Trying to get meds right after thyca and thyroidectomy and RAI...

[Itsjakefromstatefarm]

OK. So my tsh was 99.7 so they blasted me with armour 240 . I couldn't do it. I had severe nausea and electrical shocks in body...I had been so hypo so long ...about a month or so. That I guess it shocked my body.. .I tried to do 120 and was still extremely jittery and electrical and crying...it was scary ...but I got my tsh down to 15 !!!! Yahoo!!! But now I will back off and take only 60... He wants to add in cytomel? What do u all think?

[Itsjakefromstatefarm]

My question is why cytomel? I already feel like I am on speed. I lost 7 pounds in 8 days. !! Can't sleep

[HIFL]

Have you ever tried T4 with just a little T3? I feel best combining T4 with Armour like this: tiredthyroid.com/blog/2014/...

Note, it's a very conservative formula, but that may be just what you need right now.

[Girlscout2]

Why were you left for a month without meds when you don't have a thyroid???? A scan?

I have TT for Graves and Thyca, didnt do Rai. I was put on meds the morning after surgery.

Jitters when taking T3 containing meds can be low iron or adrenals. A h7ge wallop of meds can cause the symptoms you describe. Can also induce adrenal crisis, massive amounts of RT3 etc.

Normally TT patients start on one grain a day (half plus half spaced out) and raise by quarter to half grain increments every week to two weeks until you get to about two grains and then you go slower. Hold at 3 for a month then test.

However you are now v hypo and symptoms get confusing.

Suggest joining the yahoo group "Thyroidless' but for now you might be better on just some T4 (say 125 to 150 mcg) daily to prevent a crash whilst you figure out what's going on. As a temporary measure. Or get on a holding dose of NDT. But a doctor leaving you to go hypo and then whacking you on 4 grains doesn't know what they are doing. You might not need 4 grains ... and you certainly can't START on 4 grains ... start on 1 grain and increase SLOWLY ...

Dont add cytomel - get some tests, regroup, and try again. Defo test iron. I cannot tolerate ant T3 if iron is low (there is 36mcg T3 in 4 grains, that's quite a lot, don't add more!)

X

[Girlscout2 in reply to Girlscout2]

Ps armour been reformulated big problemswith it. NatureThroid might be better ...

[helvella Administrator in reply to Girlscout2]

What time period are you talking about?

That is, are you talking about a reformulation from several years ago? You have made it sound like it changed a few weeks or months ago.

[Girlscout2 in reply to helvella]

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

[Girlscout2]

PS just seen your other post re T3 only and have replied there. I'd keep everything in one place as the replies you are getting there are unaware that you are TT for Thyca. As I said on that post, DON'T PANIC (and believe me I've been in your shoes, it's incredibly difficult not to run around with your hair on fire when you feel like you do).

There is NO MYSTERY, you are not a special case, you are not uniquely broken, your doc has just overdosed you and given you too much NDT too fast. It will pass.

See my other replies. Happy to help if you have any questions.

[SilverAvocado]

Hi Jake, I think we exchanged a few messages before your TT. I have also had a TT and RAI. It was 3 years ago, and I am still not back at work I'm sorry to hear you're not having a smooth ride with the hormones either.

One thing is I think you're lucky to be being offered NDT. There's a chance it might not work for you and you may end up on T3-only or some other variation. But NDT is generally seen as the most similar to what your own thyroid does, and seems to work for the largest number of people. By starting on NDT you are already avoiding 2 or 3 common ways the hormone might not work for you. Definitely don't be tempted to try T4, as it's the least favoured medicine, and the least like having a healthy thyroid. And if I were you I wouldn't mess around with adding or changing T3 until you've systematically tried the NDT for at least 6 months or so.

It looks pretty clearly like you're overdosed, and I'm guessing this is the same clinical team who left you without hormone for weeks. These ppl are hugely negligent and know nothing about treating thyroids. I'd take everything they say to you with a pinch of salt. Particularly, don't allow them to yank you around with different treatments, changing your dose up and down every few weeks. Make your own decision about a logical and slow way to adjust your dose, and stick to that.

I think one good option is to stop all that you're taking for a few days, and wait until the jangly feeling starts to reduce. Then start on a low dose. You could try an extremely low dose of about 1 grain. And raise very slowly. I've done this myself and waited 6 whole weeks before each increase of a quarter grain, and ordered my own private blood test each time. I did this because I was very concerned I would get overdosed, because a good doctor told me I had been overdosed by my doctor for the 2 years I'd been sick. What I didn't really realise beforehand is that this would take a year to get me close to my ideal dose, and I spent 3 or 4 months very immobile. But it was worth it for me because I'd been very ill for a long time and it was a shot at getting better. You might choose to hold at each dose for 2 weeks, or a little longer. But be aware that blood tests are only accurate if you've held on that dose for 6 weeks.

If you do self monitor your dose, you must take your temperature and pulse regularly. This builds up a picture of how your body is changing over time, and you will know if you're severely over or under dosed. There are several different approaches to which time of day to measure.

[LAHs]

Well, I think the general procedure (at least in the US) right after a TT is to do Cytomel alone (that's pure T3). I am not sure why that is so but it seems to work and it certainly worked for me. You go on Cytomel for about six weeks and then you go on NDT if you are lucky, or Levo if you have a not very well educated doc. I am glad you are on NDT, but that's a walloping big dose, if your doc adds Cytomel to the NDT I think you will get overdosing symptoms again. Sudden weightless is a signature symptom of hyperthyroidism, which, in turn ,is excessive T3 generation. I think your doc is a bit mixed up - although he is trying to do the right thing.