New here

[Guest guest]

Hi Nicci,

Welcome to the group. I just wanted to say that this is the place to be to learn about Hashi's. I have not been a member very long and am finding our a lot of things that a doctor never told me. It sure makes a difference. Things do get better. Hand in there.

Nita

Avondale,AZ

new here

i hav ejust been dxed with hashimotos and am exhausted. i just started thyrpoid treatment. think i just wanted to say hello an di am here.nicci

[Guest guest]

Hi Nicci,

Welcome to the group. I just wanted to say that this is the place to be to learn about Hashi's. I have not been a member very long and am finding our a lot of things that a doctor never told me. It sure makes a difference. Things do get better. Hand in there.

Nita

Avondale,AZ

new here

i hav ejust been dxed with hashimotos and am exhausted. i just started thyrpoid treatment. think i just wanted to say hello an di am here.nicci

[Guest guest]

Hi Nicci, welcome!

How did your labs look? What dose are you on? When do you go in for your next labs?

Oh No!!! bombarding you with questions!!!!

I'll stop! hehehehehe

Topper ()

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 07:09:12 -0000 "rainbowsliders" writes:

i hav ejust been dxed with hashimotos and am exhausted. i just started thyrpoid treatment. think i just wanted to say hello an di am here.nicci

[Guest guest]

Hi Nicci, welcome!

How did your labs look? What dose are you on? When do you go in for your next labs?

Oh No!!! bombarding you with questions!!!!

I'll stop! hehehehehe

Topper ()

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 07:09:12 -0000 "rainbowsliders" writes:

i hav ejust been dxed with hashimotos and am exhausted. i just started thyrpoid treatment. think i just wanted to say hello an di am here.nicci

[Guest guest]

Hi Nicci, welcome!

How did your labs look? What dose are you on? When do you go in for your next labs?

Oh No!!! bombarding you with questions!!!!

I'll stop! hehehehehe

Topper ()

On Sat, 14 Aug 2004 07:09:12 -0000 "rainbowsliders" writes:

i hav ejust been dxed with hashimotos and am exhausted. i just started thyrpoid treatment. think i just wanted to say hello an di am here.nicci

[Guest guest]

Well, you definitely look hypo. A TSH of 50+ is really really high.

You can treat yourself for hypothryoidism and I think it is much

cheaper. I do this and do not have insurance now. You can purchase

Armour thyroid, which is the natural thyroid that was used for over

83 years before Synthroid and I think you would do a lot better on

it. I purchase my thyroid from MyRxForLess in Mexico. They carry

both Armour and a Generic, which is good, too. It is much cheaper.

You can also buy legal thyroid from Nutri+meds. They have both

porcine and bovine and one tablet is about equal to 1/4 grain of

Armour.

All you do is start at a very low dose - 1/8 to 1/4 grain and wait a

minimum of two weeks before raising another 1/4 grain or less. If

you have adrenal fatigue form years of low thyroid, you will find

that you will get some symptoms of thyroid excess on low doses. If

this happens, you will need to raise doses in very small increments

and wait up to 4 weeks to a month before making another raise. This

is to give your adrenals time to recover and build their strength

before another raise. Thyroid hormone controls the size and output

of the adrenals and when it is low, the adrenals shrink and put out

less. Then taking thyroid can really overburden them for a while.

You may also have problems with low doses of Armour if you are

anemic or have other health issues that interfere with the body's

ability to use thyroid. Use Dr. Rind's Temperature and pulse

monitoring information to determine effectiveness of your treatment

and dose. It is at: http://www.drrind.com/tempgraph.asp

Keep a record of your body temperature, pulse and symptoms as

described in the link above and continue to raise your dose slowly

every 2 weeks to a month or more untill your body temperature is

normal (averages 98.6) and your symptoms have gone away. That is

your goal anyway. It may take well over a year up to 3 years. Body

temperature, pulse, muscle reflex action, and patient appearance

were the tools used by doctors for 83 years to adjust thyroid

hormone doses before over reliance on the current tests. Before

about 1975 and the heavy use of the TSH test, thyroid doses were

adjusted up untill the patient felt well and was in good health.

Thyroid patients were generally healthy and lived long lives when

Armour or natural thyroid was used and the doses were adjusted by

symptoms.

