thyroid Thread

We started discussing thyroids in the menstruation thread, so I thought I'd make a new one before it got out of hand So to recap, we were discussing NatureThroid, and Armour.

Girlie said...

BabsBunny said...
just looked up info on NatureThroid, and it seems quite complicated as far as dosing and when to take it relative to other meds and food... I don't know if I can handle any more timers and schedules. My NP couldn't tell me anything about the dose I should have, but my LLMD doesn't think I even need thyroid help... so I dunno. I will bring it up and see what happens.

Sorry, thyroid hacked the period thread

Have you tested your FT3 and FT4 - you should not be treating your thyroid without these tests.

So, is your LLMD basing that on your test results?

My ND was testing my TSH, FT3 and FT4 about a year ago. She put me on natural supplements because my TSH was high (4.8) after a lifetime of being mid 2's. If I recall correctly, we weren't quite sure where the problem was coming from as far as T3/T4 production. In a few months, we retested, and my levels looked good (2.8)

THEN Lyme hit. I started seeing a new GP because we moved, and she said my thyroid was swollen. She ran tests but only TSH (because that's what silly GPs do). It was back up (4.7). So I went back to my NP and she just upped my dose of thyroid supps. Then I had an appt with my LLMD. He wanted to do blood tests to check my liver and blood cells, etc, and I asked him to do TSH, T3 and T4 so I could get an update on that. For some reason the T3 was never done, though it was ordered. So I have incomplete results. But my TSH is still back up again (4.4).

My ND wants to treat this, of course, but I feel like we're fighting Lyme and going to lose the TSH battle til that's cleared. She still wants to give me thyroid support to help me while I'm fighting Lyme, but the amount of pills is getting ridiculous. She recommended Armour or NatureThroid, but said I needed an Rx. I will try to get it from my LLMD, because I don't like explaining things to my GP (she looks at me funny, because that's what silly GP's do).

BUT my LLMD didn't seem worried about my TSH - because everyone is different. Some people are totally normal and feel great above a 5. I try to tell him this is not normal for me, that treatment helped get it back to a 2.8 and Lyme messed it up...but I don't know what will happen.

My LLMD wants to treat my Lyme (and is pretty restricted by office politics) and can't meddle much in my GP affairs. My GP is new and clueless. My ND I trust fully but is not familiar enough with Lyme. And then there's the OB/GYN who doesn't care what I have, just gives me more stuff to shove up there without caring that it's ruining my flora.

and now my eye is twitching.

Thanks for the heads up. I have really good insurance *knock on wood*... I just dread the day they realize this $2000 a month on abx isn't temporary.

Mostly I'm concerned with the timing/absorption rules of Nature Throid. Part of me would rather take 4 pills as usual than one pill and have to count more hours and days and doses.

astroman said...
Well, you cant spread out the T3, which is used quickly, if you take it all at once. Some people notice this, some dont. And yes, thyroid med can be absorbed my many other medications.

I know Armour and NatureThroid are not easy to take sublingual after both FDA forced re-formulations in 2009. This FDA forcing shut down two other US natural thyroid producers.

The newer NP thyroid, is a lot like the old Armour and can be taken sublingualy with good results - and protien wont cling to the T4 if your mouth is clean/no proteins from food ect. T3 is completely unaffected by protein.

This is another reason why I use NP Thyroid brand.

I have no idea how Nature Throid's sister brand "West Throid" performs - its not very common.

yeah, see I didn't understand any of that. Unless someone can stupid-talk me into exactly what I need to do with it and my other meds, I'm just going to stick with the vitamins.

astroman said...

Hu? ... Its Simple; you were concerned about taking natural thyroid several times a day; I mentioned taking the NP thyroid brand sublingualy (melting under tough or in cheek) and you worries are gone.

ok, that's it. Call it Lyme Brain

My concern wasn't necessarily how many times I have to take it, but WHEN I have to take it, and if I have to track my dosage over several weeks. People were people talking about starting with low doses, then slowly building up, and not taking it too close to any meals.

does NP thyroid allow me to take that sublingual pill, whenever I want, with or without my abx and probx, with or without food, and still work? Is it one dose a day, start to finish, and done, or do I have to track things and set more timers and play with my dosage needs? (obviously everyone is different, but I don't want to be splitting pills)

If i take it first thing in the morning, though I don't have to wait. Can I eat anything right AFTER I take it?

Nice to know that I have something figured out! LOL! But I will start pushing it to 30 minutes - just to be safe.

So, do thyroid meds bind to any of the vitamins? Is that why you keep them 3 hours away?

Vitamins are like sponges- dont take with any meds- cal, iron, and mag are the culprits.

Post Edited (astroman) : 3/20/2017 10:00:35 PM (GMT-6)

I used to take armour but was switched to naturethroid a few months ago and it has helped. I'be been hypothyroid for 10 years, but it got worse last year - maybe the lyme. So in addition to morning dose, taken with water 30 min before anything else, I was told to take a half dose mid-afternoon. It has something to do with the half-life. This also seems to help and my thyroid is again optimal. I don't take the afternoon dose everyday now, but only if I'm dragging. So a few times a week!

Armour had too much T3 in it for me so I had to find a combination of synthetic and natural which is more like what the human thyroid produces.

This is what I settled on with my doctor after much experimenting. It works very well for me.

100mg synthetic T4 + 1/2 grain desiccated thyroid (porcine, like Armour or Naturethroid). A pharmacist compounds the desiccated thyroid into a Timed Release formula.

I take both in the morning and don't have to divide the desiccated throughout the day because the T3 is evenly released.

The cost for compounding is about $30.00 per month. Insurance won't cover it.

My doctor is an old school GP and willing to be flexible. I think the old school doctors remember Armour was once exclusively used to treat hypothyroidism and people did well on it.

Synthroid came along in the 50s and it's clinical manufacture appealed to the "modernization" trends of the time. No need for pig thyroid. It was touted as a perfect medicine for a simple medical problem. We know better now and it is taking time for doctors to catch up. Slowly they are though. There is a lot of recent medical literature showing people do better with the addition of T3 to Synthroid and co.

I've had no luck with endocrinologists on this matter! GPs seem to be more holistic in general.

B99 said...
I should add that a lot of doctors, even though they've heard the addition of T3 is beneficial, don't know how to dose it. I've read posts on thyroid boards where very high doses of T3 were prescribed to people, with scary results. Doctors are afraid of it because of that.

T3 is four times as potent as T4. Tiny quantities are needed to make a difference.

My husband has been on synthroid for several years now...and we tried to switch to Erfa (I think that was the one)
which is T4 and T3....and he couldn't 'handle' it at the time.

In hindsight...I think he didn't do it slow enough.

Ok stupid question time.

I've been on gradual increased dosages of naturethroid. Top dose was 113.75.

My doctor has never mentioned dissolving slowly, just to take it first thing in morning, which I always do.

Is there a different subligal tablet?

My last blood work done very recently has me at reverse t3 12 (range 8-25)
T4 free .80 (range .56-1.64)
T3 free .41 (range (2.7 - 4.31)

After reviewing my blood work she put me on a trial reduction to 97.5. I wanted to ask her why, but my mind went blank.

Comments, thanks!

Sorry, missed that
TSH 1.29 (.35-5.50)