Re: Re: Question regarding missed meds.

[Guest guest]

Our minds have an awesome untapped capacity.. the memory issues are not from your use of your mind, but from your lack of sufficient thyroid hormone.

Armour thyroid has been available since the late 1800's, synthetics didn't come into being until about 45 years ago. The biggest difference between the two (other than the naturals working better) is that the synthetics are patented and have a fantastic profit margin. Naturals are not patented and the profit margin is small. The company's that manufacture the synthetics promote them actively, pumping a lot of money into the advertising and distribution to increase sales. They've even come up with THE test to support their product and make it seem to be better than natural. Yep.. I'm prejudice. I was on synthetics for over a decade and did miserably on them... then I heard of the perks that the docs get for prescribing it instead of natural thyroid.... I suffered so my docs good get vacations in Hawaii!!!! ARRRGGGGGGHHhhhhhhh!!!!

Okay.. back to facts an not my opinion... Synthetics like Synthroid and Levoxyl contain only one hormone. T4. Natural thyroid contains T4, T3, T2, T1 and Calcitonin.

So?

Well... T4 is the storage hormone. It's held in your body cells to be available as needed. T3 is the active hormone,the one that is used by your body for A LOT of daily functions. T2 helps with metabolism.. keeping you warm and maintaining energy levels and proper weight. T1 is linked to brain function. Calcitonin is what allows your body to take calcium from your blood and put it into your bones. Osteoporosis is the opposite of that.

When you are taking a T4 only med your body is totally dependant on it's conversion ability. That conversion is not meant to be your only source of hormone, but with a T4 only med it becomes one. So... a chemical process has to take place to produce the hormones your body needs to function correctly, to be healthy, to maintain a healthy weight. That process is called conversion.

Conversion is dependant on the level of T4 in the body cells, the blood sugar/energy available in the blood at the cellular level, the selenium in the blood stream (it's a mineral that we have to take daily to assure adequate amounts)and how well the hormone receptors in your body function (and that can vary by heredity, cause for your thyroid disorder, or damage from long term lack of treatment or under medication)

For those that are good converters they do fine on T4 only. But there are a LOT of others that are not....

Conversion is a chemical process were energy (the blood sugar) allows a selenium molecule to combine with an iodine molecule and pulling it off the T4 molecule leaving a T3 molecule.. To make a T2, a T3 has to have an iodine molecule pulled off.... to make a T1 another iodine molecule has to be pulled off.

If you are not a good converter and taking only T4, your body isn't able to get the hormones that it needs. The result is any number of the long list of symptoms that are hypothyroidism.

Taking natural thyroid allows your body to get all the T's.. so that it is able to function... your conversion rate then becomes a support system for your hormone levels.. and not the ONLY source.

I'm a lousy converter. The only way for me to feel decent is to take my natural thyroid every 3 to 4 hours. See, T3 peaks about 2 hours after you take it... and is 95% used up in 4... so I need to redose. I believe that is in part to so many years of being underdosed along with decades of being hyper and then going into thyroid storm before finally being diagnosed and having RAI.. But I can only guess at that.

Now. Calcitonin, the lovely thing that allows us to keep our bones strong. Is only produced in the thyroid gland. There is NO other place to get it. So if you are on a T4 only med with little or no thyroid function of your own. You don't have it.... that means as the years go by your bones will become weaker and thinner and more brittle... because it's impossible for your body to maintain them without Calcitonin...

You can get it by taking natural thyroid.

Now is it a bit easier to understand why so many of us are bitter about this? The medication has been around for more than 100 years. Has NEVER been recalled for ANY reason. Does a better job than anything that has been invented. But is not prescribed my a majority of docs because it doesn't make as much money for the docs or the pharmaceutical companies.

Another advantage, and this is my last comment, I promise: natural thyroid can be taken sublingually, under the tongue. Why is that a big deal? Because taking it sublingually puts it directly into your blood stream. You don't have to wait to eat, or wait to dose, you don't have to be as concerned with when you take calcium or iron. You get more consistent dosing (up to 70% of thyroid hormone can be lost during the digestive process when swallowed) without all the restrictions on your life. That's how I'm able to dose 5 to 6 times a day and eat 4 to 7 times a day and still have everything work!

