Re:Cold Turkey off Synthroid

December 12, 2001

Hi all!

I had my tt on 11-8 and am scheduled for RAI on 1-8. Went off Thyroid

meds yesterday, so I'm cool so far.

My Dr. does not prescribe Cytomel so I'm off Synthroid for 4 weeks " cold

turkey " His rationale is that doing it the way he does results in a

slower, more gradual descent into the hypo state, rather than the more

dramatic plunge when Cytomel is withdrawn.

He says that he has patients who have done it both ways and most actually

prefer the " cold turkey " approach.

Has anybody had experience with both or with the " cold turkey " and could

you please tell me your experience?

Also, previous to my surgery, in mid-October, I had a CT scan with contrast.

Is that going to cause a problem with scan and ablation early January?

Thanks in advance for your info to this newbie!

C

I had my tt on 11-8 and am scheduled for RAI on 1-8. Went off Thyroid

meds yesterday, so I'm cool so far.

My Dr. does not prescribe Cytomel so I'm off Synthroid for 4 weeks " cold

turkey " His rationale is that doing it the way he does results in a

slower,

more gradual descent into the hypo state, rather than the more dramatic

plunge when Cytomel is withdrawn.

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December 12, 2001

4 weeks might be a short a time to wait from stopping T4 to RAI, I

just did an RAI with 4 weeks T3 (cytomel) + 2 weeks nothing. Is your

doc confident your TSH level will be good for the test?

A CT with contrast can be a big problem, if they used iodine

contrast. There are regular postings here about waiting for a year,

and getting 24 hour iodine in urine tests. I just had one (lungs),

but on recommendation got no contrast. Was this CT requested by your

Endo? If so - does he/she know the contrast method used?

The best for test hypo and holidays!

/

> Hi all!

>

> I had my tt on 11-8 and am scheduled for RAI on 1-8. Went off

Thyroid

> meds yesterday, so I'm cool so far.

>

> My Dr. does not prescribe Cytomel so I'm off Synthroid for 4

weeks " cold

> turkey " His rationale is that doing it the way he does results in a

> slower, more gradual descent into the hypo state, rather than the

more

> dramatic plunge when Cytomel is withdrawn.

>

> He says that he has patients who have done it both ways and most

actually

> prefer the " cold turkey " approach.

>

> Has anybody had experience with both or with the " cold turkey " and

could

> you please tell me your experience?

>

> Also, previous to my surgery, in mid-October, I had a CT scan with

contrast.

> Is that going to cause a problem with scan and ablation early

January?

>

> Thanks in advance for your info to this newbie!

>

> C

> I had my tt on 11-8 and am scheduled for RAI on 1-8. Went off

Thyroid

> meds yesterday, so I'm cool so far.

>

> My Dr. does not prescribe Cytomel so I'm off Synthroid for 4

weeks " cold

> turkey " His rationale is that doing it the way he does results in a

> slower,

> more gradual descent into the hypo state, rather than the more

dramatic

> plunge when Cytomel is withdrawn.

> ________________________________________________________________

> _

> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at

> http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

>

> For more information regarding thyroid cancer visit www.thyca.org.

If you

> do not wish to belong to this group, you may UNSUBSCRIBE by sending

a

> blank email to thyca-unsubscribe@y...

>

December 12, 2001

I've experienced both and much prefer the Cytomel option. Personally, I

wouldn't do it any other way. Cwc

Re: Re:Cold Turkey off Synthroid

Hi all!

I had my tt on 11-8 and am scheduled for RAI on 1-8. Went off Thyroid

meds yesterday, so I'm cool so far.

My Dr. does not prescribe Cytomel so I'm off Synthroid for 4 weeks " cold

turkey " His rationale is that doing it the way he does results in a

slower, more gradual descent into the hypo state, rather than the more

dramatic plunge when Cytomel is withdrawn.

He says that he has patients who have done it both ways and most actually

prefer the " cold turkey " approach.

Has anybody had experience with both or with the " cold turkey " and could

you please tell me your experience?

Also, previous to my surgery, in mid-October, I had a CT scan with contrast.

Is that going to cause a problem with scan and ablation early January?

Thanks in advance for your info to this newbie!

C

I had my tt on 11-8 and am scheduled for RAI on 1-8. Went off Thyroid

meds yesterday, so I'm cool so far.

My Dr. does not prescribe Cytomel so I'm off Synthroid for 4 weeks " cold

turkey " His rationale is that doing it the way he does results in a

slower,

more gradual descent into the hypo state, rather than the more dramatic

plunge when Cytomel is withdrawn.

