Guest guest Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 I am pretty sure I would have died of a heart attack. 25mcg Synthroid gave me the worst reaction after 5 weeks... with all the damage untreated hypo does to the heart, I say better safe than sorry. Jan Gracia wrote: >I disagree, going so slow would be torture. Dr. Derry used to start >patients on 3 grains of Armour! that would have been too much for me though. >Gracia > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 Well I'm nowhere near well or anything, but there are good things starting to happen--I am starting to loosen up somewhat, and there are some hours during the day that I know I am getting better. There are also other hours when I feel exactly as I have for several years-- and that is depressing. I did read that Dr. Derry said that for people who have had this for a lot of years, it can take a year or more to resolve. Just so long as I continue on getting better, I guess I have to learn patience. My blood pressure has been quite high for many years, and it has gone down considerably lately, so that in itself is a good sign. The big muscle lumps over my knees have diminished considerably, the swelling in my neck and face and around my eyes has gone down quite a bit, and even my feet and ankles are not so swollen the past couple of days. I'm still tired, I still lurch painfully instead of walking, I still have to clutch the bannister going upstairs-- but sometimes with only one hand.:-) And I have been doing a lot of coughing, so I'm hoping that means my lungs are starting to clear. I have smoker's lungs, though I have never smoked. And no chest pains for this entire six weeks! I will certainly take under advisement what you and Chuck both say about the T4/T4and3/Armour choices. I do have a feeling I am going to be lucky in that progress will be straightforward for me-- just a feeling, because I am feeling positive about life nowadays. Gail In hypothyroidism , Janaina Viggiano <janaina@v...> wrote: > That is wonderful that you have no negative effects! And you did wait 6 > weeks between switching from the 75 to the 100. > > Yes, I would say after 6 weeks on the dosage you would know if you are > on the right dosage or not, but I wouldn't increase just because there > are no hyper symptoms, I'd increase if there are still hypo symptoms > like fatigue and low body temperature, especially low basal temperature. > I'd use the Broda method and record basal body temperature after > the 6 weeks to see if it is normal or not. > > Don't be convinced that everyone can only feel good on Armour or > Cytomel, plenty of people feel good just on Synthroid or Levoxyl, but > you won't find many of them in the groups. If you feel great on what 99% > of doctors prescribe, why would you bother research the disease online? > So the percentages in the group are different from the ones in " real > life " . I say give the T4 a trial, if after you've been on the right > dosage for a couple months you still have symptoms, then it is time to > pursue something else. Otherwise, you are one of the lucky ones. > > > Jan > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 It made a difference to me, although my T4 and T3 were less than half the minimum normal amount when I started on meds. I just read over and over that in case of myxedema or where there is any suspicion of heart problems, the dosage should be small and the increased slowly. Since lots of people on this list and others self-medicate, there is no way to tell if you are suggesting to someone who has heart problems or myxedema to just start on a large dosage, so better safe than sorry, that is my logic. I had myxedema when I started meds, BTW. Jan Chuck B wrote: > >Well, the manufacturer's recommendations, on which the majority of >prescriptions are based, say that it depends on the specific factors I >listed, particularly the TSH level. So, your opinion on how to prescribe >it seems to be distinctly in the minority. > >My physician started me at 75 mcg and increased to 100 after six weeks. >About seven weeks later he upped it to 112 mcg. All the increases were >based on blood tests, and I never experienced any hyperthyroid symptoms. >I did, however, want him to hurry up the increases, because the lower >doses just weren't enough, although they gave some relief initially. I >doubt that 25 mcg would have even made a noticeable difference. > >Chuck > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 It does take 6 weeks or so. So you wouldn't have hyper symptoms now, anyway. Jan & Gail on wrote: >Geez you two-- Between the pair of you, you have got me so worried >about starting on that high a dose, that I have been worried about >having a heart attack-- so yesterday and today I only took half a >pill-- 50 mcg. Now I'm rethinking that, and maybe I'll go back onto >the 100 mcg., because I have had no hyperthyroid signs either. The >reason I asked whether anybody knew how long the supplement takes to >reach cellular level, is that in dogs it does take about 6 weeks or >so. My concern was that if that relates to people, after 6 weeks on >75 to 100mcg, maybe the supplement was working up to toxic levels. >But I still don't know if that is the case. If I have had no adverse >reactions after 6 weeks, perhaps there will be no adverse reactions >at all, and I could safely stay on the 100 mcg? >Gail > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 That is good! From now on, you are only gonna get even better. I got better in much less than a year, like 4 months. Jan & Gail on wrote: >Well I'm nowhere near well or anything, but there are good things >starting to happen--I am starting to loosen up somewhat, and there >are some hours during the day that I know I am getting better. There >are also other hours when I feel exactly as I have for several years-- > and that is depressing. I did read that Dr. Derry said that for >people who have had this for a lot of years, it can take a year or >more to resolve. Just so long as I continue on getting better, I >guess I have to learn patience. My blood pressure has been quite high >for many years, and it has gone down considerably lately, so that in >itself is a good sign. The big muscle lumps over my knees have >diminished considerably, the swelling in my neck and face and around >my eyes has gone down quite a bit, and even my feet and ankles are >not so swollen the past couple of days. I'm still tired, I still >lurch painfully instead of walking, I still have to clutch the >bannister going upstairs-- but sometimes with only one hand.:-) And I >have been doing a lot of coughing, so I'm hoping that means my lungs >are starting to clear. I have smoker's lungs, though I have never >smoked. And no chest pains for this entire six weeks! >I will certainly take under advisement what you and Chuck both say >about the T4/T4and3/Armour choices. I do have a feeling I am going to >be lucky in that progress will be straightforward for me-- just a >feeling, because I am feeling positive about life nowadays. >Gail > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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