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Bobbi
November 12, 2008 at 4:24 pmPost count: 1324Just to add something to Ski’s last point, this summer my local pharmacist "goofed’"- TWICE- and gave me generic replacement hormone instead of the brand name that my endo insists on. It becomes automatic if they are not careful, because insurance companies generally demand that we use generic. NEvertheless, because I had difficulty getting regulated, I insist upon being given a brand.
If you shift from one brand to another, your endo would have you come in about 6 weeks – 3 months after the switch to make sure that the dose you are on is appropriate. But your pharmacy could buy different "brands" of generic medication, so you might be switched without knowing it if you are on the generic. That, at least, is the rationale for insisting on a "brand" as far as I know.
Bobbi – Online Facilitator
Ski
November 12, 2008 at 7:53 pmPost count: 1569Hi Helen ~
Responding to your message (below).
Hello,
I am new to this site, but since 1993 I have had Graves Disease. I had the Iodine treatment, and my life was fine for 13 years! Now, I am 43 and my thyroid is all over the place! I am sick of ups and downs, and I find I cant work out, or my thyroid function increases and then I get sick and have to stop my gym routine. I am going to see about having the thyroid removed completely! I have to be on meds, but I am taking two different doses now, even days 175 and odd days 200. If I have to take it anyway, I feel like I should atleast have a choice of some kind of life. If the thyroid is completely gone, suppliments what I need and not have to worry about it. Has anyone else had this happen to them?????Helen
First things first ~ the fact that your levels are all over the place could be from a host of reasons, probably the least likely of which is that your thyroid is kicking up again, especially since Graves’ antibodies would have probably completely killed it by themselves after all this time.
After RAI and 13 years of stability, it’s actually more likely that there are some other interactions going on with your thyroid hormone. You’re coming into the age of "perimenopause," before your cycle stops but as your body prepares for that, and that can throw your "female hormones" out of whack, which can also affect your thyroid hormone levels.
It’s also possible that you just need less thyroid hormone replacement, or that your overall needs have changed as a result of age, activity, and/or weight. It may be time to more carefully chart your levels and doses, to see if you can bring yourself into normal range with dose changes.
One comment I’ve read from pharmacists is that we should not switch thyroid hormone brands (from name brand to generic, OR vice versa) once we’ve found our "perfect" dose, so if that’s happened lately, you may want to switch back to whatever brand of thyroid hormone replacement you were on before your levels started acting crazy.
Please let us know how things are working out for you. I’m sure it’s frustrating to be disrupted again, after so many years of feeling WELL.
annabalfe
November 14, 2008 at 1:45 amPost count: 4Hey
Something here that may or may not help. I am 43 too and my thyroid has been normal for quite a while. Recently felt a bit all over the place. I wrote in to this site and I think it was Ski who advised that it might be something other than my thyroid causing the problems. Guess what? She was right and I am perimenapausal with hair falling out all over the place and night sweats too. So, I am now on a vitamin called Remifemin and after just one week I am feeling better. So you never know what might be causing you to feel bad at the moment but you should check it out especially since pre-menapausal symptoms can start way earlier than I ever thought – as young as mid thirties sometimes. Good luck and hope you feel better soon.
Anna
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