________________________________________________________________

_

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at

http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

For more information regarding thyroid cancer visit www.thyca.org. If you

do not wish to belong to this group, you may UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a

blank email to thyca-unsubscribe

December 12, 2001

Hi,

my wife Roxanne had a pt on 10/18 and a tt three weeks later when it was

discovered from the path report that what was originally thought to be benign

was a 2.6 and a 1.7 cm pap w/foll variant malignacy on her left lobe. She

had a tt on 11/9/01 ( a small 3mm cancer but with a hurthle cell nodule on

her right lobe) and 147 mci on 12/5/01. she was also diagnosed with

hashimotos from the path report from her first sugurey. After her tt she

received no Cytomel or synthroid. A week after her 12/5/01 RAI she (today)

started synthroid at 100mcg for the first time. She has a full body scan

scheduled for friday 12/14/01. She also never was asked to go on the LID

diet, her doc is a 25 year thyca specialist.

my quesstion is: why do some docs put patients on Cytomel and syntroid before

RAI?

December 12, 2001

Hi,

I took no medication after my surgery last year until RAI - TSH was

over 30 in 18 days and going hypo wasn't that bad.

This year, I did a 4 week withdrawal. I asked the endo to prescribe

cytomel. She did, but I didn't take it until after RAI. Well...I

did take 1/4 of a pill a couple of times. I found I didn't really

need it until it was too late to take it (week 3 or so).

My TSH was 125 in 4 1/2 weeks - I guess some go hypo faster than

others.

I did take cytomel with Synthroid after RAI and I think it really

helped speed the recovery process.

Good luck,

Sandy

TT/RAI Oct. 2000, pap

102 mCi Oct. 2001

..175 synthroid

December 12, 2001

He says that he has patients who have done it both ways and most

actually

prefer the " cold turkey " approach.

Those sound like the exact words that my dr. said but he did let me

have Cytomel for going hypo but not coming out. For me I don't know

if the Cytomel would have helped because after six weeks back on Meds

my TSH measured 33. So it did take awhile for my tSH to get back to

my normal range.

He told me patients crash really fast with Cytomel instead of

gradually by cold turkey.

I only went hypo once and it was with Cytomel. The second time

around I used Thyrogen.

Gail Schuler

Redwood City, CA.

TT 8/31/99

Dx. Fol. Variant Papillary Carcinoma 9/9/99

Scan & 103 MCI RAI 11/04/99

Clean Scan with Thyrogen 10/13/00

December 12, 2001

It takes 4-8 weeks for your body to clear T4 (synthroid), and 2 weeks

to clear T3 (cytomel). The clearing is important to stimulate thyroid

cells to absorb Iodine from the RAI. I did 4 weeks of T3, then 2 of

nothing for a second RAI in October.

Being off thyroid hormone is odd; your body/mind slows down. T4 in

your body slowly is broken down into T3 when needed. Most ThyCa

people take T4 because it lasts a long time in your body. Most people

taking just T3 have short spurts of energy, then exhaustion - and

some just hate it as very unpleasant. The procedure needs to balance

effectiveness [bad cells sucking in lethal RAI] with quality of life

[people without thyroid hormone are often in very bad shape].

The first RAI is odd, because most TTs leave thyroid tissue behind -

they can't amputate the neck. That means that there is some thyroid

hormone produced. [The idea is that the RAI getting rid of the

healthy thyroid tissue is good, because it allows later measuring Tg

levels as a thyca marker.]

My guess is that for the first RAI, some doctors think the experience

is not as bad. Perhaps it is because of the residual thyroid tissue.

Why don't you ask him/her?

Waiting a week for T4 after the scan seems like torture. I was given

a low dose of T4 (25 mcg of my normal 350mcg) 2 days after the RAI

dose, building up over 2 weeks. I was not put on a LID by my Endo,

but did it anyway.

For me the first few months after TT were quite an experience. I (and

it seems many others) took a long time to get to a comfortable T4

dose. Good luck on that.

The best to you and your wife. Happy holidays, with the surgery and

RAI behind you.

/

> Hi,

> my wife Roxanne had a pt on 10/18 and a tt three weeks later when

it was

> discovered from the path report that what was originally thought to

be benign

> was a 2.6 and a 1.7 cm pap w/foll variant malignacy on her left

lobe. She

> had a tt on 11/9/01 ( a small 3mm cancer but with a hurthle cell

nodule on

> her right lobe) and 147 mci on 12/5/01. she was also diagnosed

with

> hashimotos from the path report from her first sugurey. After her

tt she

> received no Cytomel or synthroid. A week after her 12/5/01 RAI she

(today)

> started synthroid at 100mcg for the first time. She has a full

body scan

> scheduled for friday 12/14/01. She also never was asked to go on

the LID

> diet, her doc is a 25 year thyca specialist.

>

> my quesstion is: why do some docs put patients on Cytomel and

syntroid before

> RAI?

>

December 13, 2001

Some doctors do say that patients perceptions of going hypo aren't as bad when

going hypo slowly without using Cytomel. Let us hope that during weeks three

through six these patients aren't doing anything that requires normal reaction

times or keen judgement. Let's hope they aren't driving or making change.

Cytomel allows patients to function better for longer. When we stop Cytomel in

addition to stopping T4, we should also stop doing things which might imperil

ourselves or others, such as driving, or in my case, just getting out of bed.

(hurthle cell ca.)

Blcklthr@... wrote: Hi,