Test Results - on Armour

[Sallyann674]

Hi

Can you help me with these lab results please. I’m taking 2.5 grains of Armour a day. 1.5 in the morning and 1 at night. I still have many symptoms. They are:

Brain fog - urgh! Especially bad in the mornings when I awake and then clears mid morning / lunch time

Feeling groggy and no energy upon waking (linked to the brain fog)

Nausea in the mornings

Visual distances in the morning and Intermittent headaches / pressure in my head

Difficult sleeping and staying a sleep - this has gotten worse through the last week

Hair falling out. I have a good head of hair but I have noticed recently a lot is coming out when I wash and brush it

By late afternoon I feel ok.

Any insight would be very helpful.

Thanks

Sallyann

[pennyannie]

Hello Sallyann:

Looking back I see you have been on NDT for several years so presume it works better for you than any other thyroid hormone replacement option.

Your TSH / T3 and T4 readings are " in line ' with how NDT presents in a blood test and maybe look to previous results to check if your T3 is now sitting at a level that was previously " ok ' for you. ;

However your CRP - inflammation is high showing that your body is under stress - and your having Hashimoto's Auto Immune thyroid disease likely the cause of your current symptoms.

Your immune system has been triggered and targets your thyroid gland.

This in turn causes erratic thyroid production and " swings " of hyper type symptoms followed by " swings back " into hypo type symptoms - and though the thyroid will try and recover and rebalance itself, it becomes damaged and ultimately it will become disabled with your needing full spectrum thyroid hormone replacement which you are already taking.

Dr Izabella Wentz has written extensively on Hashimoto's and you may need to look at food intolerances to try and reduce the intensity of these attacks -

I have read that some people stop their thyroid hormone replacement or a few days to try and off set the severity of the hyper " swing " :

These attacks from your immune system will cause erratic thyroid hormone production as the thyroid becomes damaged and further disabled with every attack until the gland becomes totally disabled.

Your vitamins and minerals all need to be maintained at optimal levels for optimal thyroid hormone conversion in the body and would suggest your work towards building up these up.

I read no thyroid hormone works well until ferritin is at least over 70 :

I know I feel at my best with a ferritin at around 100 : folate to around 20 : active B12 75 ++ and vitamin D at around 100 :

Hope that's of some help - and I wonder if you need to " tweek " your NDT dose a little just to see if it makes a difference and alleviates some symptoms ?

I'm with Graves post RAI thyroid ablation 2005 in been self medicating with NDT for 4 years.

[Sallyann674 in reply to pennyannie]

Thank you. This is very helpful x

[pennyannie in reply to Sallyann674]

I've just edited a bit in the middle as it read like gobble gook to me - sorry !!!

It still means the same but hopefully more clear and concise :

[pennyannie in reply to Sallyann674]

Just thinking on -

I think both brands of NDT that you were taking around 5 months ago were recalled due to inconsistency of the T3 and T4 levels in certain batches.

So, you can't take as read that you need the same dose when taking another brand.

Did you trial the T3 in the meantime ?

Did you try the Thyroid S you were waiting on - as I take this NDT and not aware of any problems.

Maybe this has been too many changes too quickly and maybe now on Armour you need to reassess your dose - do you monitor yourself on blood pressure, pulse and temperature ?

[greygoose]

Brain fog - urgh! Especially bad in the mornings when I awake and then clears mid morning / lunch timeFeeling groggy and no energy upon waking (linked to the brain fog)

Difficult sleeping and staying a sleep - this has gotten worse through the last week

By late afternoon I feel ok.

This all sounds very much like adrenal fatigue. Have you ever had your cortisol and DHEA tested?

[Sallyann674 in reply to greygoose]

I wondered that too. I’ve never had a test for adrenal fatigue. I’ll look into that. Thank you x

[greygoose in reply to Sallyann674]

You're welcome.

[jamesal0]

I'd try taking a little less NDT and wouldn't worry about bloods. Drive NDT on how you feel. Levo and NDT will give you brain fog if you overdo it. Maybe go to 1.5 grains for a few days and see if you feel better.