bioidentical thyroid hormones

[Guest guest]

On May 22, 2006, at 11:39 AM, Dawn wrote:

> Hi all,

>

> I am wondering if anyone has any advice or suggestions. I started

> taking bioidentical T3 about a 2 months ago. I was prescribed 10 mcg

> for the first 10 days, then 20 mcg everyday after that. The most that

> I have been able to get up to is 10 mcg every other day. And even

> that, I am having a really hard time tolerating. It seems that the

> days I do take it, I am so tired, I just drag. This doesn't make any

> sense to me at all. The opposite should be true. I have some other

> side effects that are to be expected such as some mild nausea and

> sometimes loose stools, occasionally a headache, but nothing as severe

> as this fatigue. Does anyone have any idea what this could be about?

Dawn, this is exactly what happens to me when I take any kind of

thyroid without taking DHEA alongside it.

You might give it a shot. DHEA is cheap and easy to find. I'd start

with a DHEA dose that's 50% of my thyroid dose. (In practice, the

actual ratio is about a third -- 40 mg DHEA and 120 mg of thyroid

daily -- but 50% is a good place to start.) Might work. Might not.

But it's a cheap, easy, fast, and reasonably likely solution.

Sara

[Guest guest]

Hi Dawn-

Wow. That's a fast work up dose schedule. With thyorid stuff, I gotta start

real low and slowwlllyyy work my way up, we're talking a month to go to the next

level.

Do you have hypothyrodism or Hasimotos?

What T3 are you on....is your RX being compounded by a compound pharmacy?

Are you on any type of adrenal support too?

Have you

Kathy

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone has any advice or suggestions. I started taking

bioidentical T3 about a 2 months ago. I was prescribed 10 mcg for the first 10

days, then 20 mcg everyday after that. The most that I have been able to get up

to is 10 mcg every other day. And even that, I am having a really hard time

tolerating. It seems that the

days I do take it, I am so tired, I just drag. This doesn't make any sense to

me at all. The opposite should be true. I have some other side effects that

are to be expected such as some mild nausea and sometimes loose stools,

occasionally a headache, but nothing as severe as this fatigue. Does anyone

have any idea what this could be about?

Thanks so much for any help,

Dawn M

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

I believe that levoxyl is a synthetic form of T4, but I am not positive.

Hopefully someone else will correct me if I am wrong. Armour, I know, is made

from pigs. I really don't know much else about it. But neither of those are

bioidentical. Bioidentical means that they are compounded at a pharmacy, (made

just for me, from plants) to be exactly like the hormone in my body. So, I

would have to say that what you are taking is not at all the same thing that I

am talking about. I am not really sure what else you are asking. I do know

that others here on the list take Armour, so if you have specific questions,

hopefully they can help.

Take care,

Dawn

I was on levoxyl for 2 decades. Now on half> levoxyl dose and 3 grains of

armour. What are> bioidentical T3 and how does this relate or not to> what they

are moving me to i.e. more armour..

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[Guest guest]

Hi Sara,

I believe that you also go to the FFC. Is that correct? I was given my

prescription from my doctor at the FFC. She told me that Armour is from pigs

and (I mean no offense, I am only passing on information), she made a face and

said, " You don't want to put that into your body. " I will admit that I know

next to nothing about bioidenticals. The only information I have was given to

me by the FFC. I was told by them that bioidenticals are only made from plants.

I don't ever eat pork and don't think I would digest it well, so I was concerned

about that, but was assured there was none in bioidenticals. Also, what I am

taking is only T3, I am sure of that. There is definitely no T4 in it. I do

admit though that I know nothing about all of this. My diagnosis came in the

middle of all of my other ones and I really haven't put any time into educating

myself. I sure would appreciate any information.

Sara, I also wanted to ask you, do you have any idea how much DHEA would be

required if I am taking 10 mcg every other day? It seems that my doses and your

very significantly since we are taking different drugs. I am not sure how that

would convert.

Thanks for your help,

Dawn

Armour is dessicated pig thyroid, which is (to my knowledge) the > source of

all " bioidentical " thyroid. Thyroid is made by animal > thyroid glands; I'm not

aware that there are any plant-based > equivalents available, so I find this

statement rather surprising. > Dessicated thyroid products contain mostly

T4,with some ratio of T3 > included -- which makes it a better choice for many

of us.> > I used to take Armour, or the equivalent dessicated pig product from

> Parke- (which is all that's sold in Canada). Now, I get custom >

compounded dessicated thyroid. It's basically no different than > Armour, only

it's " homemade " at the pharmacy. It is, so far as I > know, the most

" bioidentical " thyroid product you can buy.> > Sara

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[Guest guest]

Hi Kathy,

I believe I have hypothyroid. Yes, my medication is being compounded. No, I am

not on any adrenal support. In fact, I am embarrassed to admit that I really

don't know much about it or how to go about doing it. Is it something I can do

for myself? Or is it something I need to see a doctor for? Do you also take

bioidentical thyroid medication? DO you think it is possible that I need to

increase my dose? Start taking it every day? I just really don't know much.

Please educate me with any information you are willing to share.

