Re: Re: Please help with labs.

[Guest guest]

Adele,

You wrote:

>

> > Chuck~I had not taken my armour for two days so my endo would give me

> an increase in armour.

>

> Thanks for your time and help!!!

You are most welcome.

This explains why you had a low TSH but only mid-range FT4 and FT3. TSH

is very slow to change, and that is probably what the endo looked at

first. T3, OTOH will jump every time you take it. Since your FT3

corresponds well to the FT4, I doubt that you have a conversion problem.

However, the fact that both free levels are mid range with a low TSH

suggests that you might have excessive globulin/albumin binding. That

can happen with an infection or a variety of other illnesses, including

starvation, lack of sleep, or stress. For example, it could be the

adrenals, which you seem to be addressing. The TSH is low due to the

weak action of the excess T4 and T3 you take in, but since too much is

bound, you don't really get the benefit.

Since the adrenals can take awhile to turn around, you might be safer

waiting before jumping the Armour dose again. Give the corticoids time

to rest up your adrenals. If the free fractions don't come up and your

symptoms subside, then ask for the higher dose. Did the endo do that? I

would have expected resistance to an increase with these test results.

Also, watch out for a sudden turn around. If your binding starts to

clear up, you could transition into hyperT without any warning. Be

prepared to cut back on the Armour a bit, if that happens.

Chuck

[Guest guest]

Adele,

You wrote:

> Chuck, thank you soooo much for your thorough explanation!!! I do

> get stress very easily, the smallest things stesses me out, I just do

> not understand why I cannot cope so well. Do you think I should stay

> with HC at 10, 10, 5,5. and be patient until my adrenals heal? I will

> look out for any hyperT symptoms.

I am usually more of an adrenals skeptic. However, it could be an

explanation for your numbers. Since you are already treating it, I would

defer to the doctor that prescribed the HC. Give it some time to work,

but don't wait too long for a trend to develop.

Sensitivity to stress should decrease with the other improvements.

Best of luck,

Chuck

[Guest guest]

> my adrenals haven't healed after several years on HC.

you have tried 5mg 4X a day I guess? 10mg must work better? You should be

taking DHEA with it. (Thierry Hertoghe MD says).>

Another thing that helpped me a real lot is Iodoral 50mg/day.

Gracia

Chuck, thank you soooo much for your thorough explanation!!! I do

get stress very easily, the smallest things stesses me out, I just do

not understand why I cannot cope so well. Do you think I should stay

with HC at 10, 10, 5,5. and be patient until my adrenals heal? I will

look out for any hyperT symptoms.

Thanks again Chuck for helping me and for helping so many people on

this board. I am extremely grateful!

Hugs,

Adele

[Guest guest]

Adele,

You wrote:

>

> ...I just got a prescription from my doc for DHEA, she prescribe 25mg

> caps a day. Is that right? I have never taken this before.

DHEA is available otc, so you don't need a prescription. Tests have

shown a benefit for adrenal insufficiency, but you should be aware, it

also heightens levels of androgens and estrogen. This raises questions

about its safety, especially concerning hormone driven cancers, such as

breast or prostate cancer. The FDA has not determined it to be safe or

effective, so it is still considered a food supplement. Other tests have

not shown it to help with many of the age related conditions for which

all the hype is out there.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dhea/NS_patient-dhea#B2F9B0CD-E7FF-0DBD-19D9A5E\

E24ECC1DD

Chuck

[Guest guest]

IMO DHEA is perfectly safe and also very helpful. Iodine and alternative

docs use it all the time. you will know how it works by how you feel. Look

at Hormone Solutions by Thierry Hertoghe MD.

I think the phrase " hormone driven cancers " is very misleading. In fact DHEA

is protective against certain types of cancer.

Gracia

Adele,

You wrote:

>

> ...I just got a prescription from my doc for DHEA, she prescribe 25mg

> caps a day. Is that right? I have never taken this before.

DHEA is available otc, so you don't need a prescription. Tests have

shown a benefit for adrenal insufficiency, but you should be aware, it

also heightens levels of androgens and estrogen. This raises questions

about its safety, especially concerning hormone driven cancers, such as

breast or prostate cancer. The FDA has not determined it to be safe or

effective, so it is still considered a food supplement. Other tests have

not shown it to help with many of the age related conditions for which

all the hype is out there.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dhea/NS_patient-dhea#B2F9B0CD-E7FF-0DBD-19D9A5E\

E24ECC1DD

Chuck

[Guest guest]

Gracia,

You wrote:

>

> ...I think the phrase " hormone driven cancers " is very misleading....

Some cancers are greatly accelerated by sex hormones. A number of

medications for treating breast cancer, either suppress the production

of estrogen or block its receptors. The risk of breast cancer has been

shown to strongly correlate with accumulated estrogen exposure and even

to estrogen mimetics, which is one of the other reasons to avoid soy.

All of those are well documented facts. I don't know why well documented

medical facts would be misleading. OTOH, any alleged protective effects

of DHEA against cancer have NOT been documented. A claim that it is

protective is at best your opinion.

Chuck

[Guest guest]

why then isn't there an epidemic of sex organ cancers in teenagers and young

adults, when sex hormones are highest? Should we then be removing sex organs at

puberty? why do neutered/spayed animals get more cancers? There is

documentation about DHEA's protective effects but I can't do a search right now.

Do you think castration would help you avoid cancer? well I guess you

wouldn't get testicular cancer.

Gracia

Gracia,

You wrote:

>

> ...I think the phrase " hormone driven cancers " is very misleading....

Some cancers are greatly accelerated by sex hormones. A number of

medications for treating breast cancer, either suppress the production

of estrogen or block its receptors. The risk of breast cancer has been

shown to strongly correlate with accumulated estrogen exposure and even

to estrogen mimetics, which is one of the other reasons to avoid soy.

All of those are well documented facts. I don't know why well documented

medical facts would be misleading. OTOH, any alleged protective effects

of DHEA against cancer have NOT been documented. A claim that it is

protective is at best your opinion.

Chuck

[Guest guest]

Gracia,

You wrote:

>

> why then isn't there an epidemic of sex organ cancers in teenagers and

> young adults, when sex hormones are highest?...

Because it is accumulated exposure that creates the risk. Young adults

haven't accumulated much yet. Years ago they noticed that early puberty

and late menopause both correlated strongly with breast cancer risk. DES

and HRT both increase risk. Breast feeding and child bearing both

decrease risk, presumably because these decrease the number of menstrual

cycles and therefore the accumulated exposure.

As for spaying and neutering, the jury is still out. Some cancers

increase while other decrease in risk. There is some evidence that both

adrenal and immune systems are involved.

Chuck