Increasing thyroid dose

[nawchem]

Got my thyroid retested and it is back low. I felt great when my TSH was 0.8 and T3 is 3. I started getting chills and my retest had my TSH at 1.3 and T3 at 2.3. I take 32 mgs of nature throid, its the natural stuff. The nurse told me to start taking 2 pills every other day. Is that the way to do it? Won't I be over one day and under the next?

I felt rather bad when I first started on thyroid. Do you get symptoms when you increase the dose?

[Natrushka]

Do you have the ranges for those T3 results? 32mgs? How do you get that size a pill? 30mgs if 1/2 a grain, which is basically a 'non-dose'

Are you splitting your dose? Taking 1/2 in the am, the other half later in the day? This would help.

As for taking 1 one day and 2 the next, it would make you uneven as far as the T3 is concerned but not the T4 - which builds up slowly in your body. What are your FT results?

Can you post all the tests you've had recenlty along with the lab ranges?

Nat

[nawchem]

Free T4, Direct (0.89) range: 0.61-1.76 ng/dL
TSH (1.285) range: 0.350-5.500 uIU/mL
T3, Free, Serum 2.3 range: 2.3-4.2

Unfortunately I hadn't had a retest in two years. I just got retested because I was so cold and my hair is thin and limp looking again. I take my temp sometimes midday and it is always 98.

My TSH was always normal about 1.8 before going on supplement but my temp used to be 96 and I had all the symptoms.

My doctor special ordered 1/2 grain pills for me, they are really tiny. The plan had been to increase slowly but I felt really great on that dose so I stuck with it.

I never split the dose since I take CA/Mg/ZN supplement 3x/day so the timing would be complicated by splitting.

[Nancy LC]

Which sort of med are you taking? Armour?

[nawchem]

Nancy I just love seeing your posts. I take Nature Throid which is another brand of the armour variety.

[Nancy LC]

*wave* Hey "other Nancy". Hmmm... if that's the case then you probably don't want to alternate days. T3 is very fast acting whereas T4 is like a battery and builds up and depletes much more slowly.

Is that the OTC brand of thyroid?

Frankly, if I were you I'd start at a low dose and gradually work up until you get to a point where you feel good. I think no one can titrate the dose of thyroid quite as well as the actual thyroid patient!

[wcollier]

Hi Nawchem:

It looks like you still need some increases in daily dosage. I personally don't think alternate days will cut it. Your FT3 is still wayyyyy too low and your FT4 is still at about the lower 1/4 range. No wonder you feel like crap.

If you have troubles increasing your thyroid dosage, you really need to get your adrenals checked out. Poor adrenal funciton makes it difficult to tolerate thyroid increases. Problem is, most conventional docs (even good thyroid docs) don't do this. So there lies the problem.

If you want to deal with your adrenals, there are ways.

[nawchem]

Thank you for your suggestions. For some reason I wasn't getting any email notice nor was it showing up as a subscribed post.

My temp was 97.9 after dinner last night and 96.9 this morning which has me thinking my thyroid is low. I've been on the increased dose for a week. How long does it take for thyroid supplement to work? I think you're right I may slowly increase more. I'm moving right now but will get a Dr. in my new area to keep testing. I found 2 on about.com that will prescribe natural thyroid so hopefully I should be able to get some help there. Should the T4 and T3 be more in the center of the ranges to be good?

About the adrenals, my Dr. has mentioned testing my adrenals several times. I just didn't want to find out that there was anything else wrong with me! How do the adrenals affect thyroid?

[Nancy LC]

Adrenals can keep you from using your thyroid hormones well. Good doctor you have! You probably need some adrenal support, it doesn't hurt anything if you don't need it.

It's taken me a 6-8 weeks on armour before seeing my temperature go up .5 a degree.

[nawchem]

I won't expect miracles in a week then!

Nancy did you ever get to the Dr. in Palm Springs? Are you feeling better now? Is your temp in the normal range now?

[wcollier]

About the adrenals, my Dr. has mentioned testing my adrenals several times. I just didn't want to find out that there was anything else wrong with me! How do the adrenals affect thyroid?Hi Nawchem:

Without proper adrenal function, you'll never optimize you thyroid levels. You'll just end up feeling worse and worse as you increase your dosage. Been there, done that.

If you're doctor shopping through the about.com site, be forwarned that lots of thyroid doctors don't treat the adrenals. The adrenals are even harder to get treated than the thyroid. Make sure to call their offices and ask if they treat the adrenals as well and ask what they treat the adrenals with (ie. supplements only, Cortef and/or Isocort).

Most women seem to do best with their FT3 and FT4 somewhere in the upper range of normal.

Good luck!

W

[nawchem]

The adrenals are even harder to get treated than the thyroid. Make sure to call their offices and ask if they treat the adrenals as well and ask what they treat the adrenals with (ie. supplements only, Cortef and/or Isocort).

From the list of adrenal symptoms I have nearly all of them. Is adrenal treatment standard or more of a holistic type treatment? Also what type of answer am I looking for to the above question?

