O/T Thyroid Meds

[deerslayer]

Does anyone have any input/experience with low Thyroid meds ? Pros- cons
thanks
tim

[kaiasgram]

Lots of experience. I take T3 and T4 meds for hypothyroidism. Easiest meds of all to take, no side effects unless you're taking more than you need.

[BlackSpinner]

My youngest has been taking them for several years. Take them in the morning 1 hour before eating and avoid calcium in the am.

They made an enormous difference in her mental attitude and ability.

The amount of meds you need are the level that eliminates your symptoms (not the ones which get you to the level on a blood test which your doctor thinks you should be)

[deerslayer]

Thank You Ladies !
guess that means no cereal in the morning , or vitamins .. How bout coffee, that's my first thing motivator when my feet hit the floor

[JDS74]

I take Synthroid every day first thing in the morning.
My intent is to wait two hours before eating anything. Sometimes I only wait one hour but never include any calcium - milk, cheese, calcium supplements, etc.
The biggest thing is no foods with any significant amount of calcium within that time.
For a while, you should have your TSH periodically tested to see how you are doing. During this period they will test for T3 & T4 until you get regulated.

Whatever your source, keep getting your meds from the same pharmacy.
Synthroid (levothyroxine) is manufactured to keep the dosage in a +- 10% range.
Each manufacturer will have their own tolerances much tighter than that but in that same range.
So if you get your 100 dosage from A, they will control tightly in that range. That means they may have their dosage at 92 +- 2% while B may control at 108 +- 1% and both comply with FDA regs.

Switching from A to B in this case, makes a 20% change in your actual dosage. The doctor will titrate your dosage assuming you are getting your meds from the same manufacturer. If you change, you need to tell the doctor and get re-titrated to the new manufacturer. A 20% change in dose is a really big deal.

[deerslayer]

Thank You Kindly JDS74 very good info ! go back in 6 weeks for more bloodwork. primary did an EKG last week also .
Getting old is like the old Airborne saying " Hookup & Step Towards the Door"

[jencat824]

My endocrinologist will only allow brand name Synthroid, because of the differences in manufacturing standards (he says). When I first began with thyroid meds, I was on generic, then they could not regulate my thyroid. Went to specialist, at first he got it regulated, said it was brand vs. generic issue. Now he has to come up with a new theory, because he has been trying to regulate my thyroid for over a year. I been from a very high dose, to relatively low dose, it doesn't matter. Its not only bad on the blood test, I can tell if its too high or too low by the beat of my heart. I'm also on several drugs for Pituitary Gland tumors, which seems to be complicating matters.

As well as the fact that I'm on other meds for several other medical issues. Each med has side effects of its own, in addition to affecting how each drug interacts with one another. In my case this equals a mess. Can't stop seizure meds, can't stop kidney meds, can't stop... well, you get the picture. I think the most important is to take the least amount of meds to get the job done. Otherwise, you could become... like me.

Once they start you on thyroid meds, you should feel better almost immediately. If not, something isn't right, so keep tweaking til you feel better, then stop. If your heart is racing, you are on too much. This racing is a different feeling to any other I've ever had, its a kind of thump, thump, thump. Not uncomfortable, just there & you can feel it isn't supposed to be. Watch for that, if you experience it, your dose is too high.

Also, as stated above, no calcium. Since I'm on a no-calcium diet, its easy for me.

Good luck with your transition & hopefully you'll be feeling yourself again real soon.
Jen

[purple]

I have heard of a number of folks who said that they benefited from using the Armour Thyroid rather than Syntheroid. There are other things that the human body appreciates that are in the biological Armour Thyroid than the straight compounded in a lab.

Some folks have also looked at doing a diet to determine if they have food allergies that are troubling to them. You might have to google out that info.

I met a lady in the line at Wal Mart, who said she lose forty pounds while eating more, because she gave up foods that her body was allergic to. She was very happy.

I have a low Thyroid, but like the doc says. If they give me Thyroid at this phase, my Thyroid will produce less. I am likely to develop Thyroid cancer.

My sister had her Thyroid oblated, because it had gone crazy over producing. She developed Para Thyroid Tumors. As the surgeon who took hers out in Florida (he is the only one who does it with caths) He said most docs miss the diagnosis of Para Thyroid tumors, although the diagnosis is apparent in some of the ordinary tests that docs do. Anyone whose thyroid is removed of Oblated with chemicals is likely to develop parathyroid tumors at about five years. Leaving the parathyroid tumors in leads to a really cruddy quality of life, with stomach problems and often leads to cancer elsewhere in the body. Breast cancer being one.

Just an FYI.

[JDS74]

Thank You Kindly JDS74 very good info ! go back in 6 weeks for more bloodwork. primary did an EKG last week also .
Getting old is like the old Airborne saying " Hookup & Step Towards the Door"

As us old folks keep saying,"Getting old is not for wusses!"

[deerslayer]

just pulled up labs TSH 6.56 ... heart palpitations reported lol

[JDS74]

6.56 is a little high. My doc wants me in the range of 1.0 - 4.0
Don't go crazy chasing numbers it sometimes takes a while to stabilize.
A little high is much better than really low - mine got down to 0.0015 at one time.
Fired the doc that let that happen

[BlackSpinner]

My daughter can tell by her cognitive ability, mood and fatigue if she needs to get her meds adjusted. Her levels test in the low normal when she starts to have symptoms however.

[sleeplessinaz]

I finally got off of all the synthetic thyroid meds and now take Naturethroid . Best thing I ever did for myself! Was on Levothyroxine and/or Levoxyl for 25 years and it kept me sick. It was awful. Finally wised up and went a Nathurpathic MD. Ahhhhhhh so wonderful. You owe it to,yourself to do your research.
Hope this helps,

[archangle]

Thyroid meds are one of the things that are very real and not something the medical community screws us over with. Well, not badly.

The tests seem to give a fairly good indication of the real world situation. The tests are reasonably inexpensive. The pills are also fairly inexpensive.

Too much thyroid hormone in your blood has some bad side effects, but this happens whether it's from pills or from natural causes. Too little thyroid also has some bad side effects.

If the tests say you need it, you probably do. The drug can harm you if you take too much, or if you take too little.

i.e. Thyroid pills are one of the things you can pretty much trust the standard medical processes on.

[Nozzelnut]

One symptom of hypothyroid is a thick tongue; compounding the OSA problems...

I'm on Levothyroxin and have been for about 16 months. Looking back, my symptoms started about 5 years ago. It would cycle up and down over months and it has been a steady decline in natural production.

FWIW I'm a 40yo male.