The typical final dose of Armour for most people was between 3 and 5

grains. Some need higher doses. Today, doses have dropped to 1/3 of

what they were since the heavy reliance on the TSH test. Most people

do not feel well on low doses of thyroid. This is because low doses

tend to suppress the pituitary. The pituitary is supposed to monitor

the the amount of thyroid you are taking and adjust it's output of

TSH to tell the thyroid to make enough extra hormone to make blood

levels right. The average person's thyroid puts out 4-1/2 to 5

grains of Armour equivelent a day or 333 to 370 mcg a day of

Synthroid equivelent. So, theoretically if you take one grain of

Armour, the pitutary should tell the thyroid to make 3-1/2 to 4

grains more so that your body has enough thyroid hormone. But, in

reality, low doses of thyroid overly suppress the pituitary so that

it doesn't make enough TSH to tell your thyroid to make up the

difference. The result is that low doses of thyroid can make you

more hypothyroid than taking nothing.

To compensate for this problem, it is neccessary to take

sufficiently more thyroid and raise the dose untill you feel good.

Dr. Derry has written that most people don't feel well on less

than 3 grains of Armour. Armour also contains calcitonin, which

helps to protect bone and no studies have been done with Armour and

osteoporosis. It seems that doctors prior to the TSH test did not

find bone loss a problem with Armour.

You may also be dealing with a conversion problem. Synthroid is on

one hormone of the 7 that the thyroid makes. Synthroid is only the

thyroid hormone T4. T4 is relatively inactive and must be converted

in the body to T3 and T2 in order to produce energy. Many people,

especially those with auto-immune diseases, have trouble converting

T4 to the other thyroid hormones and thus do not get much benifit

from Synthroid. Armour contains all the hormones the human thyroid

makes and it's T3 is a little higher than what a human thyroid

makes. This is a benifit for those who have conversion problems.

Armour has a long history of safe and effective use.

Anyway, you can probably avoid having to spend a lot of money on

tests just by using Dr. Rind's time tested method of monitoring your

therapy and dose adjustments. This was how it was done for 83 years

before all the sensitive tests we have today. Ultimately, if the

tests do not reflect the health of the patient, then what good are

they?

Here are some articles you might find interesting.

http://www.eje.org/eje/149/0091/1490091.pdf

http://personal.bellsouth.net/w/u/wurmstei/

http://thyroid.about.com/library/derry/bl11.htm

http://www.royalrife.com/thyroid.html

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/david-derry.htm

It would also be a good idea to do a Google search on the

terms " Adrenal fatigue " and " adrenal hypofunction " before you start

any new therapy, so you will be prepared for these symptoms if they

develop. Adrenal fatigue can give symptoms of thryoid overdose and

many other problems. This can be treated with low dose adrenal

glandulars such as IsoCort and nutri+meds. Adrenal support may be

needed for up to 2 years.

Tish

[Guest guest]

I admit I haven't yet looked up the links about temperature monitoring for

thyroid. But, isn't it a fact that even in a normal person, your basal temp

should be lower than a regular 98.6 waking temp? If my basal is that high,

wouldn't my regular temp be higher than normal? I thought anything above

97.4 was a good sign.

[Guest guest]

Howdy, Crystalline....

Oh.. there are a couple of us here that have been run through the wringer, to be sure.

One of the worst things a doc can do is roller coaster your meds.. way too much stress to your body.

There are quite a few of us here that are self medicating, either due to lack of insurance, money or both... so you won't be alone if that turns out to be the route you choose.

Synthroid doesn't work for everyone. If on too low a dose and kept there too long makes you feel worse.. starting on too high a dose or increasing your dosage to quickly (it takes 4 to 6 weeks for the T4 to build up in your tissues and show it's full effect on your body) can cause problems as well...

Things that you need to remember if you are taking synthetic T4 (Synthroid and it's clones):

It contains only T4, the thyroid storage hormone. You are totally dependant on your body's ability to chemically convert it to the active hormones that it needs to function properly and make you feel 'human'.

You must take it on an empty stomach. Due to it's chemical composition it requires an adequate amount of stomach acid to remove the extra sodium molecule to make it something that your body can even use. That's why antacids are a no no as well.