.... end of 'whatever this was'

Topper () *doing better now after 2 years of natural thyroid than I did on a decade of synthetics*

PS I don't know how much we dwell on sickness. I try to think of all of this as what I can do to help my body feel better. The more you learn about how the hormones work and how to help that.. well, I think of it as a positive.. at least I try to

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 03:16:21 -0000 "Smelly_feet_" writes:

Thanks for all your friendly and helpful answers.Again, I hate dwelling on sicknesses as I feel it makes me verydepressed about things and I see it as unhealthy, so if I rarely willpost, you know why. I tend to ignore the bad, go on with my day, andfind I have a very happy life that way.I also suspect I am low. This time last year my medication was lowand it was increased. My previous internist originally prescribedLevoxyl. I changed doctors last Ocotober because, as great as mydoctor was, she moved and I could never get in when I needed to. Thecurrent doctor I have is no where near as great as my previous doctor.He retested me in October and my levels were fine. He asked if I wason Synthroid, however I verified I was on Levoxyl. Obviously he hasanother preference. I don't have a read-out of my results from lastyear. I know it is time to be retested, however with my recentskipped doses, I am planning on waiting for awhile. I am suspecting I could have missed my medicine for a week and a halfnow. Even last night, again, I fell asleep before I meant to. However, I remembered to take my medicine in the morning and I willagain tomorrow morning instead. I will try to only take it in themorning, however my schedule doesn't always agree with this. I dowork two jobs and am in college. Normally during the school year Iwork 2 jobs and attend school. The best time for me to take mymedicine is at night. Even now this is the best time. I can alwaysbe by my medicine right before I go to bed, however this is obviouslynot working. So, I will try my next option.I am debating whether I should call the doctor about this. Obviously,he can't do anything right now. There is no way a reading will beaccurate. I probably will "forget" anyway. The memory issues haven't been an issue until this year, anotherreason to suspect an unbalanced thyroid level. I am a French major,so therefore most of my classwork is conducted in French. Thisincludes reading novels and writting essays. In addition, one of myjobs is with a health insurance company that is very demanding on themind. I had assumed these were the causes of my "brain fog" and thatI just needed to quit a job for it to disappear, which may also betrue. However, all of these things requires my mind to be very activeand I thought I was pouring too much in at once. Then, you think, weonly use a very small percentage of our brains and I know I haven'tfilled it up yet.Once sufficient time has passed, I will have my levels tested again. If they are low, I'll discuss changing medications with my doctor. Isnatural thyroid a normally prescribed medication, or is this analternative medicine?Thanks for all your help. Hopefully I can stay in touch.> Hi, , welcome...> > We're more of a family here... we do talk a bit technical but we talk> human too, support is in our name, and that's what we do... answer> questions, give encouragement or just listen when someone has to vent.> > As for your question. You don't actually say what med you are on,judging> by the dosages I'm assuming Synthroid or Levoxyl, a T4 only med? For> testing. You want to be on a consistent dose for 6 to 8 weeks to get an> accurate reading of how your body is processing the hormone. You'll need> a TSH, a Free T4 and a Free T3 as the very minimum info to determine how> your dosage is doing.> > As far as your dosing... Part of your fatigue may be because you are> dosing at night... it could also be other things... but many folks find> that dosing in the morning keeps them more alert during the day andhelps> them get their body rhythm more normal.... > > How soon do you eat breakfast after waking in the morning? Would it be> possible to set your dose on your night stand and take it as soon asyour> alarm goes off... then eat your breakfast about an hour later? I know of> one gal that has two alarms.. the first goes off so that she cantake her> dose, then she rolls over and sleeps for two more hours and then gets up> to start her day.. it allows her to keep her dosing consistent.> > Would you happen to have copies of your last labs, showing the lab's> ranges so that we can see how you are doing?> > The memory issues, we like to call it 'brain fog' is common when hypo.> So, if you've been wondering, you're not crazy.> > With being low on thyroid (hypo) you put a lot of stress on your> adrenals, add to that the stress that you are experiencing with theheavy> work load and being worried about skipping meds and not getting thesleep> you need, that adds to adrenal issues as well....> > I think it would help a LOT to first find a way to get your meds on a> regular schedule, EVERY day and then have the proper labs done tosee how> you are doing... then go from there.> > You'll find a lot of us here prefer natural thyroid oversynthetics.. but> that is a whole new subject and I'll pass on it for now... first we need> to help you get consistent with your dosing and get some labs to see> where you stand. I strongly suspect that your dose is way too low on top> of missing doses and being (IMHO) an inferior med.> > First step... find a time when you won't be able to forget your dose....> > Topper ()> > On Tue, 20 Jul 2004 14:04:29 -0000 "Smelly_feet_"> <smelly_feet_@y...> writes:> > Hello all,> > > > My name is and I'm new to this group. I normally don't post > > often to medical-related news groups as I've found they just make > > you > > dwell on your condition more and that is very unhealty. However, I > > have run into something that I hope you can be of help to.> > I missed taking my medicine for at least 4 days. I am not sure > > exactly how long I missed since I couldn't remember the last time I > > had taken it. I normally take my medication at night because I can > > take it without food around that time. > > What led up to this is that I kept falling asleep before I meant to. > > I would fall asleep in my daytime clothing and contacts, wake-up in > > the middle of the night, and not feel like doing anything other than > > taking my contacts out and changing. > > About 4 or 5 days ago I began taking my medicine again and I am > > still > > very tired. I don't want to wake-up and I keep napping. > > When not on the medicine, I was tired and I also had heart > > palpitations, which I normally have, but they were increased since I> was off my meds.> > The question is, how long should I wait after just getting back on > > my > > meds before being retested? I am not sure if I was so tired do to a > > possible low level or if I became tired and just kept missing my > > meds because my fatigue grew.> > I would like to say that every month I will miss taking it once or > > twice, but nothing like this. Normally, missing my meds once or > > twice also does not leave me this tired. > > I am planning on waiting at least a week or longer before making an > > appointment to check my levels, if I'm still tired.> > Should I do this or is it recommended that I see a doctor sooner? I > > know my levels probably aren't going to be perfect if I went now, > > but > > if I waited, they would probably be adjusted to my normal levels. I > > don't want to have to take a test now, have low levels, and be > > overdosed later on.> > For past information: I have hypothyroidism and my medication was > > increased a year ago to only 50mcg. I was taking the 25mcg (one and > > a half per day) prior to that. Prior to this, a few years before I > > switched to one and a half 25mcg, I was just taking a 25mcg.> > Also to further note, even though this extreme fatigue has just been > > getting on my nerves, I do work two jobs and am always stressed out. > > This is just slightly different than normal. This could all be > > psychological.> > Also, I have read several posts and have noticed that this past > > calendar year I have been having memory difficulties like many here > > have. I've never associated this with hypothyroidism. This is > > usually with nouns. I assumed this was due to stress and perhaps > > trying to cram too much into my head, specifically with another > > language, but also with my work duties. Is this memory loss usually > > associated with lower levels?> > Thanks for your help,> >

