Re: & Catarina Side Effects of Levothyroxine- KY Janet

[Guest guest]

Dear , Catarina & folks:

At the risk of sounding like a broken record & I may be in the minority,

here I go again!

In 2003, I went to an endicrinologist, in Louisville, KY USA, who said: "

Anyone who's been to med school & is allowed to dispense Levothyroxine or

any of its forms, Levoxyl, Synthroid, Armour Thyroid or Unithyroid, should

know you DON'T put a Dilantin patient on thyroid medication. Your liver

enzymes are elevated, your liver levels are elevated, your metabolism is

elevated and your liver, due to the interaction with Levothyroxine, is

unable to process Dilantin, or any anti seizure medicine, thus leaving you

vulunerable to the seizures you had.

Dr. A. added, " To leave you on such a dangerous therapy for 3 YEARS, not

looking at any charts, tests or network with any specialists was both

foolish & unwise. I'm surprised you didn't have the blackout epileptic

seizures, like the petit mal or grand mal, that are in your history. You

were extremely lucky not to have injured yourself, your car or anyone else

and to have suffered only constant, non blackout, simple, partial epileptic

seizures. You should have been 6 feet under 2 years ago. Do you know how

lucky & glad I am to see you today? You have to test BOTH thyroid & Dilantin

blood levels at the same time to get a complete picture, not one or the

other.

The Louisville, Ky. druggists at Kroger's & Walgreen's never heard of

or caught the interaction between Dilantin (phenytolin) and Levothyroxine.

Thanks to my efforts, there are now warnings on all thyroid meds, except

Unithyroid, which I didn't try because it'also has Levothyroxine, that

Levoxyl, Synthroid & Armor Thyroid cause epileptic seizures. My

endocrinologist, Dr. A., wanted to try me on Unithyroid, but when he told me

it contained Levothyroxine, I refused- not wanting to be in LALA land again.

To change medical protocol from the words " maybe an interaction " to " is an

interaction " , I completed a FDA Medwatch form & sent a copy to the Kentucky

Board of Pharmacy!

I have been an epileptic since 1957, when I was 2. I'm NOT imagining

anything! It's VERY possible for an epileptic or anyone having a pre

existing condition to be hypothyroid. The medical & legal establishment

DON'T wish to believe that, but it's true- even if I'm a minority within a

minority! Oh, the FDA has a toll free 800 number if you ever need to request

a MEDWATCH form if a medicine ever has a bad effect on you.

Yes, different people react differently to medications. But there's NO

excuse for a doctor not to take one's medical history into account

especially when the consequences can cause DEATH & affect about 4 million

Americans alone! I don't know about you, but I think 4 million is a pretty

large number & that's how many Americans suffer from some form of epilepsy.

Epilepsy can be either blackout or non blackout seizures. There's NO excuse

for a medical professional not knowing that or not wanting to be bothered

looking that up- especially when it's possible that could result in

malpractice.

Now, whai I found may not be FDA approved in someplaces. I don't know

why since it's made by Abbott Labs, the same folks that produce Synthroid. I

may have gained a slack size or 2, but it's better than being in a quasi

Alzheimer's state, unable to express oneself orally, being mentally confused

or having to decide between having a healthy thyroid or a healthy brain

daily. I don't know about you, but I need both to survive. There's a lady in

LA, who had the same problems as I plus heart palpatations & migraines, due

to synthetic thyroid meds.

She had to tell her neurologist at the Mayo Clinic to run liver tests &

check the liver levels & enzymes. It's a little thing, but you gotta check

it or you won't get get good treatment or proper diagnosis. You need to get

a whole picture by running all of the following: a saliva test, TSH blood

levels, if you are on any other meds- you need to check the levels of those

meds in your blood, too, regular (excuse me) urinanalysis plus a P (excuse

me) test done over a 24 hr. period, where you p (sorry) in a jug & between

uses keep the jug cold & in a garbage bag in the frig. You take that sample

to them the next morning.

Here's what I take daily & these are safe, non toxic, inexpensive & can

be found at a health foods store or at a compounding pharmacy.

4 drops in a glass of water of Sea Kelp Liquid Iodine

1 tablet 5mg DHEA

1 17mg tablet co enzyme (not regular) B6 (or P5P)

bite in half a 500mg tablet of L-Tyrosine amino acid

(it has a precursor of what the thyroid needs & all these together form a

" chain reaction " to boost thyroid health.

Stay AWAY from thew following foods:

SOY & SOY products lower your blood pressure & adversely affect thyroid

function. In a " normal " person, it's unnoticeable, but in someone, like me,

with hypo-T- your thyroid will do a nosedive, your blood pressure drops to

90 over 60 & you'd be " shooting yourself in the foot " ! Stay AWAY from maize

(like corn), brussel sprouts, cabbage and medium to large amounts of

cauliflower.

If you like Almond Milk, switch to Pacific or Harmony Farms Brands, as they

are SOY free. STAY AWAY from SOY based " women's products " you see on those

commercials. DHEA works fine against menopause, gives adrenal support &

helps the memory. Use Omega 3 fish oils to boost memory, too & help the

heart.

It's sad & scary when we who haven't been to med school have to be our

own doctors & wind up having to do their jobs. Our new knowledge & discovery

should be appreciate & it shouldn't take 3 YEARS to acquire. I'll keep on

this soapbox until everyone is spared what I went through between 2000 to

2003. I'm still not sure that it hasn't caused some short term memory

damage. The only way the legal community says they could've helped me is if

I'd died. That option didn't exactly thrill me. Some people have even sworn

by eating coconut oil in recipies or rubbing it on your shoulders & chest.

I hope someone saves this, if this " article " needs repeating. I really

do hope this helps someone or gets people to talking. Everyone, please take

care of yourselves. You only have one you & it's got to last a long time!

Feel free to email or IM me anytime.

Janet janet.lynch@...

Re: Questions About Side Effects of Levothyroxine

> Hi ,

>

> It seems to me that you could use a little additional T3...I recently

> read Shomon's first book about hypothyroidism, and many of the

> symptoms you describe reminds me of the symptoms she had when she was on

> Synthroid...and she goes on to say that many of her symptoms disappeared

> when she switched to Thyrolar (T3+T4).

>

> If you can find a doctor willing to prescribe extra T3 or Armour, you can

> see for yourself if it makes a difference. It may be all you need.

>

> Good luck!

>

> Catarina

>

>

> ---------------------------------

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>

>