You have to keep the thyroid dose separate from calcium and iron supplements.... Take them either 1 hour after the thyroid or the thyroid no sooner than 4 hours after the supplements.

Quite a few of us that had been on the synthetics for years and years have found that natural thyroid works much better for us....

It would be good to find out why you are hypo... what is causing it.. it does make a difference in how you treat it....

.... but we'll be getting into that as time goes on....

For now.. we have a page on our web site that will give you a bit of a run down on the thyroid hormones, the tests and the choices for meds... it will give you a starting point as your start building your own knowledge base and determine which direction you want to go from here..

Topper ()

www.thyrophoenix.com/thyroid_101.htm

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 19:28:40 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) "Crystalline Spiritwalker" writes:

Hi everyone,

I just found this group. I was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 7 years ago. At first I was put on a low dose of synthroid. Unfortunately, every time I turned around, my TSH was still going up. The synthroid was not helping. So my primary doctor sent me to an endocrinologist. He said that he wanted to vary my synthroid dosing to "trick" my thyroid into working. That still didn't work. In fact, it caused me to have heart problems. My primary doctor weaned me off of it. He had me off of any thyroid medicine for about a year. I started complaining rather loudly that I was getting worse. So he sent me to another endocrinologist. Well, 4 endocrinologists later, synthroid still doesn't help me. I was actually told by one endocrinologist that "synthroid works for everybody". I am so glad to see that I am not the only one that was tortured by doctors. I was beginning to wonder if they were singling me out.

Then I unfortunately went without insurance for a while. In fact, I still don't have any. I am lucky enough to work for a great doctor. My problem was just getting the tests. I couldn't afford them on a normal basis. I found a great place to order them online where you can get them for cheap. At first I was worried that it was a scam. I thought about it for a little while. Then finally decided to just go for it.

I got my test results back. Not good. My TSH was 52.306 T3 Uptake 23.60 T4 total 4.8 T4 free 3.6

[Guest guest]

Howdy, Crystalline....

Oh.. there are a couple of us here that have been run through the wringer, to be sure.

One of the worst things a doc can do is roller coaster your meds.. way too much stress to your body.

There are quite a few of us here that are self medicating, either due to lack of insurance, money or both... so you won't be alone if that turns out to be the route you choose.

Synthroid doesn't work for everyone. If on too low a dose and kept there too long makes you feel worse.. starting on too high a dose or increasing your dosage to quickly (it takes 4 to 6 weeks for the T4 to build up in your tissues and show it's full effect on your body) can cause problems as well...

Things that you need to remember if you are taking synthetic T4 (Synthroid and it's clones):

It contains only T4, the thyroid storage hormone. You are totally dependant on your body's ability to chemically convert it to the active hormones that it needs to function properly and make you feel 'human'.

You must take it on an empty stomach. Due to it's chemical composition it requires an adequate amount of stomach acid to remove the extra sodium molecule to make it something that your body can even use. That's why antacids are a no no as well.

You have to keep the thyroid dose separate from calcium and iron supplements.... Take them either 1 hour after the thyroid or the thyroid no sooner than 4 hours after the supplements.

Quite a few of us that had been on the synthetics for years and years have found that natural thyroid works much better for us....

It would be good to find out why you are hypo... what is causing it.. it does make a difference in how you treat it....

.... but we'll be getting into that as time goes on....

For now.. we have a page on our web site that will give you a bit of a run down on the thyroid hormones, the tests and the choices for meds... it will give you a starting point as your start building your own knowledge base and determine which direction you want to go from here..

Topper ()

www.thyrophoenix.com/thyroid_101.htm

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 19:28:40 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) "Crystalline Spiritwalker" writes:

Hi everyone,

I just found this group. I was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 7 years ago. At first I was put on a low dose of synthroid. Unfortunately, every time I turned around, my TSH was still going up. The synthroid was not helping. So my primary doctor sent me to an endocrinologist. He said that he wanted to vary my synthroid dosing to "trick" my thyroid into working. That still didn't work. In fact, it caused me to have heart problems. My primary doctor weaned me off of it. He had me off of any thyroid medicine for about a year. I started complaining rather loudly that I was getting worse. So he sent me to another endocrinologist. Well, 4 endocrinologists later, synthroid still doesn't help me. I was actually told by one endocrinologist that "synthroid works for everybody". I am so glad to see that I am not the only one that was tortured by doctors. I was beginning to wonder if they were singling me out.

