first and foremost i'd like to thank everyone of you. This community has helped me a lot throughout the years. I have always been able to find solutions, and to feel listened to.
Hypothyroid is a hard condition. hard to diagnose. hard to treat properly.
im 42 years (already!) and i beleive i have been undiagnosed hypo since childhood. (as i kid i was anemic, i had mercury amalgams, and so on...)
my whole life i was lazy, and feeling useless.
i tried several times euthyrox, NDT, and every possible solution, with no sucess never.
This time i hired a new naturopath, and she wants to accompagny me giving NDT a serious try.
i strated for a week with 1/8 Nature throid (old bottles, not the 2020 recalled ones)
1/4 was too high dose to begin with, it gave me serious insomnia.
after a week taking 1/8 grain, i increased to 1/4 and had horrible hypo symptoms (depression suicidal thoughts, binge eating...)
so this morring i took 1/2 grain.... but im still feeling super down. and i binged on dairy (whereas i know its bad for me)...
i know STTM recommends a grain as a strating dose (specially for people starting from scratch)....
should i jump to 1 grain tomorrow. will it help ease these painfull symptoms?
my apointment with the naturpath is on friday
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hendb
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Have you been on Levothyroxine prior to starting NDT? I'm almost 41 and sure I had hypo since childhood as well. I took NP Thyroid last year and started with 1 grain. I had been on 88mcg of Levo for ten years and ended up on 2 grains of NP Thyroid! 2 grains was slightly too much for me but anything less too little so the ratios aren't a perfect fit for everyone. Many people add Levo or T3 to the NDT to get it right. I would feel horrible on a 1/2 grain!
I like how the T3 in NDT felt but I've switched to a synthetic combo out of convenience. I have not yet found optimal amounts. It's been such a slow process. The T3 does wonders for my skin but unlike the T3 in NDT it doesn't feel the same. My last option if this doesn't work may be a NDT/Levo combo. I moved NDT doses up every 2 weeks until I reached the point of over medication on 2 grains, where at that point I dropped back down to the lower dose. It's not a bad idea to increase by a 1/4 grain when you start getting closer to optimal levels.
i didnt do blood tests lately... but all my life t3 and t4 has been below range.
RT3 always on the highest range.
and TSH varies (according to my diets i noticed).
this naturpath made the diagnosis out of symptoms (and my self knew already in was hypo. actually in the past in tried several medications and protocol with no success. i took up to 150mg euthyrox + 50 t3....as if i was popping candy W absolutely no effect whatsoever
This is just mypersonal experience so may not be transferrable to you.
I know accepted wisdom is to start slow with NDT and work up, and each time I tried NDT (nature thyroid) this is what I did, starting with a 1/4 or 1/2. But although initially getting better sleep for a few days would quickly run into problems, feeling palpitations and visibly shaking/trembling, feeling massive slump, and more hypo freezing cold cramps etc, as well as autoimmune type reaction.
Recently I was so low (I had stopped all levo and very ill) I thought 'Stuff this' and took one grain ndt, then as I felt the shaky symptoms coming on several hours later, I took another one then 1 more throughout the evening. Then I cynically sat back and waited to become even more ill.
Nothing much happened besides a noticeable increase in pulse and I could hear my heart beat quite loud but I decided to carry on.
After 5 days nearly all issues disappeared, after 8 days I found 3 grains kept me awake so dropped by a half and eventually ended up doing well (not perfect but better than the last 12 years) on roughly 2 - 2 1/2 grains alternate days. I did this for 6 weeks until my supply started running low.
As I ran out I reduced that further but the crucial thing I found was that the physical impact of starting high and reducing were far less than starting low. I don't know why but I speculate its something to do with ratios or something or adrenals/cortisol🤷🏿♀️
The reason I think this is that I had a strange thing happen when a friend gave me a top up bottle of half grain NDT. I found I could split each tab no probs, but I couldn't take one full grain NDT and a half grain NDT together even though it is the same product, same manufacturer, one batch apart just different amounts per tab.
The ratios should be constant. But I couldn't even take 1 grain then the half-grain later in the day. Neither could I double up the 1/2 grain to make an equivalent 1 grain. Return to complete weird physical fallout, shakes, etc. I had to take each dosage as it is.
I know I sound crazy, I haven't figured out why. Maybe there's a simple explanation or some variable I overlooked. In fact I thought the 1/2tabs were dodgy at first but they were fine!
So you may have to play with it a bit. Just don't assume it won't work eventually like I did the first few times and waste another couple years feeling rubbish unnecessarily. We are individuals, you can see that some people mix and match ndt/levo/t3 to tailor to their specific needs so you may well need a bit more. Discuss it with your FDN
Oh good, I hope it works out! I think the key thing is to listen to your own body first and foremost.
For me if taking one dose at 7am only got me to 11am before starting to feel trembly and cold or like I'm suddenly going to crash, then it made sense to take more to keep me going for a few more hours until next dose which might be in the evening.
Think of yourself like a car. Eventually when the body has a constant steady reliable fuel supply its 'fuel tank' is filled up enough that you can go for longer without those awful feelings.
The body has its own sort of internal balance and until a provision is constant and reliable in a high enough dose maybe it sometimes doesn't respond at all.
Just my 2 pennies! In any case if it doesn't work out there are other options x
Hi Hendb, I would look at Paul Robinson's book, The Thyroid Patient's Manual: From Hypothyroidism to Good Health (3) (Recovering from Hypothyroidism) Paperback – May 31, 2018The guy is a genius His previous book, Recovering using T3 literally saved my life. I think it really is important to get a good through look at all the issues involved. Becuase the adrenal gland also gets involved with thyroid and t can be very confusing. Good luck, Yedidah
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