Welcome to your new forum!

Karen, Thanks for your response. I thought I remembered from the old forum that you had heart issues that sent you to the ER. That’s one of the reasons I am concerned about taking the Cytomel without first testing my T3 levels. I have been reading about Vitamin D lately and it does sound like a lot of my issues may be from not having enough. My Vitamin D level was up to 54 4 ½ years ago, but has been dropping and is now down to 32. I have taken Vitamin D supplements off and on for several years, but since recently I had started having heart palpitations when I would take it at night at bedtime, I stopped taking it for a while. Then I read that the palpitations can be caused by not having enough magnesium along with the D. But since it seems important to take it, I have started taking it again trying to take it along with foods that contain magnesium. I had also read that you shouldn’t take it on an empty stomach, so I have been taking it at breakfast or lunchtime. I used to take 1000 IU, but have now been taking 2000 IU for the past few days. I bought some of the same brand as the B complex that I take. The company is Mega Foods. The vitamins are made from food without all the junky chemicals. I am hoping that my D level will go up by my next bloodtest.

I don’t have the Cytomel yet, but it should be arriving by next week. I get my meds mail order and my doctor sent in the prescription on her computer while I was there. I am so torn between wanting to try it to see if it helps and being scared about what it might do to me. She said to take it at noon, but the more I think about it the less sense that makes. If the T4 needs time to convert to T3 and I take the T4 (Levoxyl) in the morning, wouldn’t it be converting by noon and cause even more of a T3 spike? I would think it would make more sense to take the T3(Cytomel) in the morning with the T4(Levoxyl) so I’d have T3 in my system while waiting for the T4 to get converted to T3 later on. Does that make sense?

Yes, the fact that Dr. Ridha Arem is an Endocrinologist I would think would give him credibility in my current endo’s eyes, but I guess not.

The new endo that I have the appointment with in January is listed on Mary Shomon’s thyroid-info.com website as a top doctor, so I am hoping she is good. I just wish it would be January sooner. I’d love to feel better for the holidays. Not that my family doesn’t care, but I don’t think they really understand how I am feeling and how scary it is to feel this way. I am used to going to the gym several days per week, but since I rolled my ankle a few weeks ago, I have only been going to flexibility/yoga classes, not any of the cardio and strength training classes that I usually go to. I really want to, but I am concerned because of how I have been feeling. It’s a vicious cycle. Not enough energy to exercise, but then gain more weight if you don’t, which makes you feel even worse. I always feel better once I have been to the gym, but getting out of bed in the morning to go there isn’t always something I feel like doing. Yesterday my daughter and I were putting together our Christmas trees and my heart started pounding, so I stopped to take some deep breaths. She told me I was being overdramatic. And I really wish I could get my husband to read Chapter 9 in The Thyroid Solution book. It really explains well how we are feeling and that no we are not crazy.

Stacy, I really would love to get your thoughts on the Cytomel issue. Janet said to talk to you. Your new puppy looks like a dog I had years ago. Mine was mostly lab, but also was part something else that we never knew for sure.

It’s great to have you ladies to talk to. Enjoy your weekend.

I need to vent because I know you ladies will understand. My older daughter who is away at graduate school called before and asked if her boyfriend's family could come over for Christmas dinner. That's 8 people! He's her boyfriend, they are not married or even engaged. They have been dating for a few years. I do not want to have to deal with all of those people, some of whom I have never even met. His parents came over for dinner when they graduated from college, but that's the only time I met them. I don't know his sisters or their husbands. His one sister has two little children. I want peace and quite on Christmas. My brother and sister in law will come pick up my mom and take her to my nephew's house for dinner like they always do. My immediate family just stays home and we go to my in-laws for dinner some day later on in the week. My younger daughter who doesn't even like my older daughter's boyfriend is surprisingly ok with the idea which I am shocked about, but she says it's boring around here on Christmas after we open our presents in the morning. And my husband doesn't understand. He thinks it's fine to have all those people over. It would be nice if anyone around here besides my mother would understand how I am feeling and that I'm just not up to this. Thanks for listening.

TERRY:

The desiccated thyroid by ERFA with the direct T3 caused a severely enlarged left atrium in my heart after just 3 months. It did not cause any pain, but it did cause an increase in BP and showed up on the echocardiogram. On Oct 18 2013 I went to a Sharp Reese ER Clinic, and my BP was 199 over 90. I was rushed to the Sharp Hospital and kept there overnight. I had a complete heart eval and all was OK except for the 40 % EF. They reduced the BP with meds. I was taking ERFA at that time and there was no mention of that causing the problem. It was not until Mar 7 2014 after an overnight stay at Pomerado Hospital that the DRs told me to get OFF the desiccated.