Then I unfortunately went without insurance for a while. In fact, I still don't have any. I am lucky enough to work for a great doctor. My problem was just getting the tests. I couldn't afford them on a normal basis. I found a great place to order them online where you can get them for cheap. At first I was worried that it was a scam. I thought about it for a little while. Then finally decided to just go for it.

I got my test results back. Not good. My TSH was 52.306 T3 Uptake 23.60 T4 total 4.8 T4 free 3.6

[Guest guest]

Howdy, Crystalline....

Oh.. there are a couple of us here that have been run through the wringer, to be sure.

One of the worst things a doc can do is roller coaster your meds.. way too much stress to your body.

There are quite a few of us here that are self medicating, either due to lack of insurance, money or both... so you won't be alone if that turns out to be the route you choose.

Synthroid doesn't work for everyone. If on too low a dose and kept there too long makes you feel worse.. starting on too high a dose or increasing your dosage to quickly (it takes 4 to 6 weeks for the T4 to build up in your tissues and show it's full effect on your body) can cause problems as well...

Things that you need to remember if you are taking synthetic T4 (Synthroid and it's clones):

It contains only T4, the thyroid storage hormone. You are totally dependant on your body's ability to chemically convert it to the active hormones that it needs to function properly and make you feel 'human'.

You must take it on an empty stomach. Due to it's chemical composition it requires an adequate amount of stomach acid to remove the extra sodium molecule to make it something that your body can even use. That's why antacids are a no no as well.

You have to keep the thyroid dose separate from calcium and iron supplements.... Take them either 1 hour after the thyroid or the thyroid no sooner than 4 hours after the supplements.

Quite a few of us that had been on the synthetics for years and years have found that natural thyroid works much better for us....

It would be good to find out why you are hypo... what is causing it.. it does make a difference in how you treat it....

.... but we'll be getting into that as time goes on....

For now.. we have a page on our web site that will give you a bit of a run down on the thyroid hormones, the tests and the choices for meds... it will give you a starting point as your start building your own knowledge base and determine which direction you want to go from here..

Topper ()

www.thyrophoenix.com/thyroid_101.htm

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 19:28:40 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) "Crystalline Spiritwalker" writes:

Hi everyone,

I just found this group. I was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 7 years ago. At first I was put on a low dose of synthroid. Unfortunately, every time I turned around, my TSH was still going up. The synthroid was not helping. So my primary doctor sent me to an endocrinologist. He said that he wanted to vary my synthroid dosing to "trick" my thyroid into working. That still didn't work. In fact, it caused me to have heart problems. My primary doctor weaned me off of it. He had me off of any thyroid medicine for about a year. I started complaining rather loudly that I was getting worse. So he sent me to another endocrinologist. Well, 4 endocrinologists later, synthroid still doesn't help me. I was actually told by one endocrinologist that "synthroid works for everybody". I am so glad to see that I am not the only one that was tortured by doctors. I was beginning to wonder if they were singling me out.

Then I unfortunately went without insurance for a while. In fact, I still don't have any. I am lucky enough to work for a great doctor. My problem was just getting the tests. I couldn't afford them on a normal basis. I found a great place to order them online where you can get them for cheap. At first I was worried that it was a scam. I thought about it for a little while. Then finally decided to just go for it.

I got my test results back. Not good. My TSH was 52.306 T3 Uptake 23.60 T4 total 4.8 T4 free 3.6

[Guest guest]

Your body temp when waking will naturally be a bit lower than your body temp when up and moving around... but what we are watching for is a temp that shows that our metabolic rate is too low to maintain a sufficient body temp.

If your metabolism is too low (as is the case with insufficient thyroid hormone, and starvation diets) your body is unable to stay warm enough on it's own to perform normal body functions.

Like digestion, and repairing damaged muscles and tissues, a myriad of things.

The easiest time for us to check that basal temp is when we first rise, before moving any muscles... docs have the equipment, etc to test FAR more accurately than we can at home...

....but for anyone the is tracking their basals to watch how their bodies are reacting to their meds it's best to do it daily and tract your numbers. Combine body temp with heart rate and respirations and you can get a pretty good picture of what your body is doing...

