[Anonymous]

#1127677

This is the right place for questions, Renee–I just wish we always had good answers.

I didn’t notice any great improvement in my metabolism when switching from T4 alone to Armour, but got rid of the sick-tired fatigue that had been bogging me down since I went hypo after RAI. Spending less time on the couch and becoming active again haven’t hurt the situation. I hope you start to feel as good as I have most of the time.

Dianne W

[Anonymous]

#1039434

To Dianne W:

Hi, Dianne. I read your reply message to Rose mentioning that you take a dual hormone to alleviate your hypo symptoms.

I’ve been complaining to my endo for the last year that I still feel some hypo symptoms including a real sluggish metabolism, weight gain despite power-walking & exercise w/diet, slow-healing cuts or boo-boo’s”
etc., which he insists are not thyroid related (bull).

Despite normal-on-paper hormone levels for the past year, he put me on syn plus cytomel for T3 to see if I improve. Says some women swear by it. Is that supposed to kick up your metabolism? I’m finally losing a couple pounds and feel more energetic. Interested to see how others on dual hormone feel versus just syn.

Thanks for feedback, Dianne & everyone! I’ve been asking a lot of questions here lately. Don’t mean to be a pest!

Renee

[Anonymous]

#1127678

A study about a year ago looked at whether adding a bit of T3 to our replacement hormone could improve our mental functioning and sense of well-being. The answer, in the study, was that most of the participants felt better with T3 added, and that they did perform better on cognitive tests. But there are problems with adding T3 to our replacement. (It didn’t help ALL of the participants in the study.) T3 has a VERY short life span in the body. It can provide an initial boost, and then it wears off, fairly quickly. So it can energize us in the morning, and sometimes too much, but then it wears out by day’s end. Plus, T3 is a very powerful hormone, and it is easy to get too much of it, and bring back hyperthyroid symptoms. It does not come in any timed-release form, and in the study, it was suggested that a small dose of it, in timed release, probably needed to be developed because a number of people have problems adding T3 (heart irritation is one of the main ones) in its current doseage forms. So, consider what you are doing with your doctor an experiment, and work with him closely. My doctor added T3 last October, and I could not tolerate even the smallest pill size form of it. It gave me tremors and a rapid heart rate. So we cut the wee pill in half. That seems to be working better. Some doctors suggest cutting the pill in half and taking half in the morning, half in the afternoon when their is a problem. I am taking half in the morning. YOUR doctor may have developed other ways of working with it. Talk with him IF you have a problem taking it. If you cannot tolerate it well, but feel slightly better on it, perhaps your T4 replacement dose can be tweaked up a bit. Some folks alternate between two doses of T4 replacement. This allows our blood levels of T4 to be slightly higher, and in between the doses available in pills. (This can work because T4 has a very LONG life span in the body.)

Bobbi — NGDF Asst. ONline Facilitator

[Anonymous]

#1127679

THis is really valuable information and I’m so glad that you shared it. My dilemma is this…I want to find an endo or internist who knows this much about Graves but am having a hard time and am tired of hiring/firing doctors. I need to get these levels straightened out. I have been through the mill over the past 20 years since diagnosed and need someone who knows their stuff. How do I do that without continually going from doctor to doctor????????

[Anonymous]

#1127680

Diane-the question you asked is my biggest concern. As Nancy Patterson and Jake have said many times, the autoimmune disorder is least understood scientifically. I am being treated for Graves not because I have positive TSI or positive TPO AB but because my Thyroid Scan showed to quote exactly from the report ” The uptake at six hours was 29% and at 24 hours was 41 % , the range of normal being 6-20 % at six hours and 10-36 % at 24 hours.”

My PCP doctor disagrees with my Endo and MY DENTIST THINKS THAT BOTH OF THESE DOCTORS ARE FULL OF …. because he thinks that since I stopped smoking in January, 2000 my thrroid overreacted to the shock of not having nicotine in the body and it would have corrected itself in short order. You may ask what a dentist has to do with it? Anyway, I stopped smoking in January, 2000 and my one eyelid retracted ion April 19, 2000 which according to my dentist was as a result of the thyroid gland going into shock and releasing extra harmone resulting in the retraction of the eye lid. This retraction was the main reason that I went to see the docs and was diagnosed as suffering from Graves. Everything is now normal including the eyes but I do continue to take the maintenece dose of PTU and I have not smoked since January of last year. My PCP thinks that my stopping smoking and getteing Graves was a coincident -my dentists thinks otherwise and my Endo doesn’t know because all the antibodieas are negative. So, please tell me what should be my strategy to gradually withdraw from PTU or should I continue PTU for one more year which I currently intend to do? thanks-SamK

[Anonymous]

#1127681

I understand your dilema, Sam.

Your dentist is correct that the eyelid retraction can occur with temporary hyperthyroidism. That is not the same thing as TED.

My suggestion to you is to get a second opinion from another endocrinologist experienced with Graves’ Disease before you decide whether or how to withdraw the PTU. Also, find out if all the different kinds of test were done for TSI, TBII, and TBII blocking antibodies. Email me and I’ll send you more info on the different kinds of antibodies that play in Graves’ Disease.

Good luck!
Dianne W

[Anonymous]

#1127682

Sam — would you go to your endo or PCP to have fillings put into your teeth…or a root canal? Your dentist has an opinion, but it is not backed up by any scientific medical studies, nor is it backed up by any experience whatsoever treating thyroid diseases. I don’t know why your dentist is sticking his oar into the murk, anyway. Let your dentist stick to dental work, and give his opinions a back seat in the scheme of things. It’s confusing enough when two medical doctors cannot agree.

As to the uptake test: it shows hyperactivity of the thyroid gland. If you had a scan done at the same time, it could help to show WHY you are hyperactive: i.e. whether one discrete spot of the thyroid was collecting all the iodine (or the vast majority) or whether the whole gland was covered with the radioiodine used for the uptake test (the word used is typically “diffuse” to describe the uptake pattern). If the whole gland was covered with radioiodine, and if you do not have an elevated WBC count or fever, then your diagnosis typically will come up with “Graves” on it. The diseased condition, and the need for treatment are never based on elevated levels of antibodies. You can have elevated levels of antibodies and not be sick yet.

Regardless of the CAUSE, or the definition given to things, the important issue is the treatment of the hyperthyroid condition. Being hyperthyroid is dangerous, so it has to be treated, no matter what the cause. Knowing the cause can help determine which treatment might give you the best chance of getting well soonest, but other than that you still need to treat it.

I hope you’re feeling much better, and soon,
Bobbi — NGDF Asst. Online Facilitator

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