Bio-identical hormones

[Finding My Self]

Great thread - I shall be watching it too! Have been through lots of thyroid - "There's nothing wrong with your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) so nowt wrong with you"......Ha. The other thyroid hormones were not there! (T2, T3, T4) Dr. Barry Durrant-Peatfield in the UK is a wow on this.... I didn't get as far as Armour (as he prescribes a lot too) but did well on the adrenal and thyroid 'glandulars' from Nutri in Cambridgeshire, England.

Sooooh often, the thyroid will pick up after the adrenals are boosted....a lot of low thyroid is from adrenal exhaustion....and no amount of thyroid supplementation will work if the adrenals aren't addressed as well - in fact, it can make the thyroid worse if the adrenals are ignored! And guess what?......low adrenal reserve leads to alcohol cravings (as alcohol prduces cortisol that the adrenals are seriously lacking in low thyroid) and alcohol in turn leads to adrenal exhaustion......that old vicious circle!

Good luck to everyone - underactive thyroid had me feeling more ill than at any time in my life - and I felt AWFUL!
Love FMS xx

[myra]

Ok. Love this thread. Had half my thyroid cut out years ago. On synthroid. Never have thought it worked very well. So much to learn. Have done the saliva thing. Indicates adrenal issues.
Will see. Thanks for the info.

[Doggygirl]

Hi all. This is some GREAT info sharing!!

beatle I'm not sure if your question was directly answered. Synthroid is synthetic, and Armour is natural (from pigs). That is the big difference. What makes it work differently is that Armour contains all the different forms of Thyroid hormone - T3 and T4 being the biggies, but also T1, T2 and there is another one I can't remember the name of right now. One of the big problems I've read about with Synthroid is that it mainly addresses T4, but if your body is deficient at converting T4 into T3 (the actual active thing) then you are being incorrectly treated. There is a synthetic form of T3 (starts with a "C" - somebody help me out here..) that is sometimes prescribed with Synthroid for a better outcome if T4 -> T3 conversion is an issue.

That stop the thyroid madness link I posted up thread might answer a lot more of those questions for you about Synthetics v. Naturals. (Armour is not the only natural one...but it seems to be the best known.)

The posters who mention "how you feel" v. blood testing to determine correct doseages echos what my own doctor says. She never relies only on TSH to begin with, but she has patients whose TSH levels are WAY low relative to the "normal" scale, but that's where they feel good so that's the doseage they stay on.

FMS - you raise an excellent point about all of the hormone systems and their inter-relationship. I'm glad that all the stuff was tested at once - I've read that too about adrenal fatigue. There is also a tight connection (apparently!) between Thyroid and Cortisol. If one is off the other might be off. Mine are both off. My doc is treating the Thyroid problem first, then we will see what the Cortisol levels do. (she says it would be a crap shoot to try treating both at once) My adrenals were fine, so I don't know what she would have done, in what order if there had been a problem there.

I'm feeling really good on the very small dose of Thyroid (she says it's VERY important to titrate up slowly) and also the levels of progesterone and estrogen mix she put me on. (also natural - no synthetics). I feel like my moods are stable and sleep isn't 100% yet, but has been improving at least a little bit. (since my Thyroid dose is so low, I may still have really high Cortisol at night affecting that...)

I will be talking to the doc this Thursday for a progress check. Will report more then!

DG

[gelgit]

Eureka!! thanks so much for this thread. I've been taking Thyroid nascent iodine tincture for quiet a while with good results. I haven't taken it for over 10 days now since everything got stuffed into the car and randomly unstuffed because we still don't know if we're in danger of getting burned out before we all succumb to smoke inhalation!! Anyhow, I spent the weekend depressed, overeating and drinking wine. I found the iodine bottle AND the antabuse container and am back on track as of today. Thanks again. xxx g.

[lushy]

Beatle, not to mention docs get a kickback by prescribing Synthroid and not Armour. It sadly comes down to money making, at least here in the US. I am on levoxyl (generic form of Syntroid) and am thankful it has worked for me so far.

[Aunty Mame]

This is such an interesting thread and completely new ideas for me. DG - is your Dr a traditional medico type or more like a homeopath?? I tend to avoid Drs as much as possible except for the necessary stuff.