I found it to be a great way to monitor my dosages as I was adjusting up on Natural thyroid and still spot check myself to make sure that I'm staying in range...

There is a bit of controversy over type of thermometer and method of testing... My own choice is a mercury thermometer, under my tongue and a temp of about 98.. a point or two either way for a day or two doesn't bother me.. but for a weekly average... I'm comfy....

Digital fever thermometers are simply not accurate enough to check for fractions of a degree... they are designed to tell you if there is a fever.. not if the temp is low... and not with a whole lot of accuracy.... In my, limited, experience.

I don't know if I've exactly answered your question, , but I tried.

Topper ()

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 14:31:41 -0700 "J Sisemore" writes:

I admit I haven't yet looked up the links about temperature monitoring forthyroid. But, isn't it a fact that even in a normal person, your basal tempshould be lower than a regular 98.6 waking temp? If my basal is that high,wouldn't my regular temp be higher than normal? I thought anything above97.4 was a good sign.

[Guest guest]

Your body temp when waking will naturally be a bit lower than your body temp when up and moving around... but what we are watching for is a temp that shows that our metabolic rate is too low to maintain a sufficient body temp.

If your metabolism is too low (as is the case with insufficient thyroid hormone, and starvation diets) your body is unable to stay warm enough on it's own to perform normal body functions.

Like digestion, and repairing damaged muscles and tissues, a myriad of things.

The easiest time for us to check that basal temp is when we first rise, before moving any muscles... docs have the equipment, etc to test FAR more accurately than we can at home...

....but for anyone the is tracking their basals to watch how their bodies are reacting to their meds it's best to do it daily and tract your numbers. Combine body temp with heart rate and respirations and you can get a pretty good picture of what your body is doing...

I found it to be a great way to monitor my dosages as I was adjusting up on Natural thyroid and still spot check myself to make sure that I'm staying in range...

There is a bit of controversy over type of thermometer and method of testing... My own choice is a mercury thermometer, under my tongue and a temp of about 98.. a point or two either way for a day or two doesn't bother me.. but for a weekly average... I'm comfy....

Digital fever thermometers are simply not accurate enough to check for fractions of a degree... they are designed to tell you if there is a fever.. not if the temp is low... and not with a whole lot of accuracy.... In my, limited, experience.

I don't know if I've exactly answered your question, , but I tried.

Topper ()

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 14:31:41 -0700 "J Sisemore" writes:

I admit I haven't yet looked up the links about temperature monitoring forthyroid. But, isn't it a fact that even in a normal person, your basal tempshould be lower than a regular 98.6 waking temp? If my basal is that high,wouldn't my regular temp be higher than normal? I thought anything above97.4 was a good sign.

[Guest guest]

Your body temp when waking will naturally be a bit lower than your body temp when up and moving around... but what we are watching for is a temp that shows that our metabolic rate is too low to maintain a sufficient body temp.

If your metabolism is too low (as is the case with insufficient thyroid hormone, and starvation diets) your body is unable to stay warm enough on it's own to perform normal body functions.

Like digestion, and repairing damaged muscles and tissues, a myriad of things.

The easiest time for us to check that basal temp is when we first rise, before moving any muscles... docs have the equipment, etc to test FAR more accurately than we can at home...

....but for anyone the is tracking their basals to watch how their bodies are reacting to their meds it's best to do it daily and tract your numbers. Combine body temp with heart rate and respirations and you can get a pretty good picture of what your body is doing...

I found it to be a great way to monitor my dosages as I was adjusting up on Natural thyroid and still spot check myself to make sure that I'm staying in range...

There is a bit of controversy over type of thermometer and method of testing... My own choice is a mercury thermometer, under my tongue and a temp of about 98.. a point or two either way for a day or two doesn't bother me.. but for a weekly average... I'm comfy....

Digital fever thermometers are simply not accurate enough to check for fractions of a degree... they are designed to tell you if there is a fever.. not if the temp is low... and not with a whole lot of accuracy.... In my, limited, experience.

I don't know if I've exactly answered your question, , but I tried.

Topper ()

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 14:31:41 -0700 "J Sisemore" writes:

I admit I haven't yet looked up the links about temperature monitoring forthyroid. But, isn't it a fact that even in a normal person, your basal tempshould be lower than a regular 98.6 waking temp? If my basal is that high,wouldn't my regular temp be higher than normal? I thought anything above97.4 was a good sign.

