Spanish girl with hypothyroidsm new here :D

[sunni_88]

Hi, everybody! I would like to introduce myself and explain my health issues and hope you can help me.

I am a 29 years old Spanish girl. I was diagnosed with hypothyridism when I was 20 years old. My symptoms where very strong: night sweats, brain fogginess, extreme coldness, dry skin and hair loss, a tiredness which wasn't normal, and woke up every day as if I were hungover, even if I slept a lot.

When I first got treated with levothyroxine, I started feeling much better. But that lasted 2 years, after I had to upper the dose up to 75mcg, but I realised, the higher the dose, the worse I felt.

From last year, my symptoms have been crazy, diagnosed with fibromialgia, with migraines... and the fatigue is extreme, I don't have ANY mental clarity...

My doctor kept refusing to test my T3, so I got fed up and did the blood tests privately. The result: Free T3 too low, Reverse T3 too high, T4 ok.

But even with the results, they can't prescribe T3 as here is Spain it was totally banned years ago.

I am DESPERATE. As I know with the proper medication even my migraines and fibromialgia would probably go away.

I was going to go to Greece or Cyprus to get T3, and check up with blood tests how it worked for me. As I believe it is my only solution. But I found out here that now T3 there can be found over there any more...

I thought maybe Morocco? Maybe France? I don't have much money, so, if I happen to travel to a country and can get the meds... I'm gonna be devastated.

What could I do?

(Sorry about the long story ^_^)

[jimh111]

Hi Sunni, it would help to know your blood test results along with the reference intervals (numbers in brackets). I don't know the law in Spain but perhaps you could import liothyronine (L-T3) by post.

[sunni_88 in reply to jimh111]

Hi! Thanks for the reply. I am out for the weekend, but as soon as I come back, I will post the the blood test results.

About importing them... I don't know how it would work, as obviously, I don't have a prescription because it has been illegal here in Spain for years

So, I guess, I should travel to a country that sells them otc... but nowadays I've read even in Greece and Cyprus is almost impossible to get without prescription.

I wonder if Morocco would sell them... And I've read that sometimes you can get some in France. But I would like to know for sure, before I waste all my money :/

[Hashihouseman]

Hi, I had three years of migraines and cluster headaches and lack of mental clarity, sleep hangovers etc etc - all associated with T4 medication. The more t4 the worse my symptoms albeit with reduction in the signs of chronic hypothyroidism. However the t4 side effects are so bad at times I allow myself to go hypothyroid. I can manage on about 50microgram t4 if I supplement with T3 and t4 from desiccated thyroid extract from the USA. So in total I take 7.25 microgram T3 and about 80 microgram t4 but, I tend to slip into high tsh low T3 hypothyroidism at these levels so occasionally take 10-20 microgram extra t4 (levothyroxine). Even this small addition to t4 gives me those side effects but after they wear off I have a few days of almost symptom free normal life! It’s a roller coaster but better then chronic t4 poisoning! I am in a battle with my local GP service to get the T3 component I need prescribed but they are resisting because of so called clinical guidelines (which are crap and based on outdated lack of evidence that suits them not the patient) and because their prescribing guidance/rules flag 2.5 microgram T3 as having a "cost warning" whatever the F that means! If I can’t get the hormone replacement I need prescribed I will continue to import from the US, it’s not that hard; you don’t need to go to another country. If you want more info on how I get mine I think there’s a private message facility on here, don’t know how it works tho but you can try I’m happy to pass on details of US suppliers and my experience and costs

[sunni_88 in reply to Hashihouseman]

Wow! sounds like me! I'm desperate! So, what you are using basically is desicated thyroid, right? I strongly believe that T3 would work better for me... but maybe the desicated thyroid can be an option to feel better until I figure out how to get a hold of T3... I'll try to send you a private message (i'm new and I am a bit lost here haha). and THANKS a lot for the offer of help

[4336 in reply to sunni_88]

Hi, I know this is an old post. I'm interested if you managed to obtain T3 if you are in Spain.

[Hashihouseman]

Yes. And it was the only thing that enabled me to get anywhere near treating the hypothyroidism because the t4 reaction was so negative at the beginning and remains so if I increase it even a small amount over what I have gradually been able to tolerate. Our actual blood levels that comprise our stable optimum set points are all unique to ourselves and we have to find them - the lab ranges are only a guide, sometimes not much better than a shot in the dark in my experience! The research shows that variation between individuals is high and variations within a healthy person are low, so when our thyroid system is damaged or dysfunctional and we replace hormones in a crude way compared to the healthy body’s way it’s not surprising we stay unwell or even cause unwell ness by disrupting our body’s response to the hormone. So finding the replacement you need as unique to you is trial and error but if you are unwell on t4 AND have relatively high TSH and low T3 then it could well be that a T3 supplement would help find your body’s set point for stability (I suspect the headaches etc are caused by the body’s response to cycling between over and under treatment situations. Rightly or wrongly I have come to associate certain headaches as high TSH and others as high T4, there is a pattern but it’s complex and I keep a super detailed symptoms diary with medication amounts and blood test results going back years to spot these patterns. But even so it seems more an art than a science sometimes and my doctors are patronisingly sceptical, but what do they know! Seriously WTF do they know???

[jimh111]

Whilst these tests are useful it is completely wrong to suggest deiodinase will not work unless ferritin, folate, vit B12 and vit D are in the upper halves of their reference intervals. By definition only half of the healthy population would qualify on each (assuming symmetrical distributions) and only 6.25% of the population meets all four criteria. Twenty five percent of the world's population are anaemic, they are not hypothyroid. Notwithstanding the simple arithmetic there is no evidence to show that mild deficiencies of these substances impair deiodinase.

Hypothyroidism can cause nutritional deficiencies so it makes sense to keep an eye on them. Unfortunately diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism is so poor it leaves a vacuum which quack doctors and internet 'experts' are only too keen to fill and profit from. We should use a bit of elementary common sense when we see such claims.

[gabkad in reply to jimh111]

True. I've seen blood test reports where individuals have microcytic hypochromic RBCs, very low in range ferritin but TSH, fT4, fT3 is ideal. These people have fatigue but their thyroids seem to be functioning normally.

[Maggie0652]

You can still buy T3 over the counter in pharmacies in Turkey.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

"big pharma" have no patents on liothyronine or levothyroxine as medicines. (So far as I can see, never have had for levothyroxine, and I have never found any for liothyronine either.)

There might be any number of other arguments about thyroid hormone replacement, but patents on the active ingredients are not the driving force.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

My response was highly specific to thyroid hormone replacements - levothyroxine, liothyronine and would also apply to desiccated thyroid.

So if you have onchocerciasis, you'll not bother with ivermectin because you believe it does not cure?

Many diseases are actually cured by antibiotics. Sure, you can point out side effects, but there are a lot of people still alive because they were appropriately given them.

I'd agree there is no profit in ivermectin for onchocerciasis - the product used in the major program is being donated by Merck.

The pharmaceutical industry is a rapacious exploiter. But that doesn't automatically translate into no medicines ever being cures.

[silverfox7]

Welcome! Your English is impressive! We can help you more when we see your readings but enjoy your time away! May be better to start a new thread on your return as otherwise it will get lost but mention itsafollow up to your earlier post then we will be reminded to look at that.