New. All over the place.

[Bobalob]

Good Morning

Some Advice please if possible.

I was diagnosed with Hasishimotos and hypothyroid nearly 4 weeks ago.

ATP 726.4 ( range less than 5 I think )

TSH 186.2 ( 0.35-4.94 )

Free T4 6 ( 9.01-19.05)

Free T3 2.4 ( 3.1-6.8 )

Serum iron 15 ( 6.6-26 )

I havent had folate, ferritin and B12 done yet.

I started on 25 mg from Doctor. Endocrinologist put me on 50g a week later.

I went to see Dr P as I felt NDT was a better ootion and he suggested ordering and said 2/3 grains would be about the right dose.

So while im waiting for the NDT I thought I would be better to oush my Thyroxine up so it would be such a big chnage when I went on 2 grains ( 120mg ) of NDT.

Have done that past 3 days but def feel super tired after 2.00 pm ( i take my thyroxine at night ) I didnt have this tiredness before.

Should I not of increased again ? Am I not converting ? Should I resume 50mg again ?

Any comments great appreciated,

Thanks

[Bobalob]

Sorry. Duh. I increased it to 75mg. For the last 3 days.

[bantam12]

You are going way to fast, not giving yourself time to adjust to increases. Why don't you give Levo a chance before changing to NDT, Levo works fine for the majority of people and it's free !

If you are sure you want to change then I would drop back down to 50mcg and stick with that until you swap over but don't assume NDT is the magic answer as it doesn't suit everybody.

[MidnightBlue]

Why have you decided to move to NDT straight away? it seems that you are changing lots of things at once, dose and type of medicine. Why have you decided against getting stable on levo, then seeing if it works for you? Then, if you are still symptomatic, you could look at other options. With a TSH over 100 you must be feeling very unwell.

[TupennyRush]

Hi there

No matter what you take (t4/t3 or ndt) it will take around a year to get back to normal. Unfortunately thyroid meds are not fast acting because your cells would normally have a reserve of thyroid hormones ready to convert. If you've been ill for a while (and your results suggest that you may have been) your cells will have used most of their reserve because it hasn't been topped up by your blood because it didn't have the right concentrations of thyroid hormones plus the body will prioritise essential organs first.

First you need to get your bloods stable, then it takes time for your blood to fill up the cells back to the levels that you need.

Rather than changing around why not get stable on levo, see how your symptoms go over the next few months and then see about whether you need something different. Around 85 per cent of people do well on levo. There are specific reasons why a minority need ndt/t3 to get better. Some of these can be testes now and forewarned is forearmed. However odds are that you will do OK on levo.

None of the meds for thyroid will work aby quicker than other types but by increasing your dose too quickly you can do real harm to yourself.

Good luck (and yes I'm on ndt but I did a year on levo first and I have di02 gene issue so do better with some t3 in my meds)

[Bobalob]

Thank you for your answers.

The reason I thought I should go up was because I was told the 25mg was wa too low. So I reasoned that If I would have taken 100mg in the first place ( as some have suggested ) I was still below it.

Having read initial research I assumed ( !) that NDT was the better option as more attune to our nat thyroid.

Based on those replies I will drop back to 50 mg.

strange thing is I didnt feel massively unwell, just not quite right before.

[greygoose in reply to Bobalob]

Well, to be honest, just how 'natural' is Natural Dessicated Thyroid? OK, so it comes from pigs, rather than being a synthetic hormone. But then it is processed, had fillers added to it, and formed into a sugar-coated pill. Doesn't sound all that natural to me. It's like saying a certain fast food company's 'french fries' are natural, because they started off as potatoes. But what you get in your take-away is a long, long way from being a potato.

Then again, it does contain T4 and T3, just as our thyroid glands make. But not in the same proportions. And, seemingly, for some people, that's a big deal. So, still not so natural as all that.

And, as bantam12 said, NDT does work for everybody, despite what a certain thyroid site claims. The best option is the one that works for you. Could be T4 only, T4+T3, T3 only, or a myriad of combinations based on NDT. No-one can tell you in advance what is going to suit you, it's all trial and error. But the key is going slowly - starting low and moving up a little at a time. Frequent chopping and changing will just make things worse.

And whatever you take, it's not going to work if you haven't laid down a good foundation. Hormones need optimal nutrients to be absorbed and converted. So, while you're trialling levo, you should get your vit d, vit B12, folate and ferritin tested, and correct any deficiencies. If you post the results on here, members will be able to advise what to take and how much.

[helvella in reply to greygoose]

In my opinion, the very worst reason for choosing desiccated thyroid is because it is "natural".

It might well work better than anything else for some people. I have no argument against it as one of the options - on its own or in combination.

Choose desiccated thyroid in the short term as something else to try, and in the long term because it happens to work better for you. The only thing that matters, in my view, is doing what is best for you. Not doing something else because of some label.

[Bobalob in reply to helvella]

Interesting view. I would always go for a natural 'workable ' option versus a ' synthetic ' workable option.

Thank you for your opinion.

[MidnightBlue]

50 probably will be too low in the long run, but your body needs to get used to having t4 again, this takes time, so your dose will be increased gradually over weeks and months.