Help needed please !Thyroid Bloods look too low ? Time to raise ERFA?

TSH. 0.10. (0.27 - 4.20)

FT4. 12.9. (12 -22)

FT3. 4.9. (3.1 - 6.8)

I'm taking 1.75 grains of ERFA thyroid and these are my recent blood results. I'm trying to up my dosage by 1/4 grain but I'm getting headaches.

My endo told me to raise the dose because I'm very symptomatic.

I'm puzzled because on 1.75 grains of ERFA shouldn't these bloods look better?

I did recently stop taking seroxat (antidepressents) and strangely my FT3 figures dropped to the current level from 6.2!

Is there room for manoeuvre??

Ps. I'm still waiting for my much documented B12 jabs. GP doesnt have an appointment for 2 weeks!! Thank god I'm not dying!

Xxxx

[galathea]

If these were my results I wouldn't feel good. My own tsh has been 0.02 o the past 13 years, apart from when meds were reduced and tsh claimed to 0.1. I felt like death. 1.75 grains isn't a massive dose most people seem to take 2 or 3 grains as a general replacement. I took 3 for a while and felt fine and I take 4 and feel fantastic. :-). Well, apart from the fact that I am currently suffering a bad back, caused by too much floor laying and gardening.

Hope ths helps xx

G

[edysia2 in reply to galathea]

Hi Galathea. Are you on Erfa too? Do you have any problems with recent batches of ERFA? I do I am wondering if anybody else have similar experiences. E xx

[Hidden in reply to edysia2]

Hello edysia2,

I just thought I'd comment as I'm online. I haven't had any problems with my ERFA but I do get them from a local pharmacist listed on Thyroid UK who just happens to be up the road. He gets them direct from Canada I think?

I take 1/2 grains but when I took 1grains I did notice a difference. They didn't seem as effective. I thought it might be different fillers in the larger tablets but I don't know for sure. I've reverted to taking the 1/2 grains again and they seem fine.

Xx

[edysia2 in reply to Hidden]

Hi joesmum. Thank you for getting back to me.

I do order Erfa from Pharmarama, which is also listed as one of uk suppliers on thyroid Uk website. There are gossips that Erfa changed, ERFA company changed manufacturing facilities and machines used for compressing tablets and a lot of people feel the difference. For me it is unbearable headache, nausea and bloating, which I have never expierienced with old Erfa. Tablets I received this week are soft, fall apart like a powder and they are not hard and crunchy anymore as they used to be.

You mentioned headache? Maybe you experience headache because of new batch of erfa?

[edysia2 in reply to edysia2]

I never could get on with 1grain tablets, but I multidose, so 0.5 grains are more useful. Nevertheless new 0.5 grains are rubbish.

E xx

[edysia2 in reply to edysia2]

Oh yes! Are this half grain you take come from last year batch? ERFA Made changes in Jan 2014. E x

[Framboise in reply to edysia2]

edysia do you know for certain that the changes to manufacturing were made in January 2014? I bought my last jar in November 2013 and Dr Knafo is checking now where they were made, so I have assumed the changes were made sometime last Autumn.

[edysia2 in reply to Framboise]

Thats when they run out of stock-jan.14, the batch I received in jan. was still ok.

[Framboise in reply to edysia2]

This is very strange and really shouldn't happen. When you say they are shiny is this shininess obvious or did you have to hold the tablets in a certain light to see that they looked shiny? Some tablets are shiny because of a coating but ERFA used not to have a coating. I wonder if the new machine to compress them adds one.

[edysia2 in reply to Framboise]

Yes I know, no coating before, but coating now, shiny, obvious.

[edysia2 in reply to edysia2]

I have contacted dr Knafo, awaiting response now.

[Framboise in reply to edysia2]

Hi edysia, I'm trying to establish why both you and joesmum are having problems but joesmum seems to have the older, hard, sweet and crunchy tablets. You're both saying they are shiny, joesmum said shiny in a certain light but you said they are obviously shiny, and yet yesterday you said there was no obvious difference at first sight between the old and the new tablets until you put them together. So, if you have both an old and a new tablet there please would you check the edges of both. My old tablets have a noticeable shiny edge with a matte face. My new ones have a noticeably shiny edge with a slight shine, very slight, on the face, not as shiny as the edges. Which are yours like? There has to be something odd because if the new tablets really are causing problems I can't understand why all the thyroid forums aren't discussing it as they did when Armour was reformulated. What the manufacturers are saying is that they are now made in a new manufacturing plant with newer machinery for the compressing of the tablets. I wouldn't have expected that to make any difference to the texture but we have to find out.

[edysia2 in reply to Framboise]

It's been discussed on Mary shomon site. If you look at my post from yesterday there is a link posted by helvella , link leads to Mary Shomon article about difficulties with obtaining erfa, there are comments of people who mention about their recent problems with erfa. If you don't feel sick after taking your erfa than maybe you shouldn't be worried about it . I am very sick, and I can't take another erfa. Tablets don't look different to me at first glance, and by that i meab they have erfa logo as usual etc but I explained that they taste differently , and they are shiny comparing to my old ones. I contacted Pharmarama and Dr Knafo. Waiting for their response.

