My partner has fibromyalgia and low thyroid , she started on Armour 1/4 Grain and increased by 1/4grain every two weeks and is now on 1 Grain. Unfortunately her Fibro has got a lot worse and is in more pain. The question is , is it that she is not tolerating the Armour for some reason despite the slow increase. It maybe just co-incidence she is feeling worse or that her iodine is still too high, Ive posted about the iodine but cant find the original post on here?.
The plan now is to come off the Armour to see if that was the culprit, my question is how is that best done?, should it be tapered slowly or just stop, it would also be useful to know how long for the armour to get out of her system and her natural thyroid level to return. All views/ideas welcome.
thankyou
Written by
ainslie
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if thyroid hormones were started for a good reason and the diagnosis og hypothyroidism was clear , then stopping them at an early point (while still on a lower than expected dose) due to feeling worse, is not a good idea .
Until on the right dose, it is pretty common to feel worse before feeling better.
getting the dose titrated to the right amount for the individual takes a long time and requires giving each dose time to settle in and then testing thyroid hormone levels after 6 weeks on stable dose to see where you are before deciding what further adjustment is required, till you get to something like the right dose for the individual when hopefully they feel consistently better .... tedious, but how it is.
Stopping NDT will take about 3+weeks for all the added T4 to leave the body . 'most' is gone within a couple of weeks , but T4 has a long half life of 7 days ,, so the last bit hangs around for quite awhile .
The added T3 will be gone sooner because it has a shorter half life of about 1.5 days .
However that is not the end of it .. the TSH level takes at least 6 weeks to properly adjust itself following any change in T4/T3 levels .. and since the TSH is what asks the thyroid to make T4/T3 of it's own .. you don't know what the body's natural T4/T3 levels will be until you are sure the TSH has had enough time to settle properly.
Given how long this takes, and how much the body dislikes having it's thyroid hormone levels fiddled about with .. it would probably be better to stay on NDT long enough to give it a proper trial by getting to something like the right dose , rather than suddenly stopping .
It's not a fair trial of anything untill the dose is 'enough ' .
'not enough' can often make people feel worse than when they started , this improves as the dose get's closer to the righ level and the body is allowed enough time to adjust to gradual increases.
she is dairy free and tried gluten free, made no diff but thankyou
I stopped t3 dead at the advice of Paul Robinson, it was the most dangerous health advice I have ever taken. Never ever ever stop a t3 containing medication dead, ALWAYS taper.
Paul Robinson takes T3 only. You can taper according to how symptoms change, personally I drop by 1/4 of a grain every 2 weeks but I am particularly sensitive as I have adrenal issues
yes he recommends the CT3M, taking 10mcg minimum around 4am to stimulate cortisol production, it’s a very mild affect and not useful for anyone with serious adrenal issues resulting from thyroid issues. I am about to start hydrocortisone soon I think for the adrenals.
I am on 15mg day, we tested her using blood, produced over range, did cortisol saliva, she was ok but high on the evening one, I think maybe her adrenals are working overtime due to thyroid and adrenal deficiency, she is very anxious a lot of the time and cold
hmm. In all I’ve read giving her HC when her adrenal function is high would be a mistake. It would be wiser maybe to lower her high cortisol, sounds like she is not in the latter stages of adrenal fatigue/insufficiency yet. You can drop it using ps100, holy basil, liquorice root, seriphos etc. when you say her saliva is “ok” can you post her results? It’s the same story as thyroid, there is OK and then there is optimal.
EDIT: does your partner restrict or fast? This can also raise cortisol and cause the symptoms you mention.
Yeah, I drop 1/4 grain NDT every 2 weeks if I reduce it but I am very sensitive, you could probably go faster for your partner.
May I ask how you find the HC? I’m curious as I am about to start it and hoping it will help my thyroid hormones work properly, wonder if you noticed anything similar?
Ive been on HC so long about 15 years via Dr Hertoghe that I am not sure what difference it makes, he is gung ho with HC but its a hassle taking it several times a day, If I could get off it without problems I would
thanks I will read those links, I know Of John Low, I have his huge book on treating Fibro with thyroid, his wife (Gina Honeyman) does this kind of work with Fibro but I cant seem to get in touch with her, phone goes to voicemail and doesnt answer e-mails although her website is still there?
As far as I am aware Dr Lowe would recommend one daily dose of T3 .
His wife may not be able to cope with enquiries from patients worldwide (I assume plus her bereavement we should take account of).
Dr Lowe took T3 himself as he discovered as a teenager the purpose of T3 as his father and his father's brothers took their own lives . Dr L began to search for reasons why some people took their own lives.
I take my dose of T3 once daily (when I awake) with a glass of water and wait an hour before I eat. Dr Lowe took his T3 when he awoke during the night.
It also means that you don't need to worry about not having to have an empty stomach so that it can absorb any medications.
Dr Lowe stated that T3 saturated all of our T3 cells and it then sent out 'waves' for up to three days.
If you find that taking two doses each day and you feel well, then keep to your method.
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