-Surviving

[Guest guest]

,

You can survive and I believe you will. It is good you like to be in

control. You can monitor your body better than any doc can. I'm sorry

you had such a hard time getting answers to start with, but am thankful

you hung in there. YES!!! Everyone here is great!

I am interested in what goes with your hot flashes (sweats). I have

them too. But, being a woman and being " that age " makes menopause

highly suspicious. I understand that in women, this is a problem not

with quantity, but with balance ... the balance between estrogen and

progesterone. Since I have no ovaries, my adrenals are producing the

only sex hormones I get. I read somewhere that sex hormones are " low on

the totem pole " as far as the adrenals are concerned. So if the

adrenals are already working hard to make up for a sluggish thyroid, sex

hormones may get put on the back burner, so to speak, and may go

lacking.

So I am trying to support the adrenals and get the Armour dose adjusted.

When that is done, I will see how I stand with the sweats.

I will be interested in your progress b/c if your sweats improve on

armour, then the sweats may actually be an adrenal issue as opposed to a

" female " issue, some of the time at least.

Thanks for keeping us posted. Have you found the top docs link? Some

there have one or two comments submitted and some have quite a few.

But, there is a possibility of docs annomously joining this group and

posting their practice. You may want to post where you live, either on

the forum or privately to PattiSue. She was trying to put together a

list of patient recommended docs. As far as expense goes, I don't know

what other docs charge, but when I had an appointment with a doc in

Atlanta, they said to be prepared to spend as much as $200. That's $125

for an initial visit (an hour I think) and $75 for labs. While I dont'

have money to toss out the window, that's not exhorbitant when you

consider what we spend for other stuff. And getting a doc who is not

just tolerant, but also enthusiastic about Armour and very familiar with

dosing it is priceless.

Sorry to ramble so.

Blessings,

Debbie K.

Louise, Topper and Gossimer

Louise, Topper and Gossimer,

You are all great. You have given me info I could never squeeze out

of a doctor! First of all, if I can survive withdrawing from ativan I

can survive anything. The benzo groups on yahoo told me things that

doctors don't even know. I am the kind of person that has to be in

control so I will find a doc who will allow me to go slowly on Amour.

I bought a thyroid book today that I have started to read. It is very

interesting.

I will try to keep you all informed as to what is going on.

Thanks,