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Hi Em,
The cytomel I am on (25mcg daily) is $12/month. It definitely seems like
it is worth trying this first. If it doesn’t help, you can always take
the tests afterwards.Did you see my first post to this group? I’m attaching it to the end of
this post. I’m curious to know whether your experience is similar. I
don’t believe it made much difference that I took the anti-thryoid drugs
rather than the iodine. In either case, my thyroid levels would have
dropped substantially.If you really are unable to find a doctor to prescribe t3, I can let you
know who my endocrinologist is and maybe your doctor could give my doctor
a call…Feeling Better
—
I was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease 5 years ago and began treatment in
the fall of 1992. Within a week or two of beginning treatment
(methimazole and synthroid), I began to feel worse daily. I had more and
more difficulty thinking clearly and my memory was substantially worse.
After three months I had bottomed out. My doctor promised it was not due
to the medicines (I now know this is probably true), and so I continued
treatment. I was hoping that it was some adverse effect of the
methimazole and that my mental sluggishness would go away after I finished
the 1 1/2 year treatment. It did not. I continued with synthroid for
another year, but did not notice any change one way or the other after
stopping.During this period my endocrinologist insisted that my malaise had
nothing to do with my thyroid. I therefore searched 3 years for some
other source not related to my thyroid. I was very disappointed to find
that every test (and I took quite a few!) came out negative. In addition,
all medications that I tried only made me feel worse (e.g., increased
confusion).However, my endocrinologist recently told me he has one other patient
for whom he wished he had never began treating since she has not felt
well since. When I asked if they had found anything which made her feel
better, the answer was…….. YES. I too began the treatment and am
finally feeling more like my old self again. Although upset and perplexed
that he did not think of trying this years ago, I am thrilled to be
feeling better.What has helped is the more active thyroid hormone T3 (e.g., “cytomel”).
The synthroid or levothyroxine that is generally given to patients is the
less active thyroid hormone T4. Since T4 is generally converted into T3,
one might not expect there to be any difference. However, in
my case, it clearly does. I am currently taking half a 25 mcg pill first
thing in the morning, and the other half in the mid-afternoon.It seems that I was hyperthyroid for a long enough period of time that I
(e.g., the neurotransmitters in my brain) developed a resistance to these
increased levels. When my levels dropped back down to ‘normal’ levels,
my brain registered my levels as being LOW. I would never have guessed
that this was the problem since the usual thyroid hormone given to
patients, T4, had no effect. Fortunately for me, T3 does. I noticed a
positive effect from T3 within two weeksIn summary, this email is for those who were treated for Graves’ Disease
in the past, noticed they began to feel worse during the beginning of
treatment, and have not felt well since.Best of luck to all of you!
Feeling Better
FB
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