Within a month OFF the desiccated the enlarged atrium resolved. The maximum dose I could tolerate was 60 mg and that never gave me enough Free T4. IF I went over the 60 mg to get more T4 I would get shaky and have a very rapid heartbeat. If I had a good DR following me at that time, he/she would have added some synthetic T4 to the regimen and lowered the 60 mg dose. But that did not happen. I was too hypothyroid to think of it . In JAN 2014 when ERFA was off the market, I could not get any DR or endo appt for 2-4 months and had nothing to take. The hypo just crept up on me, and the worse it got, the poorer I was thinking. Long term severe hypo caused the A Fib. The thyroid gland regulates the metabolism of EVERY organ in the body, so naturally the heart Ejection Function went down from 50 to 40%. There is little research on the hypo-A FIB relationship but there is a LOT of research on the A Fib to HYPERthyroid relationship.

I believe the 32 VIT D level is considered normal today. It used to be 20. Fortunately I live at 32 degrees parallel and can get the VIT D every day if I sit in the sun for only 10 minutes.



Karen

Hi Everyone...I just wrote a lengthy message and it did not go through. A belated happy thanksgiving/ Terry...just tell them NO. That was a very hard word for me to learn. I do not have any living family so my friends and I make it work. Bonnie has become like a true sister and I cherish all of you as being family. Stacey, your new "BABY" is so cute/ Janet,how are both your dogs doing? I am so tired of the medical profession.MY PRIMARY Doctor is GOING on a leave for one year. I was so upset but the two other Partners who are with my Doctor really wonderful and caring Doctors. HOWEVER, I just get upset because I do not fit into their MEDICAL MODEL. Just imagine if we all lived by each other and went to the same Doctor. He or she would probably be in a padded room. I just want us all to feel thyroid normal like we once did. I PRAY FOR THAT EVERY DAY. I am not in the holiday spirit. Has anyone started Christmas SHOPPING? I have not even thought about it. Take care my dear friends...Love...Kat

KAT: There have been many Christmases when I too have had a difficult time getting the Christmas Siprit. Whatever the circumstances - ill health, failures, disappointments, relationship problems- we all have had them, but I do believe God sends us the Christmas Spirit every year to overcome these. I focus on helping others, look to the smiling faces of children, and always turn to Helen Steiner Rice for support.

In Hours of Discouragement

Sometimes we feel uncertain
And unsure of everything
Afraid to make decisions
Dreading what the day will bring.
We keep wishing it were possible
To dispel all fear and doubt
And to understand more readily
Just what life is all about-
God as given us the answers
Which too often go unheeded,
but if we search His promises
We'l find everything that is needed
To lift our faltering spirits
And renew our courage, too,
for there's absolutely nothing
Too much for God to do
For the Lord is our salvation
And our strength in every fight
Our redeemer and protector
Our eternal guiding light-
He has promised to sustain us
He's our refuge from all harm
And underneath this refuge
Are the everlasting arms-
So cast your burden on HIm,
Seek his counsel when distressed,
And go to him for comfort
when you're lonely and oppressed-
For God is our encouragement
In trouble and in trials,
And in suffering and in sorrow
He will turn our tears to smiles.

Terry:

To go back to your comment of Nov 25, the synthetic T4 takes much longer to convert a portion of it to T3 in our body(synthetic is supposed to present an 80-20 ratio of T4 to T3.) than getting direct T3 such as Cytomel or desiccated. I have never gotten a final answer from either doctors or my med books, but I believe it is about 24 hours. So if you took your Levoxyl in the morning WITH a Cytomel, you would get the Cytomel T3 MUCH sooner that you would get what is converted from the Levoxyl or another other symthetic thyroid replacement hormone. That is why it is important to get tested as theT3 from conversion of previous days WOULD be in your body already. AND both Cytomel or desiccated T3 peaks at two hours after taking it and half of it is gone within 24 hours or less. As I remember T-3 has a half life of one day, as I mentioned earlier. The T4 has a half life of 6-8 days, so the T4 stays in our body for a much longer time. This is where I wish we had our dear Cabro! I will contact her today and see if she is well enough to get back to the Forum. I believe it is recommended to take Cytomel more than once a day, but I will have to check on that to be sure. I have no experience with Cytomel as I have always converted T4 properly into T3. The only experience I have with T3 is through using Erfa thyroid and unfortunately it was not a good experience as I was getting TOO much T3 which was too hard on my heart. The natural T3 in desiccated can even be too hard on younger hearts and hearts that did not have 5 by pass in their history. As I relate all this I am wondering HOW ON EARTH did I make it through last year!

Janet: I am again getting e mails now when someone posts. Stacey told me to check my profile, and there would be a way to get the e mails. Found it. For a time I could not log in, and if you sign on as a Guest you do not get the ability to change a profile. All that is worked out now.

Terry:

In case you do not have the information about nutrients required for correct conversion and other hypo matters, here is an excellent Web Site:


www.naturalthyroidchoices.com/ThyroidNutrients.html


It covers both synthetic and desiccated hormone nutrient needs.

Bonnie: Glad to hear your spirits are high. Hope your eye problems get resolved.

Happy Holidays to you too KG

and to everybody here