[Guest guest]

Agreed. It actually makes me feel like my suffering when I was

undertreated was for a purpose: helping anyone I can sharing whatever

knowledge I have.

In fact when I am active in the group, I find I occupy myself doing

research, learning new things, and worrying about how other members that

are not doing so well are doing - and not thinking about how sick I am.

So it takes my mind away from my sickness, it doesn't make me dwell on

it. Does that make sense?

Jan

topper2@... wrote:

>

> PS I don't know how much we dwell on sickness. I try to think of all

> of this as what I can do to help my body feel better. The more you

> learn about how the hormones work and how to help that.. well, I think

> of it as a positive.. at least I try to

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, it is like we are all sharing the burden for the problems everyone

has, instead of each focusing on their individual problems.

Jan

topper2@... wrote:

> I makes perfect sense.. It makes everything that you have to deal with

> and experience more fuel for the fire of your passion to learn and to

> help... it makes it less like your searching for a cure for yourself

> alone.. that gets so frustrating...

>

> Since starting this group I've learned so much about my own symptoms

> and how to treat myself that I did researching. It's not just what the

> research shows but the experiences that we share with each other,

> granting each other the gift of a different perspective.

>

> If you focus only on the pain and (sorry this is the nicest word that

> fits here) CRAP that we have to deal with every day (for those of us

> that are recovering from so many years of under treatment of LACK of

> treatment) Your day can become one long pain.. no beginning, no end...

> but when you find someone has been going through what you have.. and

> you can puzzle it out... it starts to make so much more sense.

>

> Look.. I learned today that someone else hears a cracking in their

> throat... all these years that's the first time I've heard anyone else

> say that.... It's gonna be so cool to find out what it's from, for

> sure... I have only guessed to this point, because I simply had no

> comparison.

>

> Topper ()

>

[Guest guest]

That's it.. like you take one stick and you can break it easily... but a half dozen together and you can't...

We're the bunch of sticks... the force is shared among us and so can't beat us!

Topper ()

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 13:59:49 -0300 Janaina Viggiano writes:

Yes, it is like we are all sharing the burden for the problems everyone has, instead of each focusing on their individual problems.Jan