I'm really interested because I've suspected for some months now that I'm pre-menopausal and some events of the last couple of weeks have made me even more certain! (the really black mood that I was in, plus the obvious reason ) I've had really bad endometriosis since my mid-20s, and I've read elsewhere that that can play havoc with hormone production. Have had several bouts of surgery, but resisted the complete hysteroctemy that some stupid surgeon wanted me to have about 5-6 years ago - mainly because I had read about the risks in relation to hormone production. So have put up with a fair amount of endometriosis pain since then, but look forward to menopause for an end to it all!!

Anyway, it strikes me that this is a good time to make sure that all of that stuff is in balance ...... and I've never really read anything about thyroid etc, so I might make it my mission to read a bit more over the next wee while

thanks for all this info!!

[beatle]

Actually, I started a thread on thyroid issues related to alcohol problems, a while ago, I think it was on the General Discussion forum but can't find it now.

I lost it all in the fuss of overcoming alcohol addiction, but I have done a good bit of research. There is a book called "Your Guide to Metabolic Health" by Gina Honeyman-Lowe and John C. Lowe-- but it seems to be unavailable at the moment, perhaps due to their divorce and ensuing legal actions. It is a very detailed and helpful book if you can get a hold of it.

For more info, you can also visit:
drlowe.com---fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism, thyroid hormone resistance

I'm still in the early stages of figuring this out...even though I do believe the two-- thyroid and alcohol-- are interrelated.

Thank you all for the input. Please keep posting as you find new things out!

[beatle]

Oh yeah, DG, thank you for all that info... the problem is finding a doc who will understand this. The StoptheThyroidMadness site is so great. But it shows you how desperate the situation is for those who suffer. Where I live, even so-called experts declare the TSH reading as the only indicator of a metabolic imbalance. As you know, experts in the U.S. don't even bother about the TSH reading. We are sadly left up to our own resources here.

[beatle]

Oh (again), and FMS, would you mind elucidating on that adrenal cycle. It sounds right on the button for me, but I'm not sure I understand it. How do you know that is what is happening. What do yo do about it?

enough from me tonight!

[Doggygirl]

Hi again all.

Mame, my doc is sort of interesting. She is an MD (so a traditional medical doctor, at least that's how she started out) and has had a family practice for quite some time. When she herself went through menopause a few years ago she had HORRIBLE problems. Her hot flashes were so bad (upwards of 70 hot flashes per day at the worst stage) that she could barely function, let alone run a medical practice. That's what started her doing research on the whole hormone topic. So...in effect she was her own first patient. She has split her practice off into two part - the "Family Practice" part, and the "Docname Institute" part which is where she does the less traditional hormone work. It's quite interesting - my insurance covers procedures and appointments with her that are "mainstream" such as pap smears and mole removals. It covered the blood tests for the thyroid levels, but not the consultation. It did NOT cover the saliva test for all the other hormones including adrenals, cortisol, estrogen (various types), testosterone.

LOL tomorrow I'm getting my stitches removed (covered) but also expect to be told to up the Armour by a 1/2 grain. Nanny Nanny Boo Boo to the insurance company who will unknowingly reimburse for probably 5 minutes of hormone advice!! (Lila - how long ago did you switch from Synthroid to Armour? I get the feeling more is learned all the time about how to best introduce Armour either initially, or as a transition from other synthetic hormones...)

Long story short Mame - I feel like I'm getting the best of both worlds - MD AND naturopath or something like that. She is also very into nutrition and how that fits in. She has me on a very strong detox level pro-biotic for 60 days (I'm about 1/2 done with that) then will switch to another probiotic. She actually switches probiotics winter and summer too. She is also an advocate of vitamin D3 - lots of new info about significant benefits to that.

Anyway, I will be glad to get the Armour inched up to where it has more of an impact. She will only go up 1/2 grain every two weeks so as not to shock the existing function of my thyroid. I want the benefits, dangit!!

beatle, have you looked on either the anti-aging web site that I linked up thread to see if there is a doc on that directory in your area? Or on the Armour physician locator? Physician Locate

Sadly, I've read about people traveling MANY MANY miles to get to a good hormone doc. I'm lucky I found one close to home.

I'll let you know what happens tomorrow at our appointment.

DG