New Meds: Thyroid, Progesterone, Dhea

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

So I go to the doc and found out that I had low T3 and really high estrogen. So she puts me on 30 mg Armour twice a day, T3 8 mcg (this is compounded)- twice a day, c-progesterone titurates 50 mg - twice a day, DHEA 10 mg - once a day.

At first I felt lightheaded. That pretty much went away. Now I feel anxious and my heart rate is accelerated. My pulse is high too. I've headaches for the last 4 days.

I've been on the meds for just over 2 weeks. Has anyone else had this happen to them. I would rather not be on this then feel this way.

Very frustrating.

[MaryJones2]

So I go to the doc and found out that I had low T3 and really high estrogen. So she puts me on 30 mg Armour twice a day, T3 8 mcg (this is compounded)- twice a day, c-progesterone titurates 50 mg - twice a day, DHEA 10 mg - once a day.

At first I felt lightheaded. That pretty much went away. Now I feel anxious and my heart rate is accelerated. My pulse is high too. I've headaches for the last 4 days.

I've been on the meds for just over 2 weeks. Has anyone else had this happen to them. I would rather not be on this then feel this way.

Very frustrating.

Hi Jenny. I'd recommend giving your doctor a call about this. I know from personal experience that it often takes a while to get the Thyroid med dosage right and would assume the other hormones are also the same way. Best of luck!

[ShayFL]

Thyroid hormones are tricky and you need a REALLY good doctor to help you figure it out.

Did they test your Ferritin? Low iron stores can make you react hyper to even small doses of Thyroid meds.

Ditto if your adrenal glands are shot. Did they test cortisol?

MANY people have to start Thyroid VERY SLOWLY.

I started on just 1/8 grain (7.5 mg) twice a day. After 2 weeks I upped it to 1/4 grain (15 mg) twice a day. And so on........I raised slowly every 2 weeks. Once I got to 2 grains (120 mgs) my raises got slower. Every 6 weeks. I am now up to 3 grains and it feels OPTIMAL for me. Hypo symptoms gone and I feel stable.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

Janet and Shay, thanks for the replies. I did call the doc, but waiting on a call back.

Shay, they did not test my Ferritin, which was really low previously. I e-mailed my doc about this to add to my bloodwork when I go on Friday. I believe they tested for iron - what would that test be?

Also, I did not see a test for cortisol. Would it actually say cortisol?

Maybe I should just do the thyroid and when that feels good, add the progesterone. I hate this. I just want to feel good again! I used to have so much fun. It just feels like it's one thing after another. I start to feel good and then something else comes up. grr I want to do the happy dance again.

I'm going to skip my nightly dose on everything tonight and then see what the doc says tomorrow.

Thank you both.

[Gemini]

So I go to the doc and found out that I had low T3 and really high estrogen. So she puts me on 30 mg Armour twice a day, T3 8 mcg (this is compounded)- twice a day, c-progesterone titurates 50 mg - twice a day, DHEA 10 mg - once a day.

At first I felt lightheaded. That pretty much went away. Now I feel anxious and my heart rate is accelerated. My pulse is high too. I've headaches for the last 4 days.

I've been on the meds for just over 2 weeks. Has anyone else had this happen to them. I would rather not be on this then feel this way.

Very frustrating.

Jenny....she has you on too high of a dose of T3! You are almost identical to me with regards to your meds. I also have never heard of giving thyroid meds twice a day, at those doses. I am on Levoxyl 150 mcg and was taking a compounded T3, at 2mcg. After being gluten-free for 3 years, I began to experience symptoms of hyperthyroid so I have dropped the T3 entirely and now feel better on just the Levoxyl alone. If you have ANY hyper symptoms, the dosage is too high, period.

