Im really desperate and i hope someone will be able to help me (it is my very first post and first time i seek help in a community).
i have been diagnosted hypo 4 years ago when TTC. my TSH was around 4. my obgyn and all the doctors seemed to find it correct, but I knew i had a problems. i started to read a lot about thyroid and found out that TSH had to be around 1 when TTC.
so i expleined it to and endo, wich prescribed me levo 25
now, years later, i still have all the hypo symptoms. tired all the day, constipated, loosing hair, irritable etc etc
I eat a very healhy diet (gluten free, sugar free etc) stoped alcohol, sleep at 10pm every night...and yet im still exhausted
10 dyas ago i decided to stop levo because i was seing no improvement (still tired, still noosing lts of hair,etc etc)..
I switched to American biologics thryoid glandular (1/2 cap then 1 cap a day)...In 10 days I gained 4 kilos and im still feeling tired, still loosing my hairs etc.
I have never been to fat, so tired, so depressed;.
My last blood tests (don 10 days ago, when still on 24 levo)
TSH : 2,58
t3 : 4
t4 :12
it seems i really cannot convert t4 to T3
Im french and i leave in north africa. Next we i'll be in london for work (only few days)
i understand that thyroid medications is not sold OTC in the uk.
But does one of us know where i can be T3? through internet? so that i can buy it ASAP and be delivered in london..
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hendb
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You probably gained weight on the glandular because it didn't contain any hormone.
Can you give ranges with your T4 and T3, please? Otherwise, it's impossible to say if you convert well or not. But with a TSH of 2.58, you are under-medicated.
I'm sure people will PM you their trusted sources of T3, they usually do - not mention of sites is allowed on the forum - but I think you would be very lucky to get it delivered within your time scale.
Well, you are under-medicated. Most people need the FT4 at least over mid-range, if not higher. And your FT3 is very low, but that might come up if you had more T4 to convert. That could very well be part of your problem.
Yes I realized that. I'll take your advices in this wonderfull forum and do the necessary. A priori I shall up my doses to levo 50.
when you say I gained the weight because the glandular contained no hormones. do you mean that all NDT do not contain hormones? i thought it was a perfect mix of t3, t4 and even T1 etc.. or do you mean the specific brand i took contained no hormones?
Last question: if i start taking (back) levo 50 now how long will it take to my body to feel energized and alive again? how long will it take me to loose these suprise kilos i gained in a week? juste a practical question because i dont fit in my cloths anymore and refuse to buy bigger ones
NDT and glandulars are two different things. If you can buy it over the counter, it either has no hormone or an unspecified amount.
NDTs on the other hand, specify on the label how much T4 and how much T3 - note they do not mention T1.
Impossible to say how long it will take you to lose the weight. But, it will take at least six weeks for the 50 mcg levo to take full effect. Whether it will be enough to make you lose weight, is anybodies guess. Sorry.
Since 1 year, i eat grain-free, sugar-free (also fruit-free). I take seleniomethionine (i thought it would help me convert t4 to t3) i eat sufficient amount of carbs (beets, cooked carots...and still, my thyroid is under-active.
There is something i must do wrong. and... how should i eat to help my body feel better?
You need to find the diet you feel best on, because we're all different. There's no one diet that fits everybody. And, I don't think it's your diet making your thyroid underactive. It's not anything you're doing wrong. And I don't think there's any diet that's going to make it work better. But, there might be a way of eating that makes you feel better.
With all the stuff you've given up, has any of it, at any point, made your feel better? If not, then why not try reintroducing those foods, to see if anything makes you feel worse. If nothing does, then there's no point in depriving yourself like that. You do need a varied diet.
However, a lot of people with Hashi's feel better gluten-free, and/or dairy free - but not all of them. Some people swear by the Paleolithic Autoimmune Diet. Others just take an 'all things in moderation' approach to eating - which is what I do, having found no benefit in cutting out all the things you've mentioned.
