Re: Anyone in Houston?

[Guest guest]

Louise,

Our newest members Barb and Mandy both live in that area.

Lynn

-- Anyone in Houston?

Hello Stilligans,

I am wondering if any of you know of any Stilligans in Houston besides

, Beth on the board and Beth the RN?? We plan to spend some time

over Christmas there and would love to have a mini meeting with any

members. Please let me know, Louise.

[Guest guest]

Hi Carole, Did you decide not to continue going to Dr. Hartig? I had a HORRIBLE experience with starting the Cytomel. Since I ASKED her for it though, I don't blame her for my problelms. When I first went to her a couple of weeks ago,I had already had an appointment with a new endo for the 27th of this month, but I thought I'd try Dr. Hartig in the mean time. Because the Cytomel was so bad, I think I will go to the endo and see what he says before going back to Dr. Hartig. The endo that I'm seeing next week is Dr. . He is an older (75 years old) doctor, but my holistic doc says he is a "healer". I'll let you know what I think after I see him. Diane Where in Houston are you located?lisas1116 wrote: I am uncertain about the Endo I am seeing. It seems like every test or procedure is a major task with the staff and the wait time.Would love favorable comments about knowledgeable thyroid doctors in Houston. I will be having another thyroid scan soon and eye surgery next month. ThanksHave a nice week-end.-- Carole L. Henning carole_henning@...

[Guest guest]

HI Diane,

Why was cytomel horrible for you? I just asked my doc to start me on it and I see her on March 3. I have been on .100 Levoxyl for two years with normal levels and my TSH just jumped to 7.37 when I started on nutrisystem that has lots of soy and prozac which can alter your thyroid levels. I asked if we could add cytomel cuz the Levoxyl only changed my numbers and never my well being.

What did you not like about cytomel?

Thanks, sue

Hi Carole,

Did you decide not to continue going to Dr. Hartig?

I had a HORRIBLE experience with starting the Cytomel. Since I ASKED her for it though, I don't blame her for my problelms. When I first went to her a couple of weeks ago,I had already had an appointment with a new endo for the 27th of this month, but I thought I'd try Dr. Hartig in the mean time. Because the Cytomel was so bad, I think I will go to the endo and see what he says before going back to Dr. Hartig.

The endo that I'm seeing next week is Dr. . He is an older (75 years old) doctor, but my holistic doc says he is a " healer " . I'll let you know what I think after I see him.

Diane

Where in Houston are you located?

lisas1116 wrote:

I am uncertain about the Endo I am seeing. It seems like every test

or procedure is a major task with the staff and the wait time.

Would love favorable comments about knowledgeable thyroid doctors in

Houston. I will be having another thyroid scan soon and eye surgery

next month. Thanks

Have a nice week-end.

-- Carole L. Henning carole_henning@...

[Guest guest]

I am still happy with Dr. H. I am sorry you had a bad experience with

something you asked for. I agree it is not her fault. I don't know

about Dr. . I've been down the endo road and found it a

distressing experience. What ever path you decide on, I hope you will

find the help you need. Good luck.

Diane Whitaker wrote:

Hi Carole,

Did you decide not to continue going to Dr. Hartig?

I had a HORRIBLE experience with starting the Cytomel. Since

I ASKED her for it though, I don't blame her for my problelms. When I

first went to her a couple of weeks ago,I had already had an

appointment with a new endo for the 27th of this month, but I thought

I'd try Dr. Hartig in the mean time. Because the Cytomel was so bad, I

think I will go to the endo and see what he says before going back to

Dr. Hartig.

The endo that I'm seeing next week is Dr. . He is an

older (75 years old) doctor, but my holistic doc says he is a

"healer". I'll let you know what I think after I see him.

Diane

Where

in Houston are you located?

lisas1116 wrote:

I am

uncertain about the Endo I am seeing. It seems like every test

or procedure is a major task with the staff and the wait time.

Would love favorable comments about knowledgeable thyroid doctors in

Houston. I will be having another thyroid scan soon and eye surgery

next month. Thanks

Have a nice week-end.

-- Carole L. Henning carole_henning@...

-- Carole L. Henning

carole_henning@...

[Guest guest]

Hi Diane,

Yes, I have read that people without any thyroid probs have TSH under 1.0 so anything close to what you said would probably be best. Mine has never went under 2.0 and no one ever tried to get it there.

I have read a lot of good about cytomel and want to give it a shot and see if it doesn’t increase my anxiety. I just really want to get my numbers back in line and be able to lose weight without starving myself.

I work at home self employed and can set my own hours albeit long ones most days but can rest if need be... So I have some room to “experiment’ with treatment and think I now need to since my numbers went so out of whack after 2 years solid being in range with the levoxyl. I do get the”brain fog” and the hair loss so I really want to get this “fixed.”

I appreciate your input.

Sue

Hi Sue,

I am only about a month into getting more educated about all the details of hypothyroidism, so I can't claim to be any kind of expert. I thought that I read T3 can cause an anxious feeling. Maybe that is the case only if there is too much T3 in your system. You may want to see if you can find out that answer since you probably don't want to make things worse for you.

I think I noticed a difference with the Cytomel in the first 2 days. At first, I was happy with the changes. I felt like I was getting more energy and my stomach was starting to settle down. By the third day, I was getting uncomfortable with my stomach and my energy had bottomed out. I was on the couch ALL day either sleeping or just lying there unable to muster enough energy to do anything. The new " energy " turned out to be a jittery, anxious feeling that was exhausting. My family doc says it should take at least 2 weeks to tell a difference, but I just don't agree with that. Again, I may not have taken the Cytomel the correct way to get started.

