Does taking T3 throughout the day improve adrenals?? It's not happening!

I take T3 3 times a day along with Armour. I'm still shaking, have low fluctuating temps etc etc. My cortisol test results last May were 15.3 total (22-41) Had the synacthen test, which was normal as expected. Ongoing hair loss in pubic area, arm pit hair has all gone. Not responding much to thyroid meds, even at large doses. Iron is at the bottom of the range too. Acid lowering drugs taken, which I can't stop. I can't add any acid products for my stomach either. Feel like i'm going round in very expensive circles.

Still have enlarged tongue, swollen ankles, muscle and joint pain and brain fog, sleeping badly. Tinnitus is still off the scale and sometimes it's sounds like a strong pulse. Theres so much noise in my head, it feels like it's moving around.

Injecting B12, but folate is low.

Taking thyroid meds since August 2011. Still weak, no energy. Can't push myself up from the floor, can't walk far with very painful feet and legs.

Looking for answers.

Thanks. X

[debjs]

I sympathise as suffer with all these things since thyroidectomy 3 years ago. I have found the internal shuddering improved considerably by taking my first dose of Armour at 4.30am. Like you I take it 3 times a day with last at 5pm. Still have many other symptoms though they are gradually improving but sooo slowly.

[Hidden in reply to debjs]

Hi debjs, thanks for your reply. I take armour & T3 8am ish, just T3 4pm then T3 again at 3 am when I can get some sleep. I did split the armour in the early days, but my energy was so bad I didn't move far from the sofa. I don't seem to store the meds. When I stop for tests, I feel sick, sweat profusely and feel shaky and drunk. Every morning is like starting my treatment again. I've tried everything apart from T3 on it's own.

I have a lot of inflammation, plus my blood glucose is too high, i've read this can affect thyroid meds working.

[debjs in reply to Hidden]

That sounds miserable. I sympathise. I was improving slightly when after splitting my dose more though the day as Dr S suggested but have had a major setback after a throat infection and antibiotics and feel as though I am on no meds at all again. It all seems to be such a fine balance and anything seems to affect it. I am sure you have had it tested but is your vitamin D ok? I tolerated Armour better when mine was corrected.

[Hidden in reply to debjs]

Hi debjs, that's my one success, I managed to get my D3 up from 34. My folate, iron and B12 are still low. Injecting myself with B12 twice a week, although I should be injecting every other day as I have nerve damage. I need to push this again with my GP.

If you have other illnesses I think it does throw everything off. I hope you get back on top!

[beaton]

Hi Helcaster,how much T3 and armour are you taking,is this what was recommended? I thought I was doing ok on T3,regained body hair and temps are up slightly but feeling so down since upping the dose. I'm trying Paul Robinson's CT3M now and hoping.x

[Hidden in reply to beaton]

Hi beaton, thanks for your reply. I'm taking 3 grains of armour and a total of 100mcg T3. Upping meds makes no difference. Still crashing and very cold mid afternoon. Between 4 & 5pm I can't keep my eyes open, my speech gets slurred.

I'm self medicating, and at the point of thinking if I take a bucket full of meds it would make no difference!

I'm crossing everything for you!

[Caze in reply to Hidden]

Have u had yr ferritin checked? Shd be between 70-90. Low iron can make it difficult fr thyroid meds to be used effectively. Inflammation can give u a high ferritin reading even though u are short of iron. Where this is suspected a full iron panel shd be done.

[Hidden in reply to Caze]

Hi Caze, I asked for it to be checked and it wasn't done. It's been quite a few years since it was done. Last time it was a respectable 80, but my B12 & Folate has plummeted since then. My HB is 11, so not wonderful. I take Solgar iron, I told my GP the latest HB was at the bottom even though i've been supplementing iron. I told her I was going to double my dose and she agreed. Unfortunately doubling my dose has aggravated my long standing anal fissures, as the non constipating iron has really bunged me up. The worrying thing is I eat lots of iron rich, folate rich and B12 rich foods, but my levels are dropping alarmingly.

My inflammation markers are very high, much higher than when I first began to have problems with body pain. My thyroid antibodies have shot over the last 15 months too. If I was absorbing my thyroid meds I think this should have have improved?

I need to write to her. There's never an opportunity to discuss everything, when you have too much going on.

Thanks for your help.

[kiltis]

Have you had your adrenals tested with a saliva test?

If you have high blood sugar a low carb diet will really help. And if you have hashimoto's it's essential to be gluten free.

x

[Hidden]

Hi Kiltis, yes I was tested last May with an adrenal stress profile test. As I said in my post it was 15.3 which I know is low.

I've cut carbs to just gluten free porridge a day, sprinkled with cinnamon to reduce blood glucose. I've cut down on potatoes, rice and pasta, the rice and pasta both Wholegrain I would have every 3 weeks or so anyway. I've gone from seeded wholegrain bread to wholegrain rice cakes, but not eating many. I've lost 2 stones during the past 15 months, but I agree there is still some gluten lurking around. Thanks!

[kiltis in reply to Hidden]

It's hard going gluten free, I know I cheat sometimes when I just can't resist.

I've found noodles made of pumpkin, ginger and rice that taste quite nice, so when I fancy pasta I have those instead

15.3, is that the result from a saliva test? Do you know if cortisol is low all day or if it jumps up and down?

Have you tried the CMT3 method?

[Hidden in reply to kiltis]

Hi Kiltis, those noodles sound nice! Who makes it?Only trouble with gluten free is the lack of fibre. I've tried a lot of the gluten free stuff and it's mostly horrible. I think I just won't have any carbs except for the gluten free porridge I like.

Yes it's the saliva test. It's very low all day, but is normal at night, probably why I find it hard to sleep. It was well below the bottom of the range. I'm going to re test sometimes this year and see if it's gotten worse. My body hair is still disappearing fast.

I'm taking T3, but only 3 times a day. I'm also using liquorice root, vit B5 and ginseng. So far all they're doing is burning an even bigger hole in my pocket

[kiltis in reply to Hidden]

They're called King Soba Organic Pumpkin, Ginger and Brown Rice Noodles. I get them from Amazon but some health shops do them too.

I suspect your adrenals cannot cope with the amount of thyroid meds you are taking.

When I started on Nature-Throid my morning cortisol was low (8) and I had one high reading in the afternoon (14.5), my total output was 30.5.

I found that I started feeling worse when trying to raise above 0.75 grains, despite being on adrenal support.

I could only raise after doing CMT3 for a while (I just took my first dose 2hrs before waking for the morning)

I found the book 'Stop the thyroid madness' very helpful.

stopthethyroidmadness.com/a...

x

[Hidden]

Hi kiltis, thanks for the info re the noodles, they do sound delicious.

I had 6 years of steroid injections into joints. I suspect with that and some serious trauma i've had they were pretty shot before I started thyroid meds. I never really reacted to any dose, when I was on 75 MCG of levo I got a whole lot worse.

I've been thinking about that book for a while now, I do like their advice.

I've tried smaller doses over the day and evening but I just got comatose. The only thing I haven't tried is T3 on it's own so maybe I should explore that. My skin is still horribly dry and I have scales on my scalp. Was hoping after over 2 years now on meds this would have improved by now, the same with the temps and body pain

Thanks for your help.xx

[kiltis in reply to Hidden]

I sympathise with you Helcaster and wish you all the best. There is a facebook page called recovering with T3 where you can get personal help from Paul Robinson, if you decide to try T3 only. His book is also very good.

x