[Guest guest]

That was fine, thanks! I had read someone that posted your basal temp should be 98.6 and I just thought that was a little unrealistic, even for someone in great health. I have seen mine drop since starting on the Armour, because it's a lower equivalent dose. Since I'm in my luteal phase, my temps should be really high.... but they've only been about 97.5. That means they'll drop to around 97 or less soon and I know that's too low. I can't wait to adjust my dose up!!

[Guest guest]

That was fine, thanks! I had read someone that posted your basal temp should be 98.6 and I just thought that was a little unrealistic, even for someone in great health. I have seen mine drop since starting on the Armour, because it's a lower equivalent dose. Since I'm in my luteal phase, my temps should be really high.... but they've only been about 97.5. That means they'll drop to around 97 or less soon and I know that's too low. I can't wait to adjust my dose up!!

[Guest guest]

That was fine, thanks! I had read someone that posted your basal temp should be 98.6 and I just thought that was a little unrealistic, even for someone in great health. I have seen mine drop since starting on the Armour, because it's a lower equivalent dose. Since I'm in my luteal phase, my temps should be really high.... but they've only been about 97.5. That means they'll drop to around 97 or less soon and I know that's too low. I can't wait to adjust my dose up!!

[Guest guest]

How are you checking your temp? Type of thermometer and where.....

How and with what can change the temp..... what's important is to watch to see if it changes... not from day to day... but for a weekly average. It also makes a difference if you use an electric blanket or heated water bed or anything like that...

For me I made a chart.. and watched the changes.

When you first start on meds, or increase a dose your first morning temp will rise for a few days then go back down, but not quite the same as it was... the next dosage increase will cause it to rise a bit for a few days.. then it will drop back down a bit....

I watched mine go from a bit over 96 with a pulse of 50 and breathing of 10, voluntary (which means that if I decided to not breath for a while I didn't - hard to explain, but very scary). Now I'm up to right round 98, with a pulse around 72 to 75 and respiration of about 20.

Again... my temps were taken with mercury under the tongue......

Start a chart and see what you notice by way of patterns... fluctuations... it's amazing when you start watching how your body is reacting, I think.

Topper ()

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 18:13:55 -0700 "J Sisemore" writes:

That was fine, thanks! I had read someone that posted your basal temp should be 98.6 and I just thought that was a little unrealistic, even for someone in great health. I have seen mine drop since starting on the Armour, because it's a lower equivalent dose. Since I'm in my luteal phase, my temps should be really high.... but they've only been about 97.5. That means they'll drop to around 97 or less soon and I know that's too low. I can't wait to adjust my dose up!!

[Guest guest]

How are you checking your temp? Type of thermometer and where.....

How and with what can change the temp..... what's important is to watch to see if it changes... not from day to day... but for a weekly average. It also makes a difference if you use an electric blanket or heated water bed or anything like that...

For me I made a chart.. and watched the changes.

When you first start on meds, or increase a dose your first morning temp will rise for a few days then go back down, but not quite the same as it was... the next dosage increase will cause it to rise a bit for a few days.. then it will drop back down a bit....

I watched mine go from a bit over 96 with a pulse of 50 and breathing of 10, voluntary (which means that if I decided to not breath for a while I didn't - hard to explain, but very scary). Now I'm up to right round 98, with a pulse around 72 to 75 and respiration of about 20.

Again... my temps were taken with mercury under the tongue......

Start a chart and see what you notice by way of patterns... fluctuations... it's amazing when you start watching how your body is reacting, I think.

Topper ()

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 18:13:55 -0700 "J Sisemore" writes:

That was fine, thanks! I had read someone that posted your basal temp should be 98.6 and I just thought that was a little unrealistic, even for someone in great health. I have seen mine drop since starting on the Armour, because it's a lower equivalent dose. Since I'm in my luteal phase, my temps should be really high.... but they've only been about 97.5. That means they'll drop to around 97 or less soon and I know that's too low. I can't wait to adjust my dose up!!

[Guest guest]

How are you checking your temp? Type of thermometer and where.....