Have you read that many people are saying they don't feel normal or good until their TSH is around .1? That's way lower than my 1.024, so maybe that's why I don't feel well yet! I actually saw one entry that named my exact symptoms that no doctor can find a reason for. She said that after she got her TSH lower, they all went away. Anyway, that is my next angle. I'll see what happens.

Diane

jytdtp wrote:

Hi Diane,

Thanks for your reply.

As far as “symptoms” I can’t narrow them down! I am 48 and most like entering menopause and also suffer from acute PMS and have anxiety problems. I had pain near my ear and was sent for bloodwork to check my glands and my antibodies were off the charts and my tsh was 6.4 – this was 2 years ago. My “symptoms” were: weight gain, spacy-headed, and increased anxiety – not your typical low thyroid symptoms. I was put on.88 levoxyl and my TSH after 6 weeks was 3.14 so we increased to .100 and they have been at about 2.1 for two years. I kept gaining weight, and my hair was falling out faster now. I gained 25 lbs in two years on a low cal regimen with low fat and good exercise and my cholesterol has gone up over 200 as well. It’s all VERY frustrating. I finally joined Nutrisystem in January and changed to Prozac in December for my PMS which it helps but I read both prozac and soy reak havoc on thyroid. I got lab work drawn in mind February and my TSH was 7.37 and my cholesterol still at 226 – last bloodwork was november 2005 and my tsh was 2.14 and cholesterol the same. The changes I made since last bloodwork were: prozac and soy and lost 8 lbs. I may have reved up my metabolism to where I was eliminating the levoxyl too rapidly.

I do understand that all this is a trial and error and I am ready to introduce T3 since I heard it also helps like serotonin and that could help replace my prozac for the PMS moodiness, anxiety, etc.

I don’t feel any different from when I was first diagnosed at 6.4 TSH and no meds to 2.4 TSH with .100 levoxyl — no positive changes whatsoever and that is why I want to add T3.

My endo said she will examine me on March 3 when I come in and add the cytomel if I want to see if that helps out — she is so good and so willing to listen and work with me and never fights me on my suggestions and adds a lot of insight of her own. She is from Boston and seems very qualified. She told me the soy is fine as long as it’s at least 4 hours apart from my meds.

So you are saying that after just 7 days of cytomel you got constipated and gained weight? I ask cuz I dunno how quickly you can tell it’s not good for you — is it like really immediate? Days? Weeks? Since I already have axniety it’s hard for me to tell if it’s from a med, a social situation, stress, pms or just “me.”

Thanks!

sue

Hey Sue,

Cytomel may still be able to help me out. The bad experience could have been from taking too much too quickly (eventhough I was on the smalles dosage). Or it could have been from not taking enough - but I think it was probably the former. Also, I felt like my T4 crashed when I introduced the Cytomel. I lost ALL energy, hair got dry, got constipated, weight gain, etc.... The new symptoms were a " ramped up " feeling along with extreme fatigue, very thirsty, increase in appetite. And those were from taking Cytomel for just 7 days!!!

Like I said, Cytomel may still work for me, but I need someone to look at my bloodwork and tell me the best way to work the T3 into my system. Do I increase or decrease my Levoxyl when I start the Cytomel? Do I leave the Levoxyl the same and take smaller doses of T3 until my body gets used to it? Do I switch to Armour instead of the synthetic forms? Do I need to just increase the Levoxyl without taking any T3?

A doc with experience needs to help me out.

It looks like you got some feedback on the soy. My understanding is that soy inhibits the absorption of the Levoxyl, so that alone could be most of your problem. As far as the Levoxyl goes for me, I think it helped take care of many of my problems, but not all of them. I am not willing, at the age of 39, to accept the way I feel as the best that life can be for me. I'm still hoping T3 can help me with my symptoms.

What symptoms are you fighting ?

Diane

jytdtp wrote:

HI Diane,

Why was cytomel horrible for you? I just asked my doc to start me on it and I see her on March 3. I have been on .100 Levoxyl for two years with normal levels and my TSH just jumped to 7.37 when I started on nutrisystem that has lots of soy and prozac which can alter your thyroid levels. I asked if we could add cytomel cuz the Levoxyl only changed my numbers and never my well being.

What did you not like about cytomel?

Thanks, sue

Hi Carole,

Did you decide not to continue going to Dr. Hartig?

I had a HORRIBLE experience with starting the Cytomel. Since I ASKED her for it though, I don't blame her for my problelms. When I first went to her a couple of weeks ago,I had already had an appointment with a new endo for the 27th of this month, but I thought I'd try Dr. Hartig in the mean time. Because the Cytomel was so bad, I think I will go to the endo and see what he says before going back to Dr. Hartig.

The endo that I'm seeing next week is Dr. . He is an older (75 years old) doctor, but my holistic doc says he is a " healer " . I'll let you know what I think after I see him.

Diane

Where in Houston are you located?

lisas1116 wrote:

I am uncertain about the Endo I am seeing. It seems like every test

or procedure is a major task with the staff and the wait time.

Would love favorable comments about knowledgeable thyroid doctors in

Houston. I will be having another thyroid scan soon and eye surgery

next month. Thanks

Have a nice week-end.

-- Carole L. Henning carole_henning@...