As far as your other hormone levels, may I ask how old you are? I am 49 and post menopausal and decided to use bioidentical hormones (compounded creams) to help with my weak bones and overall health. I am on estrogen, progesterone and DHEA. I will tell you this......the blood work to test hormone levels are not accurate. I use saliva testing and that is the ONLY way to go. When I had blood testing done, I was in flaming menopausal symptoms, and the doctor told me that my levels were fine for my age group. FINE!?!? How can a person be having horrible, non-stop hot flashes and many other symptoms of menopause and have normal blood hormone levels? After doing saliva testing at an alternative doctor's office, the progesterone showed low....which is the first hormone to dump down when a woman enters menopause. I know your doctor is giving you progesterone to balance out the estrogen and that is a good thing but make sure she is using saliva testing for levels and do not use pharmaceutical brand hormones as they have been altered for patent reasons and are not good to take. Too many possible side effects to list here!

I would guess that all your symptoms are related to too much thyroid hormone and not from the other hormones. I don't know what your blood work looked like but mine was pretty bad when I was first diagnosed. Good thyroid practitioners are hard to come by but trust your intuition and lower the dose until your symptoms subside. I would cut down on the compounded T3 first....that worked like a charm for me!

[ShayFL]

Unfortunately, if you have low Ferritin and/or adrenal hormones, you can feel "hyper" when you are not. Check out:

www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

A lot of good information there.

Progesterone will open the receptor sites so more thyroid gets into the cells. This is a good thing, but can be tricky balancing with thyroid hormones.

I had sensations of "hyper" at 2 grains. So doctor cut back and I went into full blown "hypo" again. I needed to get my Ferritin up and once I did, I could continue raising my Armour until I got to an optimal dose. Ferritin should be at least 50 with 70-90 being optimal. Mine is still a work in progress as I do not have enough iron stores to get me by should I need surgery or get into an accident.

I dose 4 times a day on Armour sublingually. It works great for me. Our thyroids naturally secret hormones in periodic burst throughout the day. I am mimicking nature this way and it keeps me very stable.

Synthetic hormones like Levoxyl and Synthroid are different. You can take them anytime and the bodies ability to utilize the hormone depends on the body's ability to convert all of that straight T4 into T3.

I am a poor converter. So all that T4 would just pool in my blood and make me feel "hyper" with "hypo" symptoms unresolved. My life changed when I switched to Armour.

[hawaiimama]

Yes I agree. I took synthroid for years and never felt completely better until I switched to armour. I am also a poor converter. I also wonder what hormones I missed all those years on synthroid. My doc said armour just works better in people with celiac esp women. I think it sounds like you need some adrenal support. T3 is hard on your adrenals especially if they are already stressed.

[CJS59]

Hi

I'm a newbie to celiac. I have been hypothyroid for 25 years and was on syncrap for 23 years. Switched to Armour and now I'm on straight Cytomel=T3. I also have high cortisol with is adrenal insufficiencies. I am on Seriphos to bring my cortisol down. I have to disagree with some of the information posted regarding the treatment of adrenal/thyroid and testing.

www.stopthethyroidmadness.com, as mentioned, is an excellent web site for thyroid adrenal info and so are www.realthyroidhelp.com and there is an adrenal group and natural thyroid group on yahoo as well. Hyperthyroid and hypothyroid symptoms mimic each other so it's difficult to tell the difference without proper testing.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

Thank you all for your advice and expertise! I've been on vacation for the last 10 days and I'm just looking at the forum again. I go to the doc next week and will see how the blood test came out. Shay, I had them test my ferritin levels this time. When I was first diagnosed, my ferritin level was only 8. I'm sure it has improved since then.

Shay, how did you get your Ferritin level up? Supplements?

[ShayFL]

I take Solgar's "Gentle Iron" and gluten-free Floradix. I drink either hibisicus tea or Emergen-C when I take them so they absorb better (vitamin C helps iron absorb). I am still working to get mine optimal.

I was at 10 and got to 22 (which helped me process my Armour). But not near enough. I have not tested in a few months. But my goal is 70. I have read research that if I can maintain a Ferritin of 70 for 6 months my hair will grow back. It has thinned so.....

