Been to see Dr BDP

[marram]

I have been to see Dr BDP because no matter what I did it was becoming increasingly clear that there are things I will not resolve alone. My GP thinks I am perfectly fine, in fact I am over-medicated, which is patently not correct, since I still have symptoms which say otherwise. He may be correct that I am taking too much Levothyroxine, since I am apparently unable to use it properly, for whatever reason.

First of all, I have to say that Dr P is a lovely, lovely man. He is a good listener, sympathetic, kind, and above all he knows what he is doing.

So, the obvious things are that I am too low on the ferritin and the Vitamin D. Those factors alone could be contributing to the lack of conversion. He also agrees that all the T4 is 'pooling' in my system because of this. Well done, CarolynB, for spotting that. I am still hypothyroid but not because I am not getting enough medication, but because my body is incapable of using it.

But the most important thing is that my adrenals are shot to pieces, which he suspects has been the case for years. The amount of stress (long story) and the fact that I have had some form of thyroid disease since I was 13, and never really been properly cared for, have all contributed to my adrenals being in a truly sorry state.

Interestingly I failed in a spectacular way all the adrenal tests he did. This morning, just as a matter of interest, I took my BP sitting down - 103/70. Standing up - 90/55.

The other thing I have done this morning is spit into a glass of water to check for overgrowth of Candida. Update later!

So, I now have a plan of attack. It involves being extremely brave and reducing my Levothyroxine (T4) to 75 from 150 but keeping the Liothyronine (T3) the same - for four days to a week if I can. If I had a thyroid which had any function at all, he would have stopped my T4 completely , but having no thyroid it would be very difficult to do.

After a week roughly, I will introduce Nutri-Adrenal - as much as I can tolerate however little that is. The aim is to get up to four a day eventually. Along with this I am to slowly increase the T3 while - if I feel OK - reducing the T4 even further.

I will also re-start the COQ10 which I had stopped, and am investigating the possibility of 'Serenity' cream because he believes that I have oestrogen dominance. SpaTone for the iron, and sunshine for the vitamin D.

I will keep a VERY detailed diary of my dosage changes and pulse and temperature and will send him a copy regularly, which along with a phone call if needed (if I panic at any time) will be the support I need. These along with how I feel will be the tool used to get my dosage right. Thank goodness at last I have someone looking after me, unlike my GP who just wants to look at my TSH and send me away to rot.

I feel hopeful - or should I say I feel more hopeful. This may well be the last piece in the jigsaw puzzle which will give me the chance of a life. If it does not work, it will not be for lack of trying!

[Hidden]

Good luck with your new regime! You've a lot of experimenting to do and Dr P is very knowledgeable.

If you don't get on with Nutri Adrenal, there are alternatives as there are for Serenity too. It does seem to be a process of elimination!

I'm pleased that you're feeling hopeful and positive and look forward to hearing how you're getting on. We all deserve decent health!

[rosetrees]

He's wonderful, isn't he. Just in case it's helpful, i'll tell you my experience so far. He told me to stop levo for 10 days and start on 2 NAX. Then build up the NAX to 4 a day, restart the levo after 10 days and build up the NT "according to how you feel". After 3 days on no levo I came crashing down so went back on 50mg and 1NT. By stages I increased that to 50mg + 2NT and managed to get to 4 NAX (having to supplement in between with regular nutri adrenal as I found it hard to tolerate the NAX initially).

My appointment was 3 months ago. I have recently reduced my levo to 25mg a day. I take a lot of other adrenal support, including the recent addition of 5mg hydrocortisone (via cream) each morning. He says my positive reaction to a small dose is unusual but I need it and I can continue for as long as I want. That allowed me to reduce my thyroxine. In fact I only take it now to keep my GP on side.

[PinkNinja]

This is rather exciting! It seems that Dr P has worked out what you need. Hopefully you will feel some changes soon. You might find that you need to increase the T3 instead of the T4, especially to start with. Sometimes it seems to give the adrenals a rest (and some support) rather than the T4 which seems to squash the adrenals in those of who don't convert well.

Please let us know how you get on

Carolyn x

[tegz]

I could tell from DP's book on Thyroid/ Adrenals that the guy knows what he's doing.

In it he says, in 20 years time, people will look back in amazement at all this lack of awareness and know better what to do about the Thyroid. [my paraphrasing]

I hope it's quicker than that, though!

So pleased to read your good story on progress.