How and with what can change the temp..... what's important is to watch to see if it changes... not from day to day... but for a weekly average. It also makes a difference if you use an electric blanket or heated water bed or anything like that...

For me I made a chart.. and watched the changes.

When you first start on meds, or increase a dose your first morning temp will rise for a few days then go back down, but not quite the same as it was... the next dosage increase will cause it to rise a bit for a few days.. then it will drop back down a bit....

I watched mine go from a bit over 96 with a pulse of 50 and breathing of 10, voluntary (which means that if I decided to not breath for a while I didn't - hard to explain, but very scary). Now I'm up to right round 98, with a pulse around 72 to 75 and respiration of about 20.

Again... my temps were taken with mercury under the tongue......

Start a chart and see what you notice by way of patterns... fluctuations... it's amazing when you start watching how your body is reacting, I think.

Topper ()

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 18:13:55 -0700 "J Sisemore" writes:

That was fine, thanks! I had read someone that posted your basal temp should be 98.6 and I just thought that was a little unrealistic, even for someone in great health. I have seen mine drop since starting on the Armour, because it's a lower equivalent dose. Since I'm in my luteal phase, my temps should be really high.... but they've only been about 97.5. That means they'll drop to around 97 or less soon and I know that's too low. I can't wait to adjust my dose up!!

[Guest guest]

I'm going to ask for the lab reference ranges, but, Holy Cow, that looks like Grave's! Because the TSH is constantly talking to the thyroid, and it looks like the thyroid is complying with it's constant request, as your Free T4 is high, IF your lab reference range goes only to the top end of a 1.8. If not, then my mistake. It looks like your thyroid is working to the 10th degree, with what, antibodies working on your pituitary TSH? Did you used HealthCheck for your tests, and what did the doctor say about all this, the one you work for?

new here

Hi everyone,

I just found this group. I was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 7 years ago. At first I was put on a low dose of synthroid. Unfortunately, every time I turned around, my TSH was still going up. The synthroid was not helping. So my primary doctor sent me to an endocrinologist. He said that he wanted to vary my synthroid dosing to "trick" my thyroid into working. That still didn't work. In fact, it caused me to have heart problems. My primary doctor weaned me off of it. He had me off of any thyroid medicine for about a year. I started complaining rather loudly that I was getting worse. So he sent me to another endocrinologist. Well, 4 endocrinologists later, synthroid still doesn't help me. I was actually told by one endocrinologist that "synthroid works for everybody". I am so glad to see that I am not the only one that was tortured by doctors. I was! beginning to wonder if they were singling me out.

Then I unfortunately went without insurance for a while. In fact, I still don't have any. I am lucky enough to work for a great doctor. My problem was just getting the tests. I couldn't afford them on a normal basis. I found a great place to order them online where you can get them for cheap. At first I was worried that it was a scam. I thought about it for a little while. Then finally decided to just go for it.

I got my test results back. Not good. My TSH was 52.306 T3 Uptake 23.60 T4 total 4.8 T4 free 3.6

[Guest guest]

I'm going to ask for the lab reference ranges, but, Holy Cow, that looks like Grave's! Because the TSH is constantly talking to the thyroid, and it looks like the thyroid is complying with it's constant request, as your Free T4 is high, IF your lab reference range goes only to the top end of a 1.8. If not, then my mistake. It looks like your thyroid is working to the 10th degree, with what, antibodies working on your pituitary TSH? Did you used HealthCheck for your tests, and what did the doctor say about all this, the one you work for?

new here

Hi everyone,

I just found this group. I was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 7 years ago. At first I was put on a low dose of synthroid. Unfortunately, every time I turned around, my TSH was still going up. The synthroid was not helping. So my primary doctor sent me to an endocrinologist. He said that he wanted to vary my synthroid dosing to "trick" my thyroid into working. That still didn't work. In fact, it caused me to have heart problems. My primary doctor weaned me off of it. He had me off of any thyroid medicine for about a year. I started complaining rather loudly that I was getting worse. So he sent me to another endocrinologist. Well, 4 endocrinologists later, synthroid still doesn't help me. I was actually told by one endocrinologist that "synthroid works for everybody". I am so glad to see that I am not the only one that was tortured by doctors. I was! beginning to wonder if they were singling me out.

