[Anonymous March 18, 1997 at 5:14 pm Post count: 93172]

#1056513

When I posted the address of the article on synthroid, I left out a slash. So, Claudia and anyone else trying to find it, here’s another try on my part:

http://www.seamless.com/alexanderlaw/injury/article/gouging.shtml

If all else fails, try a search engine with the terms: Gouging Patients

It’s an interesting, and eye-opening article about something we rely on and probably all take for granted. (No pun intended, of course.)

[Anonymous April 14, 1997 at 9:30 am Post count: 93172]

#1163621

Whenever I have a bad week, I start contemplating RAI. Right now I’m
back to my resolve to stick it out on the PTU for while, but
I’m wondering about Synthroid…

It’s supposed to be used in the body like natural thyroid hormone…right?
How does it get converted to free T3 or whatever? Which “T” thing does it
mimic or does it imitate lots of them? Does every person’s body use it
properly? (I would hate to take the plunge one day and then have things
get weirder).

On another note: there’s one level of hyper that’s okay, energy-wsie, but
the rest of it is Hell not heaven for me. An anxious feeling like a great big
hairy spider is walking up your body ready to pounce on your face, except the
feeling hangs with you all day. I want to avoid that at all costs. I’m supposed
to heading toward the hypo side. I still have bursts of hyper, but basically
it’s a nice mellow, all chilled out feeling.

[Anonymous April 14, 1997 at 11:55 am Post count: 93172]

#1163622

According to THE THYROID GLAND: A Book for Thyroid Patients, the thyroid hormones are T4 and T3. I don’t know whether the thyroid actually produces any T3 or not. It doesn’t say. The difference between these two hormones is that T4 has 4 iodine atoms in it, and T3 only has 3 iodine atoms. The majority of the hormone in your body at any time is T4. But T3 is the form which the cells use for their metabolic processes. The T4 that is in your blood is converted to T3 and used as the body needs it. Where this happens I don’t know– I haven’t found that out yet.

Synthroid and Levothroid are chemically IDENTICAL to T4, with the exception of the addition of fillers and additives to make it into a “pill”. So you are taking T4, which your body then transforms into T3 as needed just like it would the “natural” T4. Some patients may not do well on synthroid, but it is because of the fillers, usually, and not the chemical itself. According to Dr. Hamburger, who wrote the book I mentioned above: “…Levothroid tablets dissolve more rapidly. This may be important for some patients with intestinal problems such as ileitis or colitis that cause rapid passage of food and medication with frequent bowel movements.” So the fillers make a difference in absorption rates. They also make a difference in terms of allergies because the different dyes, etc. But there is no “logical” reason why this chemically identical man-ufactured hormone should not be as effective as the “natural” stuff that your body produces. I know that there has been this Wilson’s Syndrome stuff on the alt.support.thyroid board, about us needing to actually TAKE T3, but every reliable source that I have found on that topic, says “no”, or even more specifically that there is no scientific basis for Wilson’s claims. My endo does not like to prescribe T3 because it is not stored in the body, it has a very short life-span, it is not necessarily available when you need it, or you may have too much of it when you don’t need it –> yo-yoing of hormone levels.

Just general information: “Thyroxine (i.e. synthroid/levothroid, etc.) is slow acting, and lasts for several weeks. Patients sometimes report an improved sense of well-being immediately after taking the first pill, and prompt deterioration if a single pill is missed. Neither of these responses is possible. Today’s thyroxine has its full effect in about ten days, and that taken about ten days previously is primarily responsible for today’s needs. One must stop thyroxine tablets about three weeks for all hormone to be used up by the body. The full-blown picture of (subsequent) hypothyroidism might not appear for several additional weeks.”

I hope this helps, Glynis.

Bobbi

[Anonymous April 14, 1997 at 7:52 pm Post count: 93172]

#1163623

Thanks, Bobbi, that was great.

Here’s one of my concerns if I take the plunge. My sister is hypothyroid.
Everytime they up her dosage of synthroid she gets the anxiety, frequent bm’s,
sweatiness, etc, on the 2nd – 4th day. Even when she just started a couple
of months ago. It takes a few days for her to adjust down after she takes a higher
dosage….and it’s not a fun few days.

My Endo said I have a very rapid conversion of T4 to free T3.Something like
5% of all hyperthyroid patients have this where their free T3 is way out of
whack before the other T’s get high, too. I’m thinking
my sister must have some sort of the same problem. I’m nervous that perhaps taking
the synthroid would do the same to me (that twilight zone kind of anxiety is
something I want to avoid at all costs). But I hate riding this see-saw indefinitely!

Does your book say anything about rapid converters?

Thanks!

[Anonymous April 14, 1997 at 8:15 pm Post count: 93172]

#1163624

Hi everyone,
I’ve been on just about every dosage of synthoid since getting GD.
I just have to look at the color of the little pill and automatically
know what the dose is
Think it’s time for another “color” I’m starting to feel hypo again!

All the best,

Shannon.

[Anonymous April 14, 1997 at 9:47 pm Post count: 93172]

#1163625

No, I’m sorry, Glynis, it doesn’t get into that aspect of the treatment, at least in those terms, so I cannot help you out there. The only thing this book talks about, that may have some bearing on this issue, is about free versus bound thyroid hormone. “More than 99%” (of the two thyroid hormones)”is bound to proteins that carry the T4″ (and T3) “to its various destinations. Bound protein is inactive and may not reflect thyroid function.” It goes on to say that the amount of bound protein we have in our bodies, to carry the thyroid hormone can be increased by “female hormone (given for birth control, menstrual irregularity, or menopausal symptoms), in some liver diseases, or on a hereditary basis; and carrier protein is decreased by male hormone, in some liver diseases, or on a hereditary basis.” Given that the T3 is the cell activator, having too much FREE T3 is going to be the problem, because the bound T3 is inactive. If you have too much free T3, that may have to do with a lower than normal amount of the carrier proteins in your system, which could be hereditary. But if your endo KNOWS this already, then I would guess that he/she would take that into consideration when giving you a synthetic hormone dose. My own endo started out with a dose of synthroid that turned out to be too low, wanting to watch how my body reacted to it (and that means 4 to 6 weeks of waiting — groan)before making any adjustments. This makes the process of balancing out slower (more likely) but probably helps to avoid the yo-yo effect.

I hope this makes sense. And obviously I’m doing some guessing here.

Bobbi

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