Help! In a pickle - no medication

[Sallyann674]

Hi All,

I’ve been on NatureThyroid for 8 years and never had a problem until the have halted manufacturing. I purchased NP Thyroid from the US and have been taking it for 4 week once I ran out of NatureThyroid. My hypo symptoms were getting worse and at the weekend I had some very worrying adverse effects…. Palpitations, difficulty breathing, anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia. I can’t take it - it sends me crazy.

I’m now in a position I don’t have any medication!

I’ve ordered some Thyroid S but need to wait for it to come. What do I do?

[radd]

Sallyann674,

Welcome to our forum.

Every self-mediators worst nightmare. I feel for you 😊.

If you are officially diagnosed hypo can you not ask your GP for some Levo to help tide you over?

[Sallyann674 in reply to radd]

Thank you!

Yes I spoke to the doctor today (only option) and he’s got me in for a blood test tomorrow and will then prescribe it to me. I was on 5 grains of NatureThyroid which equates to 190 mcg of T4 and 45mcg of T3. Do you know how much Levo I should take?

[radd in reply to Sallyann674]

Sallyann674,

It depends which way you work it:

Taking 1 grain as 65mcg T4 as stated on the bottle [38mcgT4 + 9mcgT3], it works out at about 325mcg Levo. However taking each grain at its bioactive equivalence, 1 grain becomes 100mcg T4 meaning 5 grains is equivalent to a whooping 500mcg Levo.

Be prepared you will most likely be dosed by your TSH & I would guess an average Levo dose is somewhere in the region of around 125 - 150mcg.

Good luck 🤞

[serenfach]

I have looked in to my crystal ball and seen the following:-

Your blood test will show very low TSH

The GP will see the results and panic, telling you you do not need Levo, and that you are in fact hyper

So, in order to short cut this, explain, possibly in writing, or at least in words of one syllable, what happens when you take NDT and that you understand the numbers in the blood test and know what you need.

How does the crystal ball know this? Been there, worn out the T shirt! Good luck!

[Chett]

Hi, I’m in the same pickle. My Naturethroid ran out, so I tried NP thyroid. I’ve been taking it since the spring and feeling awful. I had Thiroyd from Thailand, as a backup and switched to that, still feel awful. So I’m getting some Armour, which I’ve used before. Hopefully, it will work this time. If not, I’ll have to go back to Synthroid which didn’t really help. The only one that made me feel better was Naturethroid. I hope you have better luck.

[RockyPath]

You can try cutting some of the NPs in half and titrating up the dose. Acella, manufacturer of NP Thyroid, also has the same sub-potency problem that brought down Nature Throid. The FDA recalled their products.And there’s Armour Thyroid, which hasn’t been identified as sub potent.

Good luck

[Sallyann674]

I actually wonder if I was on too much NP which gave me really bad symptoms (palpitations, panic attacks, anxiety, sweating) I was on 5 grains of NatureThyroid so when I got NP I just took 5 grains (3 in the morning and 2 in the evening) and wonder if that is too much.

I’ve not been having blood tests but I’ve just booked one for next week and I’ve taken a smaller dose today of NP (2 grains) to see how I feel. I can’t just go to no medication after being on 5 grains a day and the doc isn’t going to help!

Any advice is very welcome

[radd in reply to Sallyann674]

Sallyann674,

5 grains of NDT does sound rather a lot and if you are experiencing symptoms of overmedicating it would be prudent to reduce.

If you are dosing by symptoms as opposed to blood tests, members find taking pulse & temps useful. Also supporting adrenals and ensuring iron (in particular) and nutrients are optimised as this will help meds be utilised better.

[Sallyann674]

Thank you so much for all of your help. You feel so out on a limb when things aren’t going well. I’ll let you know how I get on x

[Sallyann674]

So I took 2 grains of NP thyroid yesterday and was up all night with palpitations, weird jittery feeling, couldn’t sleep at all and felt really weird like an out of body experience. Really don’t know what to do now. I’ve order some other NDT but that’s going to take a while to come and I’m waiting to hear back from my doc and that isn’t promising. Is it really bad to go cold turkey? 😩