I want to give up. I have no energy to keep going.

[Incoguto]

Hi all,

I've been suffering for the past many years. Since 2022 everything went downhill and I had to quit my job as I can't function.

I'm 40 years old. I was tested for everything under the sun and everything is down to thyroid. I have Hashis.

I have tried many med combos, everything fails on me.

Recently, about 5.5 weeks ago I have decided to split my Armour dose and t3 into two. I am exhausted, I feel like I'm not taking anything at times and I developed a swollen thyroid. My hands and feet and whole body aches the last few days. My face is very puffy, I can't digest anything anymore.

I have been housebound since November last year. I missed Christmas, Easter, my friends wedding and my own 40th birthday.

I thought splitting was going to help, but it feels like it made it worse. Taking it all at once is also bad.

I don't have any other ideas as to what to do.

I've been feeling so terrible for so long.

I don't know how and where to find energy to keep fighting.

One photo here is of me looking normal some days ago and one from yesterday, struggling with swelling.

Thank you for reading. I feel so alone.

I take 1.75 Armour and 7.5 t3 at 8 am, 0.75 and 5 t3 at 2 pm. My recent ft4 is 23% of range, ft3 was 88% (I took 5mcg t3 more the day before the test).

All my vitamins are optimal, I had iron IV, I tried t4 only, t4 + t3, ndt (Armour, Naturethroid, Thai NDTs), ndt + t4, ndt + t3 over the last 7 years and tried HC.

I consulted two holistic gynos in the US for sex hormones, my sex hormones are perfect. They have put me on testosterone cream I started 3 weeks ago, because I was midrange on Free testosterone. Estradiol and progesterone in a good ratio to each other, higher in range too.

[Incoguto]

This is me yesterday. I don't recognise myself. The first photo was taken few days ago.

Photo of me

[RedApple]

Incoguto, Whatever else, you are absolutely not alone here. We understand what you are going through, and how isolating this condition can be.

I've just briefly scanned your previous posts and see that you never did get any help with this one where you listed all your test results, despite calling out to radd healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

Could it be that Armour is not the right medicine for you? Not everyone does well on desiccated thyroid.

[Incoguto in reply to RedApple]

Thank you RedApple, it means a lot. I've been struggling for 7 years now. Before that I was all good and well on Armour and then Naturethroid (went up as high as 4 grains).

Yes, that's correct, that post didn't get any replies. It's okay, I feel like I am a lost case. I tried many medications, thanks to NDT I was able to go back to work back in 2020.

[RedApple in reply to Incoguto]

The demise of Nature-Throid was devastating for many of us 😞 I personally couldn't get on with Armour, but found Nature-Throid so much better. Over time, for some of us, our needs and responses to different types and doses of thyroid hormones can change, so that, what once seemed to work no longer does.

My instinctive reaction is that the balance of T4:T3 that you're currently taking is wrong for you. i.e. too much T3 and not enough T4. I remember doing a similar experiment on myself years ago. And after much messing about with doses and times of day, the best I achieved was adding 25mcg of levothyroxine to my morning NDT dose.

I hope you will get some input from others on this though.

[Incoguto in reply to RedApple]

Thank you 🤗 I was feeling good on both, I changed purely because of price and my GPs recommendation and then NT was discontinued 😞

That is also my hunch, the balance is completely wrong, but I feel so lost. May I ask what you're taking at the moment?

[radd in reply to Incoguto]

Hey Incoguto,

Apologies but I missed your last post . HU gremlins mean I don't always receive notifications so it's case of just randomly stumbling across them! 🙄

I would never ignore you, and even if I felt I couldn't offer anything I would say this. I'll have a reread later/tomorrow and see if there's any other suggestions I can make that haven't been visited already. Stay strong, there has to be an answer. It's just finding it 🤗.

[Incoguto in reply to radd]

Don't worry radd 🤗 I didn't think it was on purpose at all, and I'm always grateful for your input. I just think in general that I'm a lost case, that I'm very atypical and the worse is, I felt good before on meds and led a normal life so it's just crushing me

[FallingInReverse]

Well, I am just compelled to say that those pictures are beautiful. Your comments on them remind me of how I complain about my puffy-ness or how old I look, and my daughter says - mom, I don’t know what you’re talking about!

I tell my daughter that I would gladly trade every bit of my looks just to be able to take a run like I used to.

I hope this message is received as I’ve intended it. You are a beautiful person! Equally in both pictures!

I’m sorry you feel so bad. We all go through it in our own way. You definitely are not alone. Thank goodness for this forum community.

[Incoguto in reply to FallingInReverse]

Aw thank you 😊 I wouldn't be even bothered by the second picture, but it's the symptoms I'm getting with that bother me so much 😞

I know how you feel, I used to run, bike, do weight lifting , teach yoga...now just trying to survive x

[Obsdian]

I don't have any helpful advice but absolutely relate to your feelings and frustrations. Hashi/hypo is so hard and so discouraging.

As for my appearance. When I look in the mirror I see myself as changed and ill too. My skin everywhere has plumped out.... But I have had so many people ask my age and comment on how wrinkle free I am. Looks good to them but to me it's a sign of hypothyroidism. I'm 47.