Just two things I would suggest you avoid at all costs :
1) all forms of unfermented soy. Soy is not a health food, it has some really nasty characteristics.
2) all processed oil, like sunflower seed, rapeseed, soy oil, etc. They are very bad for all sorts of things.
thanks a lot greygoose im really happy i found this community,that makes me feel less alone. Because im the only one suffering from thyroid, and noone in my friends/family really understands what it feels like.
What you say regarding the diet makes sense...
Even if there are many "scientific" studies establishing connexion between diet and thyroids (and hormones in general).
May be i'll create a new post and ask the question to the community. keeping in mind that there is no one size fits all of course.
Yes. lol They are all supposed to be good. I have never tried avocado oil, it's expensive. And, coconut oil, I can't stand the smell of - but a lot of people swear by it. But, I use a lot of olive oil, walnut oil and hazelnut oil. Delicious as well as good for you!
greygoose i have a quite "stupid" question...what would happen if i took levo 75? (instead of 50) won't I "refill" my gland more quickly? because i can hardly work now.and i have so much to do (work, baby, coocking etc..) I really cannot remain 6 more weeks like this :///
Just butting in to say no, you can't do it more quickly. Increases need to be in 25mcg increments, you can't hurry hormones, gradually build them up is the way to go.
I agree with Susie. Trying to hurry hormones usually backfires on you.
And, you're not refilling your thyroid in any way. Levo has little effect on the thyroid. It just replaces the hormone your thyroid can no-longer make.
The claim that desiccated thyroid contains some perfect mix of T4, T3, T2 and T1 is so much bunkum.
Start by asking why the manufacturers do not tell us how much T2 and T1 they contain. As I understand no company says anything beyond a comment that some might be present. Even if they wanted to, I suspect that it would be impossible to maintain constant ratios of all four thyroid hormones.
Also, consider the lack of evidence as to whether T2 and T1 can be effectively delivered as constituents of desiccated thyroid tablets. Maybe they can; maybe they can't.
There is also precious little evidence as to how much T2 and T1 we need. After all, most T2 and T1 comes into existence within cells - so cannot be effectively measured by blood tests.
Finally, we are all different. We see people taking almost every ratio of T4:T3 from 100:0 through to 0:100. The chances of any product containing the perfect ratio of T4:T3 for an individual is low enough, make that four hormones and there is very little chance.
In no way is this an attack on desiccated thyroid. For some of us it is absolutely the best available treatment. For others, having rather more T3 than might be optimum is not necessarily that much of an issue.
T3 can be prescribed in France, and it is available in pharmacies with a prescription at reasonable cost, I believe.
Some lucky people have managed to wheedle the occasional box of T3 out of pharmacies without a prescription, but since it is legally a prescription-only medication in France it would not be a reliable way of getting T3.
actually t3 en france (cytomel) is sold only with a medical certification... i have a work trip planned to Amsterdam, i think over there t3 is sold in pharmacies..
The brand of liothyronine usually available in France is Cynomel from Sanofi-Aventis.
There has been a steady trickle of responses here over the years - some have managed to get Cynomel in France without a prescription, others have been refused. It makes no sense.
Well, I juste realize you are absolutely right. I was under medicated. Every time I had to ask for the T3 and T4 to be done, and endos didnt have a look at them.
Now the last endo i visited here (i live in Africa now, not in Paris anymore) suggested me to go to levo 50.
So what would be your opinion? should i follow this doc recommendation and go up to levo 50? then i'll have to provide some T3 and add it (after 6 weeks of levo 50? is it that?)
All thyroid tests should be done as early as possible in morning and fasting and don't take any Levo in the 24 hours prior to test. Delay and take straight after. This gives highest TSH
TSH is largely irrelevant on Thyroid replacement, but certainly needs to be at one or less especially after TTC
FT4 and FT3 are what to check. FT4 should be near top of range, FT3 above half way
Many needs TSH very low before feel well
Important to check vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12 too as these need to be good levels for thyroid hormones
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