emma blonde voyage said...
And yes I have an appointment with my GP next week about my latest thyroid results (low T4 and low T3). What are your plans for your thyroid issues?
I only work with
open minded Drs that fully understand thyroid levels. They're hard to find (and they must Rx!!). I've fired a few, proved my points, and walked out,...since I know more about
thyroid than almost all (not all) that Ive met. And its not that complicated. That said, I do give them a chance, I'm not a jerk unless they are, and.... some are. Some have also learned from what I showed them.
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What Ive learned about
thyroid health:
Rule #1) you cannot go hyper just because you have a low TSH. Its not even an energy hormone, its only a signal. This is hard for some Drs to wrap their head around. But, they are afraid of giving you a heart attack- and are looking at the wrong hormone #'s to prevent that anyway. Dont confuse anxiety with hyper thyroid- they do feel similar but are opposites. Hypothyroid can give some people anxiety; Drs dont know this.
Rule #2) Your free T4 and free T3 are the actual energy hormones that you consume; its cell fuel. Both need to be in their ranges to feel optimal. And we need to find our bodies preferred "free T3 and free t4" ranges regardless of the fine details of the TSH value.
Rule # 3) If the TSH and your frees are suddenly way out of whack while being on the same amount of thyroid med;
A)its wise to test reverse T3; stress can "plug up" thyroid receptors.
B)Also question the batch quality of your med if the bottle was
opened in the last 6 weeks. takes 6 weeks for change.
C)A and B are good? > get an ultra sound of the gland
D)All above are good? Look at Pituitary or other hormones out of whack.
Rule #4) Most will never feel the same on thyroid med that they did naturally when it worked properly.
Rule #5) Glutan is proven to affect thyroid negatively if you have any autoimmune thyroid antibodies. Miles will vary per person.
Rule #6) A Hashimoto thyroid that has repeatedly had antibodies physically deform it (per ultra sound), will most likely never heal, but sometimes can/will stop from getting worse (stabilizes) with a G/F diet.
Rule #7) "Hashimoto quick cure" programs on-line are a rip-off and not possible. But they get peoples $.
Above holds true with or with out Lyme.
(Im sure others can add more).
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In my current position of being low in T4 and only mid range of T3, I need more of my weekly combination pig thyroid while NOT letting my already low TSH (.6) rule the decision.
A more common and inexperienced reply would be "OMG your hyper with that low TSH!! You need less med" - Wrong.
So I added more myself last week, and Dr said in the online message, "sounds good, retest in 8 weeks". Because I am most likely slightly hypo getting most energy just from T3 right now. If that doesn't work, then I'll try a new bottle with a different batch # from the pharmacy- its happened before to me and others.
(Pig thyroid pill sized are like Lego blocks. I get the medium 60mg size that can carefully be split into quarters with a sharp pill splitter. I "build" my daily requirement with adding those up. So I can adjust up or down with the same bottle. But, I may run out faster. The pharmacy does not count accurately how long an Rx like this should last. It confuses them.)
Dr also gave me the option of adding a little more T4 in the form of standard synthetic thyroid med, but did does not resolve symptoms for me in the past, just improved test results. Might work today years later, but its more cost and complication.
The future of Rx "pig thyroid" (Armour, NP ect. is scary). The FDA has wanted to eliminate it for years. When there were major shortages ,'08-'09, I got ERFA pig thyroid from an online pharma in Canada, and an importer in Florida. It was illegal to do that for some years (over the boarder), but I got it every time.
And starting LDN could change my required dose in a few months.
Post Edited (astroman) : 2/7/2024 7:28:21 AM (GMT-8)