Thank you,

Dawn

Hi Dawn-> > Wow. That's a fast work up dose schedule. With thyorid

stuff, I gotta start real low and slowwlllyyy work my way up, we're talking a

month to go to the next level.> > Do you have hypothyrodism or Hasimotos?>

> What T3 are you on....is your RX being compounded by a compound pharmacy?>

> Are you on any type of adrenal support too?> > Have you > > Kathy

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[Guest guest]

On May 22, 2006, at 9:53 PM, Dawn Munn wrote:

> Hi Sara,

>

> I believe that you also go to the FFC. Is that correct? I was

> given my prescription from my doctor at the FFC. She told me that

> Armour is from pigs and (I mean no offense, I am only passing on

> information), she made a face and said, " You don't want to put that

> into your body. " I will admit that I know next to nothing about

> bioidenticals. The only information I have was given to me by the

> FFC. I was told by them that bioidenticals are only made from

> plants. I don't ever eat pork and don't think I would digest it

> well, so I was concerned about that, but was assured there was none

> in bioidenticals. Also, what I am taking is only T3, I am sure of

> that. There is definitely no T4 in it. I do admit though that I

> know nothing about all of this. My diagnosis came in the middle of

> all of my other ones and I really haven't put any time into

> educating myself. I sure would appreciate any information.

I'm really interested in the idea that there's a plant-based T3.

Might be something new....or one of us in this chain is somehow

confused....?

> Sara, I also wanted to ask you, do you have any idea how much DHEA

> would be required if I am taking 10 mcg every other day? It seems

> that my doses and your very significantly since we are taking

> different drugs. I am not sure how that would convert.

Take 5 mg of DHEA (which is about the smallest pill they make).

I started with very small doses of thyroid, too (I think it was 7.5

mcg at the start -- all I could tolerate). The 120 is something I had

to work up to over 5+ years.

Sara

[Guest guest]

Hi Sara,

Well, we will soon find out. I just called the compounding pharmacy and left a

message telling them I would like to know the ingredients in my T3 (cytomel is

the name, by the way). So, I will let you know when they get back to me. I was

assured that I would hear back no later than tomorrow afternoon.

-Dawn

I'm really interested in the idea that there's a plant-based T3. > Might be

something new....or one of us in this chain is somehow > confused....?

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[Guest guest]

On May 23, 2006, at 12:14 PM, Dawn Munn wrote:

> Hi Sara,

>

> Well, we will soon find out. I just called the compounding

> pharmacy and left a message telling them I would like to know the

> ingredients in my T3 (cytomel is the name, by the way). So, I will

> let you know when they get back to me. I was assured that I would

> hear back no later than tomorrow afternoon.

Oh, Cytomel!

That's pure T3. (I'm doing some experiments with it myself -- have a

bottle right here, in fact.)

From Rxlist.com:

-----------------------------------------

CYTOMEL®

brand of liothyronine sodium tablets

Thyroid hormone drugs are natural or synthetic preparations

containing tetraiodothyronine (T4, levothyroxine) sodium or

triiodothyronine (T3, liothyronine) sodium or both. T4 and T3 are

produced in the human thyroid gland by the iodination and coupling of

the amino acid tyrosine T4 contains four iodine atoms and is formed

by the coupling of two molecules of diiodotyrosine (DIT). T3 contains

three atoms of iodine and is formed by the coupling of one molecule

of DIT with one molecule of monoiodotyrosine (MIT). Both hormones are

stored in the thyroid colloid as thyroglobulin.

Thyroid hormone preparations belong to two categories (1) natural

hormonal preparations derived from animal thyroid, and (2) synthetic

preparations. Natural preparations include desiccated thyroid and

thyroglobulin. Desiccated thyroid is derived from domesticated

animals that are used for food by man (either beef or hog thyroid)

and thyroglobulin is derived from thyroid glands of the hog. The

United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has standardized the total iodine

content of natural preparations. Thyroid USP contains not less than

(NLT) 0.17 percent and not more than (NMT) 0.23 percent iodine, and

thyroglobulin contains not less than (NLT) 0.7 percent of organically

bound iodine. Iodine content is only an indirect indicator of true

hormonal biologic activity.

Cytomel (liothyronine sodium) Tablets contain liothyronine (L-

triiodothryonine or LT3), a synthetic form of a natural thyroid

hormone, and is available as the sodium salt.

---------------------------------------

So what you're taking is synthetic T3, made in a lab to simulate what

our thyroids (and those of cows and pigs) make. The word

" bioidentical " probably doesn't apply here (it's more accurate when

referring to animal-based natural thyroid products); and it doesn't

come from plants.

My own experience is that the animal-based forms are easier on my

body; but YMMV and probably will.

Sara

[Guest guest]

Take 5 mg of DHEA (which is about the smallest pill they make).

I have liquid DHEA in a spray bottle, for under the tongue. It is by

Nature's Plus. I take a tiny dose every 2 wks. I don't know if it is still

for sale, this bottle has lasted years,lol.

My regular glasses are misplaced, so I can't tell you more from the label.

Adrienne