Reduced my T3, Not Good

A few months ago, my thyroid doctor reduced my T3 medication by 20mcg per day.  Let me tell you what a HUGE difference it made - negatively.

Prior to the reduction, I felt great, weight was awesome, periods were right on time and not painful, my memory was great, I wasn't losing abnormal amounts of hair.  (So, why did the doc want to reduce it?  He thought my T3 was high - I think it was lab error myself because I had no symptoms of excessive T3 and felt the best I'd felt since being diagnosed with hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis).

After he reduced it, my hair started falling out - again, my weight increased - again, my memory loss came back - again, and my periods were late and whacked. I went through two bad periods before I said to heck with it and increased my own dose back to what it was (they come in 5mcg pills so it's easy to do).

So, my current thyroid doses are:

• Synthroid (T4) 75 mcg
• Liothyronine (T3) - 45mcg, twice a day

I absolutely need that T3 at the higher dose.  I have a Reverse T3 problem. I finally felt great...and then it all went to heck.  Now I wait for it all to get back to what it was before.  My problem now is the memory lapses while trying to get back to how I felt before - - I keep forgetting to take my medicine! 

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Overcoming Thyroid Disorders by Dr. David Brownstein

I just finished reading Overcoming Thyroid Disorders by Dr. David Brownstein. It has some very good information in it if you are one of the thousands who just don't feel good on the synthetic thyroid medication your doctor has you on now.

There are chapters on: hypothyroidism, Poor T4 Converters & Thyroid Hormone Resistance, Thyroid Replacement Options, Hyperthyroidism and Autoimmune Disorders, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Adrenal and Gonadal Hormones and their Relationship to the Thyroid, Diet, Detoxification, Coagulation Disorders, Iodine and the Thyroid Gland, and the Glycemic Index.

I came across some information that I made note of to research a little, such as Dr. Broda O. Barnes (researcher in field of thyroid/endocrine imbalances). There is a foundation named for him that I am going to research as well. Dr. Barnes said in the 1960's that two things would change forever with diagnosing and treating hypothyroidism and that was the use of the blood test to diagnose (instead of using symptoms as well) and the use of the synthetic thyroid hormone (such as Synthroid).

I am wondering, after reading this book, if my low T3 numbers was due to an inability to convert the T4 (from the Synthroid I was on for seven years) to T3 properly. My new doctor has kept me on that same Syncrap dosage I've been on forever but he's also added 120 mg compounded armour thyroid daily as well.  I wonder if he's trying to override a resistance to conversion.  My labs next month will tell I guess.

Another thing I learned from this book is that Synthroid has lactose in it.  I'm lactose intolerant! Also in Synthroid according to Dr. Brownstein is cornstarch and dyes including aluminum lake.

Aspartame:  According to this book, aspartame is metabolized into formaldehyde.  He believes aspartame may contribute to autoimmune thyroid problems.

I don't have fibromyalgia (though the last endocrinologist tried to tell me I did before he even examined me) but Dr. Brownstein's book addresses fibromyalgia as well. He believes it is impossible to improve fibromyalgia if the thyroid gland is messed up.  He said he's found 80% of patients with fibromyalgia have hypothyroidism (and many are undiagnosed because of the failure to get the correct tests and read the labs correctly).

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New Doctor Check-Up Went Good

I had my second visit with my new doctor on Friday.  He raised my compounded Armour Thyroid dosage again based on symptoms. That puts me at 112 mcg Synthroid (Syncrap) and 120 mg Compounded Armour.  My next visit is March 12th.  A few days before that appointment, I get lab work done to see what adding the Armour Thyroid to my current Syncrap has done for my numbers.  My weight showed a two pound weight loss from the last time I was at his office a few weeks ago so the weight loss is going slower now (because I'm back on the Syncrap but because he added compounded Armour, I think the weight will continue to fall off). 

I asked my new doctor if there would come a time when I could stop taking the Synthroid. He said he wants to see what my next labs look like first (which is only three weeks away!).  Yeah!!

With the increase in my armour thyroid on Friday, my eczema has improved a lot in just two days!  In fact, I'd forgotten I even had it and missed putting the cream on it Friday night and Saturday.

I wondered if I'd start feeling hyper symptoms by adding 120mg armour thyroid on top of my Synthroid medication, but there haven't been any. 

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Armour Thyroid Status with FDA & Manufacturer

I just talked to a pharmacist who compounds Armour (the same as the old Armour, not the reformulated Armour).  I asked her if she foresees any problem getting the supply she needs in the future like the shortages being seen elsewhere and she does not.  She said that she has been told that the supply problem is at the manufacturing level because the FDA is telling them to do things differently with paperwork and the FDA didn't like how they (manufacturer) were testing. 

Seems to me that if a medication has been in use for 50 years successfully (actually, I think it is more than that), then it stands on its own merits.  If that's not enough, all the complaints that the FDA is receiving over the shortage from people upset over not being able to get their natural thyroid medication should tell the story as well.  I tend to believe that it is Big Pharma's way of making sure synthetic Syncrap (Synthroid and its generics) are the only medications available to people who depend on thyroid hormone for their lives...it's all about money in the pocket in my opinion.

I called my pharmacist and asked because my new doctor prescribed 60mg of compounded Armour for me a day in addition to my 112mcg Synthroid.  He was concerned that if he switched me over completely to the compounded Armour, removing the synthetic Syncrap (Synthroid) completely, that I might have a hard time getting it in the future.  Based on the pharmacist's opinion, I am going to ask my new doc to switch me entirely over to compounded Thyroid (pork-derived, natural - like the old Armour).  If the pharmacist comes across a shortage six months down the road, then I'll deal with Synthroid then (if I can't get it from Canada or Thailand at that time).  I don't want to stay on Synthroid based on something that may not happen.  I don't feel good on it.  On natural thyroid, I feel better, I lose less hair, and I lose weight.  That doesn't happen on Synthroid.

I see my new doctor for a follow-up visit on February 12th. He told me that he thought we'd have to bump up my compounded Thyroid from 60mg to more.  I'll bet he doesn't realize just how much I am going to ask him to bump it up to fully replace Synthroid.

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Why do doctors push Synthroid?

Why do doctors push a synthetic medication over a natural dessicated thyroid medication that has been around far longer than the synthetic version?

Is it because you can't patent a natural medication...therefore pharmaceutical companies can't rake in the big bucks on them?

For more reading on this topic, read here.

I have had an endocrinologist outright refuse to prescribe a T3/T4 combination for my thyroid disease. He even went as far as to call in a prescription for Synthroid to my online prescription provider (which automatically deducts it from my bank account) after I told him I didn't want Synthroid! He's been fired.

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