[Framboise in reply to edysia2]

Yes I saw the link to Mary's site and have also found about 4 similar comments on Facebook pages. Please let us know what reply you get from Dr Knafo and Pharmarama and good luck in the meantime

[Hidden in reply to Framboise]

Yes, shiny when I hold them in a certain light. I didn't notice until I looked properly after Edysia mentioned it.

[Framboise in reply to Hidden]

Hi joesmum, you mentioned that yours are not crumbly and you've had them for a while and only noticed problems when you tried to raise your dose, how long do you think you've had them? I bought my latest ones in November. I notice on my old ERFA tablets that the edge is shiny but not the face of the tablets. The new ones, which I haven't tried, look the same as before but with a very slight shine in the light, but not as much shine as the edge. Is this the same as yours?

[galathea in reply to edysia2]

No, I don't get on with erfa, or thyroid s, both were manufactured to have a longer shelf life and I go hypo with them.... I use nature throid or thiroyd. X

[edysia2 in reply to galathea]

Hi Galathea. Thank you for getting back to me. I didn't know that they were manufactured to have longer shelf-life. What difference does it make? I am waiting for Nature -throid and WP thyroid to arrive. I just hope that they will work better. Xxx

[galathea in reply to edysia2]

The longer shelf life is governed by the fillers and the coatings, which I, apparantly have a problem with. Here is a description of how Thyroid S differs from thiroyd.

thyroid-s.com/what-is-the-d...

[edysia2 in reply to galathea]

Thank you Galathea. It's good to know. 'New' erfa is shiny while old one was matte. It makes me think that although manufacturer doesn't admit it 'new' Erfa has some coating, maybe even more fillers

[Hidden in reply to galathea]

He'll galathea,

Thank you so much for your reply. It's very interesting what you say. Part of me is frightened to raise the dosage because I fear going hyper but from what you have said I see that I can raise the dosage.

Knowing that there is someone out taking 3 or 4 grains is comforting. I'm sorry you're suffering with a bad back but delighted that you're well enough to get into that state!!! If you know what I mean.

Many thanks

Xx

[edysia2 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Joe's Mum. I was having problems with raising above 1.5 grain of Erfa but it was due to my low cortisol. Ex

[Hidden in reply to edysia2]

Hi edysia2,

I've had my batch for quite some time and only started with the headaches when I tried to raise the dosage. Mine are still hard, sweet and crunchy so they definitely sound different to ones you're taking. I will keep this in mind though when I need to refil my prescription.

I'm wondering if I have a bit of a cortisol problem too and am thinking of doing the circadian t3 method to address adrenals.

When I ran out of ERFA once I did try the new armour and got on surprisingly well with them . They might be an option for you if the problem with your ERFA tabs doesn't go away.

Xx

[edysia2 in reply to Hidden]

I have tried Armour, I felt awful I am waiting for Nature -throid and WP -thyroid, I ordered these online. I don't know what to do anymore.

You said that you dropped your antidepressant. This would affect your cortisol levels for sure, also lots of antidepressants enhance t4 to t3 conversion, so that could be one of the reasons that your t3 level dropped. If you search PubMed you will find lots of evidence for the above. Just search antidepressant, i.e. Paxil and cortisol etc.

[Hidden in reply to edysia2]

Thank you Edysia, that's really useful information. I shall do a google search on the seroxat - cortisol link. That makes perfect sense. I'm sorry you didn't get along with Armour. Maybe the Naturethroid/ Westhroid P is the way to go.x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Edysia,

I've just checked my ERFA and they are shiny! Not Matt. Does that mean I've got this new formulation. Could that be my headache??......interesting.x

[galathea in reply to Hidden]

Well, the instructions I read were to increase the dose till you go hyper then don't take any more that day and drop back to the level you were ok With You increase the dose every four weeks or so,.... Have you been hyper before? You will know if you are hyper, It's not great but if its caused by taking too much meds, its solved pretty quick by reducing the dose.

My free t3 has occasionally been over range when tested , but I felt fine. Generally I keep within range but wen my doctor tried to frighten me with stories of osteoporosis I had a dexa scan. Bones of a 30 year old. ( I am 56) so that squashed that argument.

[shaws]

When taking thyroid gland medication, the optimum for us is not the dose but 'how we feel'. That's the most important question.

If you read the first question on this link it gives an idea of how we should be treated/assessed. It's a pity the majority of medical professionals are unaware.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

[Coppernob]

Am just starting to think about using NDT of some sort rather than synthetics. So, peeps, can you give me an idea of rough cost please? Say for 3 grains/day or the equivalent in mg. Thanks! And where do you get your supplies?

[Clarebear]

I used to get terrible headaches when I increased my dose of Armour. I had to go very slowly and if the headache was too bad, then drop back down again, and try again a few days later. I think headaches are a fairly common side effect from increasing.

I too would feel bad with those results - my TSH is <0.04 with mid range FT4 and top 1/3 of the range FT3. x