Medication Switching

Well, over the past few weeks, I ran out of my natural thyroid medication (Thyroid-S).  I wasn't going to order more because there was a new doctor who prescribes Naturethroid that I wanted to see.  I don't want to get my medication from Thailand forever.  Turns out the waiting time was longer than I thought to see him so I ended up running out of Thyroid-S.  That was a bit of a stinker.

I weaned myself back onto Synthroid for the short time (about a week) it would take for new medication from Thailand to get here so I didn't go totally without medication (it makes me very sick by the third day or so).  Gained three pounds.  Nice eh?

I went with Thiroyd instead of Thyroid-S from Thailand (yes, I know it looks like I need spell-check but that is actually how it is spelled).  I am back to where the weight dropped before (whew!).  I'm plateauing though so I'm not sure if I should increase the dose just a little bit or just wait until I see the new doctor in three weeks. 

I've been taking everything very slowly (how much thyroid med, how much iodine) and I wonder if I am being too conservate.  I'm just not sure.

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Ran Into Some Problems

The ten pounds has stayed off so far. Unfortunately, I think I'm allergic to the one form of natural thyroid medication I'm taking (Thyroid-S). My head feels like hives and it's SO itchy! I've tried different shampoos and treatments but then recently realized that this is the same feeling I had when the doctor gave me a medication I was allergic to. I think it's probably a filler in the Thyroid-S that is causing the reaction.

I have an appointment for mid-January with a new doctor that came recommended to me. I didn't want to keep taking Thyroid-S for another month but I also don't want to go back to feeling horrible and gaining that weight back either. So I have reduced my Thyroid-S dose so I'm still getting more T3 and have gone back to Synthroid (ONLY temporarily) just until my new doctor can prescribe Naturethroid for me. I hear that's better for people who have allergies to some of the fillers in the other medications.

It's too bad if I'm allergic to Thryoid-S because I was feeling better and some weight dropped off. It could be an allergy or perhaps a hypothyroid symptom - meaning I need MORE Thyroid-S than I'm currently taking but if I'm allergic, I don't want to push it.

I've also bought natural progesterone cream, coconut oil, and magnesium oil. I've read some good things and wanted to try a few things out. I'm waiting for my books (Stop the Thyroid Madness and Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can't Live Without It) to show up on my doorstep. It's been Christmas here this week with all my stuff coming in!

I'll let you know what I think of the books after they get here and I read them. I can't wait until they get here.

I picked up some iodine tincture.  I want to try a skin test with it and see what that is about. There are several sites that talk about it but they say different things. Some sites say it can help tell if you are iodine deficient and other sites say it doesn't work for that. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Edited to add 2/2/2010:  It wasn't a medication allergy. It was eczema:)

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My Thyroid Still Works!

I've recently read that our thyroids produce about 300 mcg of hormone a day. Based on my old Synthroid dose of 112 mcg, that means that about two-thirds of my thyroid is still working!?!? Those are the highest doses for both Armour and Synthroid so that sounds about right.

My sister-in-law didn't think my thyroid was working much because she doesn't have a thyroid and she was on the same dose of Synthroid as I was. However, it appears that parts of my thyroid are still alive and well! Yippee! That's great news.

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T3 AND T4 Studies

If you are on a T4 only medication and still not feeling well, you might be interested in reading about some studies done on a combo T3/T4 regimen.

About Thryoid - Mary Shoman

Mercola

The actual study at New England Journal of Medicine (here's an abstract version)

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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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