[Incoguto in reply to Obsdian]

Thank you 😊 Absolutely, I know this feelings, and I'm sorry you're also going through it x

People tell me I look 30, not 40, but hey, I feel like I'm 200 years old.

[Obsdian in reply to Incoguto]

Exactly, feels like living in an unfamiliar body.

[Incoguto in reply to Obsdian]

Unfortunately yes 😞

[DippyDame]

I wonder if you might have a form of hormone resistance which is preventing adequate T3 entering the cells. The T3 has to reach the nuclei of the cells and attach to T3 receptors before it can become active....and work!

If low level cellular T3 is doing this we feel very unwell....been there!

Have you tried taking your T3-only in single dose.....I take mine at bedtime. so away from food and drinks

It's the last resort but after much trial and error it proved the way that helped me.

Blood tests are not reliable on this protocol....we have to rely on signs and symptoms.

Just a thought.

We're all here to help and support

[Incoguto in reply to DippyDame]

Thank you 🤗I've never tried t3 only...and I'm scared to try I won't lie. I reduced Armour to try it back in January and was like a yoyo all day, quite scary, and pulse up a lot.

I feel I have reached the no solution stage to be honest. 7 years of tweaking.

[DippyDame in reply to Incoguto]

My bio might be of interest.

So much scaremongering re T3...if used correctly and with understanding it's no more dangerous than other treatments.

[Incoguto in reply to DippyDame]

Sorry, I didn't mean scared in terms of t3 being dangerous, more that it won't be a good option for me because of how I'm feeling when I add it and also that I won't know how to go about dosing it, managing it as I am already ultra confused as to how I'm feeling. I'm afraid it will make me ultra hypo, that's all x

[AKatieD in reply to DippyDame]

DippyDame how did you go about switching to 1 dose per day assuming you did not start on that. Bit worried about taking it before bed in case I can't sleep.

[DippyDame in reply to AKatieD]

Well try taking it in the morning....many prefer that protocol.

[AKatieD]

I used the STTM method for switching,. I worked out what my current NDT treatment was roughly in terms of T3 only, rounded down a little to match tablet doses and went with that (can't remember exact figures but came out as something like 68 mcg of T3 so I started on 62.5mcg= 2.5 x 25mcg tablets) and that was just fine. No problems caused by the switch. I then increased the dose slightly, left it for a week as T3 is quick to establishe a new level and decided if I felt better or worse, tested rtc. Then rinsed/ repeated until I felt it was right and settled on 75mcg (until I started HRT).

No need to worry or feel more unwell, just don't drop your current treatment down massively on switching or you risk feeling worse.

[Incoguto in reply to AKatieD]

Thank you AKatieD🤗 So it looks like it would be around 62.5 mcg T3 plus the additional 12.5 T3 I take now, so 75 mcg T3.

So are you saying you did a direct switch, dropped NDT one day and then switched to T3 the next, full dose?

[AKatieD]

Yes, that quickly, agree it is a bit of a white knuckle thing but it really caused me no problems - especially compared to other insidious things that have affected me for no apparent reason, eg as reported recently.

[Incoguto in reply to AKatieD]

Thank you 🤗 did you do well on it for long?

[AKatieD]

Couple of years was fine until started adding HRT, which I quickly realised affected my throid levels, despite not supposedly going to do that. Worst has been testosterone most recently as seemed fine for a few months but have had unexpected cortisol problems recently which I was not expecting and was harder to guess.

[Incoguto in reply to AKatieD]

Agree, I tried Evra patch with estradiol and prog in December and it affected my thyroid levels, I had to stop it.I now wonder if adding my T cream 3 weeks ago is affecting something I'm not seeing? My free T was midrange, where was yours?

[AKatieD in reply to Incoguto]

Before I started T it was 0.5 on a range up to 1.8, now it is 3.2

[AKatieD in reply to AKatieD]

When my transdermal oestrogen and progesterone began, I just increased the dose of T3 and felt still ok. This time I have tried increasing the T3 again but it did not help with the T.

[Incoguto in reply to AKatieD]

Wow okay, so you were under midrange and now over range. Are you reducing it? I've read that T stimulates cortisol and if you outside of therapeutic range you experience side effects. Did you feel any benefit to T treatment? I am midrange on free T.

[AKatieD in reply to Incoguto]

Initially meant I could run ( very slowly) and still breath, which had been a problem for a while and had stopped me jogging. But at the moment too tired to do anything more than walk the dogs and certainly running and raquetball unthinkable.

[Incoguto in reply to AKatieD]

I am sorry. I'm in a similar boat. Going to test my free T. I thought I had more energy in the first week or two, now I'm just all over the place. 3.2 is high. I was midrange and was prescribed it, now thinking to discontinue to be honest.

[AKatieD]

Forgot to say, my reason for the switch was the drop off in quality of NDT preparations. Armour hiked their price so I switched to cheaper brands. One after the other the quality went south and I started to feel ill only to discover there were manufacturing problems and others were suffering similarly. After 2 or 3 spells of suffering this from different brands, I decided I would go synthetic to avoid these problems as could not put up with feeling ill for no apparent reason. As I said this worked fine until the HRT.

[Incoguto in reply to AKatieD]

I understand, thank you. So you were actually feeling okay on Armour until you started switching?

[AKatieD]

Yes but that was well before HRT