Hi Wanda,

I just wanted to let you know, I was diagnosed with hypo a year ago, actually I was borderline low but I wanted to say my bad cholesterol was high, it was 139. A year later after being on Armour Thyroid and 6 weeks of Compound T4 my bad cholesterol level is down to 65. High cholesterol and hypothyroidism definitely go together. From a year ago I have lost 27 pounds, from 153 to 126. 16 of that has been in the last few months.
I hope that you're able to get your situation straightened out. I use to be a couch potato because I was always tired my husband got tired of hearing me say I'm tired all the time. He has really noticed a difference in me. I try and walk 3 miles every morning and I just added a Cindy Crawford workout tape to get more turned. It's incredible the difference from a year ago.

The best of luck to you.
Dolores

Thanks Dolores!

That's fantastic that you've had such good results. I keep reading that weight loss after hypoT medication doesn't always happen so it's heartening to hear that someone's had success with it.

I'm in for my appt on Thursday so I'll let everyone know what happens. I've been researching for the last week and I've bought the books by Mary Shomon, including The Thyroid Diet. I'm learning SO much.

I'm so thankful to all you hypoT people out there that are so helpful and full of inspiration. I can't tell you how much it means for someone like me just starting the journey.

Wanda

I hope you realized I meant more "toned" and not turned.

Dolores, I'm trying to get all the med options down before my appt on Thursday. You take a compound T4? What is that? Natural or synthetic? I thought Synthroid was the only T4 option?

LOL, still learning......

Wanda

Wanda,
Compound T4 is natural, I get it from a compounding pharmacy. I had mentioned that to my doctor because I've heard too many stories of the synthetic not working. That is why I wanted to go natural with everything I'm taking. I also get my natural progesterone there. I use it days 14-28, my endo. said that would also help speed up my metabolism.
There is a website you could also check out, it's www.hotzehwc.com,it talks about the symptoms of hypo and the benifits of using natural products.

Take care, Dolores

Wanda, I believe when meds are compounded they are mainly done this way because they contain T3, it works best when it is done as a time released med because it is so quickly used by the body. There is no reason (need) to compound T4, because it has such a long half life (roughly a week) - but when you are compounding a natural med like Armour or Naturthroid you get compounded T4 and T3 as both are in the desiccated pig thyroid glands (as are T1 and T2).

It is my understanding that you cannot get just T4 as a natural med; it comes with T3. T4 on its own is only available as a synthetic. However, synthroid is not your only option - there are many versions (eltroxin, levoxyl, unithroid, synthroid)

If you can find a compounding pharmacy in TO go for it This will allow you to take just the one pill a day, instead of splitting your dose to get maximum effect from your T3.

Nat

Yes, I take bio-identical progesterone too due to high estrogen levels. My doctor gave me instructions to take it after 14 days, but I had to adjust it b/c (according to my body temp charts) I wouldn't ovulate until 21 days or so and if I took the progesterone on day 14, it would prevent me from ovulating. My luteal phases (ovulatory) are still very short, but it's better than nothing.

I haven't noticed a speed in metabolism other than it allows me to ovulate which increases my body temp. Have you noticed a change?

Thanks Nat. The compounded DOES sound like a good way to go. So they custom compound a thyroid medication based exactly on what you require, is that correct? You're able to custom compound x amount of T3, x amount of T4?

Wanda

Yes, they will custom compound exactly what you need, my understanding is if you need more T4 than is available in a natural med (desiccated thyroid) the T4 will be synthetic. Judging from your lab results this probably won't be the case, your T3 is much lower than your T4 right now.

Between the thyroid meds and the increased time after ovuulation you'll probably notice an increase in metabolism. I know that when I hit that time of the month where progesterone is higher I feel like a furnace (at least I do again now that I'm getting adequate thyroid hormones - it had stopped over the summer and I only had my period once between June and September)

Wanda,
Yes, I've noticed a difference using the progesterone. I seem to lose more in those 2 weeks then in the beginning of my cycle.

Also, the Compound T4 that I take is only T4. My doctor specifically wanted to add T4 only because I was already on Armour and I am still on the Armour. The reason she didn't want to increase the Armour is because of it having more T3 than T4 and my Free T3 levels were fine but my Free T4 level was still a little low. There are compounding pharmacies that will meet your specific need.

Here is what I do take: 1 1/2 grains of Armour and 75mcg of Compound T4

Dolores

Thanks Nat & Dolores.

LOL, my journal buddies think I'm nuts b/c I always want to ovulate, and when I DO ovulate, I want to ovulate for 2 weeks like everyone else. I have to keep reminding them it's b/c we're more thermogenic during that time. I'll take the PMS along with it, if that's the price I have to pay.

The one interesting thing I noticed recently is that fish oil makes me really thermogenic. I needed to take 3 T of it for this to happen, I assume b/c any Omega 3 not needed by the body is burned as energy. It raised my AM temps by .3 degrees. Anyone else have that happen? I've been meaning to start a thread about it, but I kept forgetting. LOL, the hypoT.

Wanda

--edit-- Nat, why did your periods stop? Was it pre-medication?

Wanda,
Thanks for that info., maybe I'll try that the first 2 weeks of my cycle. I hope that will help during that time.

Dolores

Yes, it was this summer, I started meds in September, after an early TOM, and then I had another one 23 days later (I'm 'usually' 35-42 days, with a long time between ovuulation and TOM, so lots of fat burning).

Omega 3 is also probably helping you burn body fat; that is one of it's many benefits

Yeah, that's what I'd always read, but I was never taking the 2T that is normally recommended. The increased temps probably proves that Omega 3s help the body burn fat.

At 3T, would you be burning body fat even if you don't lose weight? I wasn't losing anything during that time, even though my temps were increasing. My thinking is that I was burning fat, but storing it at the same time due to my thyroid problems. I was also working out lifting and doing cardio with no fat loss during that time too. It wasn't until my calories dropped below 1,000/day due to my "teeth" pain problem that I started losing weight (and hopefully fat).

I find the oil is a HUGE appetite suppressant too. I've had to stop taking it for now until my appetite returns.

Wanda

I'm wondering if that huge appetite supression wasn't related to ketosis, Wanda. That's a lot of fat, and since omega 3 is known to increase fat burning it seems logical to assume that you'd get into really 'deep purple' ketosis with it... just me rambling here I wonder what 3T of olive oil would do? (yes I am appealing to the mad scientist in you).

Hmmm, that's an interesting thought about "deep ketosis". I'm one of those people who doesn't get appetite suppression from a high saturated fat diet, but a high protein diet does the trick. I'll have to try that little experiment with the 3T of olive oil (throughout the day) and see if there's a difference. Good point!

Wanda