[nawchem]

I've been doing the increased dosage for 2 weeks with no change at all in symptoms. I'm a little surprised since the additional T3 made me feel fantastic very quickly the last time. I am going to go to increased dose everyday and feel pretty confident I'll not be overdoing. I've been doing really well with food and very active, increased my exercise and have not lost any weight, even though I am in ketosis and not near TOM.

[tigger64]

In my case, I want someone who will prescribe low dosage Cortef. I have been on max dosage of Isocort (8 pellets daily) for over 2 weeks and still can't cope in the morning. I do go to a holistic doc and doubt that many reg docs go this route. Good luck to you!

Tig

[nawchem]

Thanks Tig,
I am going to go read up on this stuff.

[nawchem]

Hey those are steriods! I was on hydorcortisone, prednisone and methyl prednisolone high doses for quite a bit of the time last year. Does that mean my adrenals should be 'fixed' already?

[Nancy LC]

I won't expect miracles in a week then!

Nancy did you ever get to the Dr. in Palm Springs? Are you feeling better now? Is your temp in the normal range now?

I just saw him yesterday. My temperature still isn't in the normal range. I might not yet be optimized on thyroid hormones. My new doctor isn't into the adrenal fatigue thing, he thinks its just a faddy thing. He's putting me on natural/bio-identical progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, melatonin and of course, the thyroid. I have to have a thyroid panel yet because I didn't my my meds before I saw him. Oops. He thinks that thyroid+testosterone might take care of my achy joints/tendons.

He doesn't mind if I play with my thyroid doseage, and doesn't even mind if the FT3 goes a little over the high end of the range. He says that T3 resistance means you need to take more T3 to have it work. And he says it is VERY common for people not to be converting the synthetic hormones to T3. He thinks the synthetic hormones are terrible. I concur!

So we'll see how this goes. I don't have my new meds yet. I can't wait to give it a try!

[nawchem]

good info! So when they thyroid is optimized your temperature will be normal? The other hormones are interesting too.

I used to have pain in the tendons in my legs that went away with thyroid. Now I have pain in my knuckles and wrists, I've been afraid that it is arthritis, maybe that is just thyroid too.

How does the testosterone and melatonin help you?

I hope this all works for you and start feeling great.

I made an appointment with the dr. in Denver, his website says he does thyroid and adrenals. The bad part is he is very expensive and doesn't take insurance. Hopefully after I get moved I will find a Dr. on my health plan. After paying $300/month for insurance I want to be able to use it.

[Nancy LC]

The testosterone is supposed to be good for bones, skin, ligaments, etc. Basically he said your levels falls a lot as you age. He also uses it to treat Fibro, along with Thyroid. Melatonin is powerful anti-cancer thing and is to help you sleep.

I paid $800 for my appt with Rouzier! But it's a one time fee to get onboard with his hormone treatments, then after that it is $200 a year. Includes unlimited visits and phone calls and stuff. The presciptions is going to be about $75 a month though. Yikes!

I just ordered the prescriptions and I should have them by next week.

I wonder if that testosterone is going to make me rampy! I might need to go find a boyfriend!

[nawchem]

I hope this all works out for you. So just taking the thyroid alone doesn't work?

3 years ago then I first went on thyroid it worked great, I didn't even diet or particularly exercise and I lost weight, I felt so terrific. Then I got a new Dr. that took me off of it. Later a new dr. put me back on but I never felt as great as the first time. I hope for me it will just be a matter of getting the dose right. Right now I am very down, I have made huge changes in my diet and exercise over the last 5 weeks and haven't lost any weight and I'm very sluggish.

I'm really torn about which Dr. to go to. I have appointments with 2. One is on my insurance and had rave reviews on about.com. The other one holistic bent and charges $5/min and doesn't take insurance.

A little down today. Just wish I could see some results for my efforts.

[Nancy LC]

So far the new thyroid has done wonders in lots of regards, but I'm still registering cold temperatures and still can't seem to lose weight. But then again, my dose might not yet be high enough. I have to hang out at 3 grains for awhile, until I get new tests done.

In fact, I'm rather certain I'm still too low. I'm starting to drag again.

Glad you found a doctor here! I might want to get his name from you. I wonder if its Dr. Warner?

Also, other hormones can contribute to difficulty losing weight. I'm betting the DHEA, testosterone and progesterone will really help me a lot.

[nawchem]

Sounds like we're in the same boat. I just increased my dose to 1grain and I noticed I feel a little better. The half grain increase did nothing. The doctor I have currently in San Diego is really nice and very helpful. I have blue cross insurance so I don't have to pay for my blood tests anymore and he prescribes amour and naturethroid. Well, I never complained about my thyroid and he never said anything about my values slowly creeping up. Plus I didn't get checked for 2 years! I hope the new doctor can work with me a little more to get my thyroid back just right. I have a heart condition and am totally paranoid that I will become hyper and have problems.

Best of luck to you!