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

I wanted to post my new test results since so many of you are on thyroid meds. Also, I was not tested for antibodies. Do I need to do this if the treatment is working? Also, can you test once you are already on the meds?

I was re-tested and here are the results:

TSH - .05 (range: .45-4.5) (below normal now)

Free T4 - 1.1 (range .8-1.7)

Free T3 - 5.1 (range 2.0-4.8) (above normal now) I now take 4 mcg 2x/day. the doc had started me on 8 mcg 2x/day and was too much. I cut the dose in half and was taking 8mcg 1x/day.

Ferritin - 19 (range 9-120)

The doc said I was really absorbing the meds well.

Previous results:

TSH - 2.02

Free T4 - 1.2

Free T3 - 2.5

Ferritin - 8

I did take my meds that morning, as instructed by my doctor. She told me to do the blood work 5-7 hrs after taking meds. I know I've read that you shouldn't take that meds before testing, but she insisted she wanted to test the levels this way.

Shay and Lisa, thank you for the additional advice. I am going to work on increasing my ferritin. I actually feel pretty good right now so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Still taking the progesterone to balance out the estrogen.

[ShayFL]

There can be up and downs with thyroid meds...so if you crash...you need more regardless of what the labs say. I NEVER take my meds before testing. I take my last dose of Armour at 8:30 pm. I skip my normal 7 am dose and head straight for the lab. I take my dose as soon as the blood is drawn. This is the most accurate.

If you are feeling good, with those labs, I would have been perfectly content with keeping them the same. Ranges are just averages. Being a few points over or under does not mean that those arent the right numbers for you.

My last TSH was .008 and T3 was 1 point from the top of the range and it is working for me.

So pay close attention to how you feel and adjust accordingly.

[Nancym]

That could be too high of a dose for you.

For me, any time I have an adjustment to my thyroid meds I get a little "hyper" feeling for a couple of weeks, but then it goes away. So the other option is to let it ride for a couple of weeks and see how you feel. Those symptoms are tough to bear though.

Even though my T3 tends to be low, I didn't like taking T3. It was too harsh for me.

[ShayFL]

If you have low Ferritin or Cortisol....T3 can make a mess of you.

[Gemini]

I wanted to post my new test results since so many of you are on thyroid meds. Also, I was not tested for antibodies. Do I need to do this if the treatment is working? Also, can you test once you are already on the meds?

I was re-tested and here are the results:

TSH - .05 (range: .45-4.5) (below normal now)

Free T4 - 1.1 (range .8-1.7)

Free T3 - 5.1 (range 2.0-4.8) (above normal now) I now take 4 mcg 2x/day. the doc had started me on 8 mcg 2x/day and was too much. I cut the dose in half and was taking 8mcg 1x/day.

e levels this way.

Ferritin - 19 (range 9-120)

The doc said I was really absorbing the meds well.

Previous results:

TSH - 2.02

Free T4 - 1.2

Free T3 - 2.5

Ferritin - 8

Shay and Lisa, thank you for the additional advice. I am going to work on increasing my ferritin. I actually feel pretty good right now so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Still taking the progesterone to balance out the estrogen.

[Gemini]

I did take my meds that morning, as instructed by my doctor. She told me to do the blood work 5-7 hrs after taking meds. I know I've read that you shouldn't take that meds before testing, but she insisted she wanted to test the levels this way.

Sorry about the last post......accidentally hit the wrong button!

For what it's worth......I always take my Levoxyl at 6:00 in the morning, when I get up for work. When I have repeat testing, it's always after 4:00 in the afternoon and this is perfectly fine, according to my doc. I think it's only an issue if you are having blood drawn within 6 hours of testing. It would make sense that you would want to see what your levels are when taking thyroid hormone every day.....real time testing.

[Jenny (AZ via TX)]

I go back in 3 months to check the levels again. Hopefully this is normal. What is the cortisol test? I'm going to ask for that along with the ferritin the next time I go.

Thanks again for the support and advice everyone.