Adding T3 to T4, week 1: progress report

[Lotika]

Hi -

I have Hashis. Following advice from a thyroid-sympathetic endo, I have, for the last week, been adding 6.25mcg T3, 3 x daily on top of my 100mcg levo. I've also been eating GF and for the last couple of days, DF as well. And taking various vitamin and mineral supplements as if my life depended on it...

In all honesty, it's really had to isolate what's what exactly as for the first 4 days on T3 I was struggling to get enough sleep because of work travel. Hashi's always kicks my ar$e if I don't get 7 hrs! BUT I felt amazing for 2 hours on Thursday morning - like the old me - someone I barely recognized but was thrilled to see again for all of 2 hours and for that two hours I felt better than I had in years! Then the weekend came along and I was exhausted from work but still determined to go out with friends to celebrate a birthday... have a drink, not let Hashi's rule my life...

Somewhere towards the end of the second bottle of prosecco we were sharing on Saturday I heard myself say to friends that I'd given up with the medical profession and was going to self-medicate myself better, with self-testing kits and help from you lot I woke up the next morning wondering if it was the T3, the support from here or the prosecco which gave me that confidence and positivity. And on Sunday, Hashi's kicked my ar$e, predictably. The little so-and-so does seem to take revenge if I drink

Anyway, I wasn't feeling great yesterday because I never sleep well on a Sunday night, worrying about what Monday has in store. So, I didn't feel brilliant yesterday morning but as the day wore on, I started to feel some real improvement. I struggled to get to sleep again because I had a smile on my face looking forward to what today might bring...

So, I think we are starting to see some positives!

Things I changed, in addition to the T3 were:

- 2 days ago, started taking turmeric tablets again. They seemed to be working well for me previously but I had stopped taking them because I read somewhere that they were bad for you. Perhaps their anti-inflammatory properties help me absorb meds and vitamins better? I don't know.

- got better at taking the endless dietary supplements (D3, combo vitamin with more D3, selenium, zinc, etc., also magnesium citrate, probiotic, prebiotic.) Am going to add collagen and biotin.

In other news, I am chasing my mid-Dec blood test to see what I look like on 100mcg levo alone and have a self-test kit here to see what my levels are now, including vits. I am thinking that the vit part of it very likely plays a massive role in it with me: it would probably explain why the booze sends old Hashi's on a rampage as I'm sure excessive amounts of prosecco does little for one's vitamin uptake. But it was fun

Anyway, onwards and upwards...

Lotika

[ShinyB]

Your post made me smile So pleased for you! I too am getting glimmers of "normality" - but it's up and down still. Onwards and upwards!

[Lotika in reply to ShinyB]

Thanks, ShinyB Wouldn't it be something if we could work out what the ups and downs were all about? Wishing you more ups than downs. I'm glad you are still getting glimmers. Fingers crossed that they start to knit themselves together into something more!

[ShinyB in reply to Lotika]

Thank you and right back at you!

[spongecat]

I'm glad you are having some good days back again. I know what you mean about booze though. I've been clobbered a few times....great at the time but the next morning it's not even a classic hangover but back to that awful black thoughts and really feeling down anxiety.

I now limit myself to a glass of red wine (1 of those miniature bottles) with my evening meal at weekends. Red wine for medicinal purposes!

[Lotika in reply to spongecat]

Thank you I'm sorry it's got you with the booze too. Doesn't it just seem that the blasted thing wants to take all the good stuff?! For me, the main difference between plain old hangover and hangover + hashi's butt kicking is that the hangover gets better as the day goes on whilst the hangover + butt kicking gets worse!

Is it a case of accepting that the booze is just going to do this from now onwards, do you think? I'm hoping that if I lay off it for a couple of weeks and try to do some hardcore gut repair work, I might get away with a night out occasionally! Time will tell, I suppose... !

Lotika

[spongecat]

Yes the gut repair thing is a big interest for me too. I've been gluten free for well coming up 2 years now. I take l-glutamine powder in a post workout protein drink (it's good for muscle recovery as well as gut healing) so I guess I'm killing 2 birds with one syone on that! Also make fermented stuff like water kefir which I like though hubby has got a taste for it as well (especially if I do a ginger one!) and homemade sauerkraut to dip into....a couple of forkfuls a day.

I did a Blue Horizon Thyroid Plus 11 in November and was chuffed to bits that my antibodies were in the reference range. As a Hashi I know that it is only a snapshot of how things were on the day and it goes up and down but I was delighted.

I miss not being able to enjoy real ales but there are some decent gluten free beers. Also I'm not so much a party animal anymore so I don't really miss having a drink too much. I'm so aware that now I'm getting older I'm just going to have to be a lot more responsible in looking after myself and not darken the door of the GP too much.....if you can get an appointment. grrr!