Guest guest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 My name is Donna and I live in saint , Minnesota. I came across your group this morning and joined. Alittle about myself, I am 36 and a mother to 4 children. I have been recently diagnosised with hypothyroid and was put on synthroid and got so ill that I finally took myself off of it and sought out an endo doc...after seeing the endo doc last friday he put me on levothyroxine 25 and I am still having the same terrible headaches and nausea so bad that I called them and asked what else we could try. I got a phone call back from the nurse that said my cortisol came back normal at 25 at that the doctor said he don't know what else he can do for me. I am at my wits end and feel as though I am just barely hanging on. I have no energy at all, body aches everywhere, nausea almost daily, severe headaches, cold all the time (wore out 2 heating blankets already). I have heard and read alot about natural thyroid and can't find any minnesota doctors that will prescibe or even take how I am feeling into consideration. So now I am traveling to Wisconsin 1-23-07 to hopefully a doctor that will listen to me and help me. If anyone has any advise to as what I can do to start feeling better again please let me know. This isn't only taking a toll on myself but my whole family. Thank you and sorry this was so long Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 i know exactly how you feel, when i first got sick (hashis) i did not know what was wrong with me and i had a 12 yr son who needed attention but i could hardly take care of myself and i went from 110lb-175lbs in just a few months to boot. here is a group dedicated to natural thyroid, http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormones/ i am assuming that your dr used blood testing to check your cortisol levels, the best way to check this is by salvia testing, most people that have been undertreated have adrenal stress. your also need to have your ferritn levels checked. check out http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/ for info on using armour and adrenal stress. you can do your own salvia test through the canary club, my dr was shocked when i showed him my results, in never occured him to check the adrenal glands. i have been on armour since may 06 and go around the house without socks on and do not need to turn on my heater at work anymore. hope this helps renee > > I got a phone call back from > the nurse that said my cortisol came back normal at 25 at that the > doctor said he don't know what else he can do for me. > > I am at my wits end and feel as though I am just barely hanging on. > I have no energy at all, body aches everywhere, nausea almost daily, > severe headaches, cold all the time (wore out 2 heating blankets > already). > > I have heard and read alot about natural thyroid and can't find any > minnesota doctors that will prescibe or even take how I am feeling > into consideration. So now I am traveling to Wisconsin 1-23-07 to > hopefully a doctor that will listen to me and help me. > > If anyone has any advise to as what I can do to start feeling better > again please let me know. This isn't only taking a toll on myself > but my whole family. Thank you and sorry this was so long > Donna > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 What were the ranges given for the cortisol test and were these tests for an 8 a.m. cortisol? The trouble is that the ranges are usually for the out and out total failure of the adrenal glands, for 's Disease, not for lesser adrenal fatigue. Of course, it isn't REALLY lesser, as you feel absolutely horrible and can't raise your thyroid hormone to where it should be eventually. Also, Synthroid is levothyroxine too, but different brands have different fillers an binders in them, and this may be what you're sensitive to, not the thyroid T4 hormone itself. Newbie in Minnesota > My name is Donna and I live in saint , Minnesota. I came across > your group this morning and joined. Alittle about myself, I am 36 > and a mother to 4 children. I have been recently diagnosised with > hypothyroid and was put on synthroid and got so ill that I finally > took myself off of it and sought out an endo doc...after seeing the > endo doc last friday he put me on levothyroxine 25 and I am still > having the same terrible headaches and nausea so bad that I called > them and asked what else we could try. I got a phone call back from > the nurse that said my cortisol came back normal at 25 at that the > doctor said he don't know what else he can do for me. > > I am at my wits end and feel as though I am just barely hanging on. > I have no energy at all, body aches everywhere, nausea almost daily, > severe headaches, cold all the time (wore out 2 heating blankets > already). > > I have heard and read alot about natural thyroid and can't find any > minnesota doctors that will prescibe or even take how I am feeling > into consideration. So now I am traveling to Wisconsin 1-23-07 to > hopefully a doctor that will listen to me and help me. > > If anyone has any advise to as what I can do to start feeling better > again please let me know. This isn't only taking a toll on myself > but my whole family. Thank you and sorry this was so long > Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Dear Donna, It doesn't really matter about the cortisol test, because one time test can easily be normal or even high in adrenal fatigue. Your symptoms are all adrenal fatigue. I have been there myself. Adrenal fatigue is characterized by wide variations in output of cortisol with periods of very low levels and periods of normal or slightly high levels. You need a 24 hour cortisol test, where they take 4 samples and don't mix them, but give you 4 results. 4 Urine or saliva samples are taken over a 24 hour period. If you had this test, it would come back with probably two of them being low. It would be a waste of your money, because you know you are having an adrenal crisis type reaction to the thyroid. My former doctor told me that you sometimes have to get worse to get better. But, to make your life better, there are things you can do on your own. You can order IsoCort online and take 1 tablet every 4 hours 4 times a day or you can use licorice root, 1 teaspoon in a tea every 4 hours. Do not use deglyccerized. The next thing you can do is reduce your starting thyroid dose down by 1/2 and hold it there until you feel well enough to raise it to the dose your doctor prescribed - maybe two to 4 weeks. When you have adrenal problems, you have to go much more slowly. I could only tolerate 10mcg equivelent dose raises every 4 weeks. I started out on natural thyroid and my situation was just as horrible or more so than yours. I became an almost total insomniac for many months along with all the other symptoms you described. So, it doesn't matter right now which thyroid med you use as the problem is your weak adrenals, which have been caused by being hypothyroid too long. This means you'll have to go very slowly with thyroid dose raises and make them very small and wait about 4 weeks between them. You might be able to convince your doctor you need temporary adrenal support like hydrocortisone, which has it's own downsides. I can go into details about the downsides of adrenal support. Your life is going to be hard for at least a year, so be patient. This is the time of your life when others need to help you. You must reduce your stress as much as possible. Tish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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