Then I unfortunately went without insurance for a while. In fact, I still don't have any. I am lucky enough to work for a great doctor. My problem was just getting the tests. I couldn't afford them on a normal basis. I found a great place to order them online where you can get them for cheap. At first I was worried that it was a scam. I thought about it for a little while. Then finally decided to just go for it.

I got my test results back. Not good. My TSH was 52.306 T3 Uptake 23.60 T4 total 4.8 T4 free 3.6

[Guest guest]

I have always used a mercury basal thermometer. However, recently my 2 yo, wanted to be like mommy, broke mine. Thanks goodness she didn't put it back in her mouth after that. When I went to buy a new one, that store only had digital basals. I was a bit leary, but bought one. It has seemed pretty erratic though, and I may get a mercury one anyways.

Re: Re: new here

How are you checking your temp? Type of thermometer and where.....

How and with what can change the temp..... what's important is to watch to see if it changes... not from day to day... but for a weekly average. It also makes a difference if you use an electric blanket or heated water bed or anything like that...

For me I made a chart.. and watched the changes.

When you first start on meds, or increase a dose your first morning temp will rise for a few days then go back down, but not quite the same as it was... the next dosage increase will cause it to rise a bit for a few days.. then it will drop back down a bit....

I watched mine go from a bit over 96 with a pulse of 50 and breathing of 10, voluntary (which means that if I decided to not breath for a while I didn't - hard to explain, but very scary). Now I'm up to right round 98, with a pulse around 72 to 75 and respiration of about 20.

Again... my temps were taken with mercury under the tongue......

Start a chart and see what you notice by way of patterns... fluctuations... it's amazing when you start watching how your body is reacting, I think.

Topper ()

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 18:13:55 -0700 "J Sisemore" writes:

That was fine, thanks! I had read someone that posted your basal temp should be 98.6 and I just thought that was a little unrealistic, even for someone in great health. I have seen mine drop since starting on the Armour, because it's a lower equivalent dose. Since I'm in my luteal phase, my temps should be really high.... but they've only been about 97.5. That means they'll drop to around 97 or less soon and I know that's too low. I can't wait to adjust my dose up!!

[Guest guest]

Welcome ,

Glad to see you here but sorry that you need to be!

I have had Fibromyalgia for many years and like many of us in the group have a few other illnesses. I hope others in the group can give you more positive answers but speaking for myself I have found no way out of the downward spiral. I do have good pain medications but always hurt.

You will find sympathy and understanding from this group.

I am sorry your children have health problems too.

Penny UK

New here

Hi. My name is and I live in Cary, NC. I have a history ofrecurrent infections, recurrent mononucleosis, chronic fatigue... Since I have had two children I have developed hypoglycemia, chroniccosto chondritis, some autoimmune diseases (not yet lupus), and nowfibromyalgia. What can I do to stop this downward spiral or slow theprogression?

[Guest guest]

Welcome ,

Glad to see you here but sorry that you need to be!

I have had Fibromyalgia for many years and like many of us in the group have a few other illnesses. I hope others in the group can give you more positive answers but speaking for myself I have found no way out of the downward spiral. I do have good pain medications but always hurt.

You will find sympathy and understanding from this group.

I am sorry your children have health problems too.

Penny UK

New here

Hi. My name is and I live in Cary, NC. I have a history ofrecurrent infections, recurrent mononucleosis, chronic fatigue... Since I have had two children I have developed hypoglycemia, chroniccosto chondritis, some autoimmune diseases (not yet lupus), and nowfibromyalgia. What can I do to stop this downward spiral or slow theprogression?

[Guest guest]

Welcome ,

Glad to see you here but sorry that you need to be!

I have had Fibromyalgia for many years and like many of us in the group have a few other illnesses. I hope others in the group can give you more positive answers but speaking for myself I have found no way out of the downward spiral. I do have good pain medications but always hurt.

You will find sympathy and understanding from this group.

I am sorry your children have health problems too.

Penny UK

New here

Hi. My name is and I live in Cary, NC. I have a history ofrecurrent infections, recurrent mononucleosis, chronic fatigue... Since I have had two children I have developed hypoglycemia, chroniccosto chondritis, some autoimmune diseases (not yet lupus), and nowfibromyalgia. What can I do to stop this downward spiral or slow theprogression?