I joined Health Unlocked 2 years ago. I will be 60 in a few weeks time. I had been reading the various Hadhimotos posts and set about improving my B12, D, and trying to optimise my thyroid test levels.
I was not sleeping, despite being very tired, with low cortisol levels so also tried to get help with adrenal function, since everything for me is on a go slow.
Latest results show serum B12 now up to 530, D at 70, TSH 4.33, FT4 16.1, FT3 3.9, 9am cortisol 254. Had Addisons and Cushings test and private saliva test, so although Cortisol is on the lower end of normal, all seems in order so no further treatment is being offered. I have been told to see a Rheumatologist.
So now I am awake in the middle of the night yet again, unable to sleep despite not really sleeping last night and despite being out in the fresh air all day,
I have persistent sticky post nasal drip that irritates when I lie down so that I can't fall asleep and eventually makes me feel nauseous.
I grind my teeth so much that I cracked a large molar, got an abscess and then lost the tooth 2 months ago.
Now my jaw keeps getting stuck and is clicking like crazy, not sure why.
I am at a loss as to what to do next. I take Levo 100 4 days and 125 3 days. I did try to play with the dose but increases gave me strange heart flutters, decreases bring on more aches and pains especially plantar fasciitis
I think it is time to move on. I want to feel bouncy, I want to have emotions again, I want to sleep, preferably in the same bed as my husband but my night owl habits prevent this.😊 It is now 02:10, again!
So, I thought, maybe I should try some T3, but, I think NDT would be better. Please can you share with me the accredited suppliers that Thyroid rebels can buy these medications from.
Any other advice warmly received
Thank you for all your help.
Sofkat
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Sofkat
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Your TSH is still too high for you to feel well. It is reported here that people feel better with a TSH of 1 or below. How do you take your Levo ? - on a empty stomach an hour before food. Have you considered taking it at night before sleep ?
Lots if VitC is good for Adrenals however you may wish to have the 24 hour Saliva test done privately which will be more helpful.
Perhaps there are gut issues affecting absorption .....
Has your dentist offered to get you a mouth guard to wear at night? It might help your TMJ issues, though they take a bit of getting used to.
I suffer with sinusitis, & have found a saline nasal spray helpful as a preventative measure. My post-sinus drip is annoying, but slightly less so.
I woke nightly, & was wide awake between 3 & 5am before I started taking THs. I still wake due to joint pain, but it's now unusual to be wide awake every night for two hours. If your T4 doesn't agree with you as it should, perhaps you're lacking in the nutrients needed to convert it? Have you tried taking chelated magnesium at bedtime, or soaking in a bath with 500g of epsom salts for magnesium absorption?
Medichecks Thyroid plus ultra vitamin or Blue Horizon Thyroid plus eleven are the most popular choice. DIY finger prick test or option to pay extra for private blood draw. Both companies often have money off offers.
All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take Levo in the 24 hours prior to test, delay and take straight after.
You don't have to have any gut symptoms to still feel benefits of going gluten free
Lastly if vitamins are low any thyroid hormones struggle to work, we need vitamins and gluten issues resolved first
I agree that your TSH is likely to be indicative of you being inadequately medicated; but I wanted to say that your jaw getting stuck and clicking like crazy is one of a few very disparate "low key" symptoms that I mentioned to my then-GP many yrs ago, which had him immediately refer me to an Endo. So my message is not to dismiss that as an unimportant/unconnected issue.
I find it most peculiar that many (not all by a long shot) of us women have thyroid problems crop up just about the time that we are entering menopause/pre-menopause. Often we are taking care of aged parents and wacky teenage children. Our stress levels can be off the charts. The adrenals may be struggling mightily to keep up and they will 'swipe' hormones wherever they can.
Now while this is going on, our progesterone hormone production may well be stopped all together as our bodies prepare for menopause. We never stop producing estrogen tho it's level will drop below the point where periods no longer happen but progesterone stops like turning off a faucet. Lack of progesterone leads to estrogen dominance which inhibits the thyroid gland. That doesn't mean that we have an over-abundance of estrogen but, rather, that the estrogen is 'unapposed'... standing out there all by it's lonesome with nothing to keep it in line..lol.
Trying not to get too complicated here but bottom line... using a natural progesterone cream for 10 - 12 days out of each month (start counting 10 - 12 days from first day of period then apply the cream (alternating body sites) for 10 - 12 days then stop.. period should start within a few days) and dosing at approx. 10 mgs per day. The book "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause" by Dr. John Lee (available on Amazon or EBay) will help you to understand what is going on and how to address it.
Adrenals run on salt so fixing an adrenal 'cocktail and ingesting once/twice per day can be helpful. Just use 1/2 tsp of natural celtic or sea salt in a glass of water. Some add a sweetener like Stevia and some lemon juice. Tastes like lemonade. Of course, if you are hypertensive or have CHF and are avoiding salt, this is not for you.
Do google 'adrenals, thyroid, progesterone' and 'adrenal cocktail' for information that can help you research and study. Someone on this site posted a quote and a link to an excellent article on how progesterone affected thyroid and how adrenals affected all the hormones. I could have sworn that I saved it in favorites but, alas, can't find it.
I had never had insomnia or female problems but as fifty approached so many things started happening... insomnia, brain fog etc. The natural progesterone cream took care of the insomnia in short order and some of the irritability/brain fog but thyroid medication took care of the (new) depression, non-existent short term memory, leg aches, heat intolerance etc... etc.
Have you added Selenium to your supplements. I started taking it and within 3 days felt an improvement in my energy levels. It helps to convert T4 into T3.
I am the same age as you,I have no thyroid,I am on thyroxine and T3. I too don't sleep, I can't remember when I last had a good nights sleep, probably years ago. Sometimes I am awake all night,even after walking on the moors during the day.
So I wouldn't say that T3 would necessarily help you with the sleep problem!
A lot of women suffer with sleep problems at the time of the menopause,in fact my mum and mum-in-law (both in their 80's) say that they never slept very well again after the menopause. My mum-in-law resorts to sleeping pills, but I don't want to go down that road.
So maybe even if all your tests are good you still won't be able to sleep very well.
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