Second Opinion please

[ju01749]

Hi. I have been on NDT (private prescription) under Endo care for about 9 months now. Although some of my other symptoms have got better I still get periods of bad fatigue. My dose has been gradually increased and was on 3.5 of Nature Throid, had a bad patch 4 weeks ago and upped it to 4 grains and had bloods done inc Folate and Ferritin.

My problem is I still feel awful and I can’t get a reply from my Endo what to do next, what my tesults were or a new script.

I suffer with loose stools which seem worse of late so..... should I start probiotics thinking I have a leaky gut and meds aren’t being absorbed, start on Folate and Iron as they may be low? I am on D3 K2 but not so good at remembering the B12.

I have pestered his secretary again and explained this and the fact I am running out.

I tried T3 and Levo but didn’t feel any benefit, I am wondering if these Thyroid meds have no effect on me or is there something else.

I had the test for adrenal fatigue and on the result of that had to have the follow up injection test at hospital which was supposedly ok.

Hitting a blank now

[bmcnicol2001]

Have you looked into changing your diet by eliminating all gluten containing grains (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut etc)? I recommend that you go to the website stopthethyroidmadness.com and have a good look through it, then maybe purchasing the book Stop the Thyroid Madness II

[ju01749 in reply to bmcnicol2001]

I haven’t gone down this route yet although think I probably should as I am a bit of a carbs queen. Is it worth being tested ? Could it also cause outbreaks of spots?

[shaws Administrator]

I am sorry you are having problems with dose. Sometimes it is the fillers/binders in a product which cause problems for us, when we expect to feel a bit better.

Try taking one anti-histamine tablet before your next dose to see if it helps with reactionsI if it resolves them you need to get another make of NDT.

Do you take your dose on an empty stomach with one full glass of water and wait an hour before eating?

Some of us cannot convert T4 into sufficient T3 and that can also make us unwell. T4 is an inactive hormone and it has to convert to T3, the only active thyroid hormone, except in NDT which has all the hormones a healthy gland would have produced.

We begin ont he usual start-up dose and, with NDT, after being on it six weeks we can increase by 1/4 tablet every two weeks until symptom-free.

You also need B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate tested. Deficiencies can also cause symptom.

Blood tests have to be at the very earliest, fasting (you can drink water) and allow a 24 hours gap between last dose and test and take afterwards. This helps keep the TSH at its highest as it drops throughout the day and doctors are apt reduce dose unnecessarily.

If you've given the NDT a long enough trial, you could consider switching to another.

We've to give sufficient time on whatever thyroid hormones we take as we have to work up to an optimum dose (one which relieves symptoms and makes us feel well).

Thyroid hormones should be taken, usually first thing, on an empty stomach and wait an hour before eating. Some prefer a bedtime dose and in that case you've to have last eaten about three hours before. Also if having a blood test next a.m. miss this dose, take after test and night dose as usual.

Coffee can affect the uptake of thyroid hormones.

[ju01749 in reply to shaws]

Thank you shaws, yes I pretty much follow all of that

[shaws Administrator in reply to ju01749]

It may be slow to get our health back, but it can be done - if only we had more knowledgeable doctors and endos.

[ju01749 in reply to shaws]

Totally agree

[shaws Administrator]

There is also information on the main website Thyroiduk.org.uk

thyroiduk.org.uk/

[Jazzw]

Have you recently switched to a new bottle of Nature Throid after their recent production issues? There are a few of us who think that the new stuff isn’t as strong as the old. They say there hasn’t been a reformulation but it does seem different...

[Mjames13]

Hi there! Just seeing this after searching for something different and wanted to suggest definitely taking a probiotic. I take one all the time and it helps.