# Trying Synthroid now



## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

I was off meds for over a month and feel great, but my labs tanked (TSH now 9.48 and my frees are in the basement) doc wants me back on meds. I am starting to think I am a total freak of nature because I felt like death two years ago when my labs were low normal and feel great now even though the labs are worse than two years ago,,,,,,
I was taking Naturethroid and my doc thinks my body is now reacting the the T3 componet of the Naturethroid. I was having extreme skipped heart beats and very bad hyper symptoms. So, we are trying Synthroid to see how I do. Very small dose (25 mcgs) as we are starting over again. 
It appears hashi's has done some pretty good damage to my thyroid, though I think it is still functioning somewhat. Doc won't order a US as upon examination, I have no inflammation, no signs of a goiter and no pain or swollowing issues. In fact, he said I have one of the smallest thyroids he's felt. (how weird is that?) 
Anyway, starting the Synthroid this morning and go for labs in 8 weeks. Gotta love hashi's.


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Hmm... interesting. Did the doc elaborate on how/why your body would react to the T3 in Nature-Throid? Curious as a fellow NT-taker.


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

She thinks it was the reason I was experiencing hyper symptoms. I guess some people don't tolerate T3 very well. Which is strange because I took it for a year with no issues. She said T3 can be pretty powerful.


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## nvsmom (Sep 30, 2012)

Good luck with the Synthroid. I hope it works well for you.


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## surge (Aug 15, 2012)

Oh boy. This is what happened to me last summer. My tsh would say I was tanking, but any kind of hormone replacement would make me feel hyper. I think it was all the antibodies, maybe?, made it hard to read what was going on in there. I just went slightly hyper, and the symptoms were exactly what I had last summer but now the numbers match-- I had my thyroid out in November and we're trying to find my right dose. I was on the 25 mcg dose of levoxyl and every 6 weeks, I'd get tested and my tsh would indicate that I'd need more -- though my FT3 and FT4 were totally fine. I never signed on for more b/c I felt so sick on 25mcg. Did you get your frees looked at too? Are they in normal range or were they affected by the lack of meds?


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

surge said:


> Oh boy. This is what happened to me last summer. My tsh would say I was tanking, but any kind of hormone replacement would make me feel hyper. I think it was all the antibodies, maybe?, made it hard to read what was going on in there. I just went slightly hyper, and the symptoms were exactly what I had last summer but now the numbers match-- I had my thyroid out in November and we're trying to find my right dose. I was on the 25 mcg dose of levoxyl and every 6 weeks, I'd get tested and my tsh would indicate that I'd need more -- though my FT3 and FT4 were totally fine. I never signed on for more b/c I felt so sick on 25mcg. Did you get your frees looked at too? Are they in normal range or were they affected by the lack of meds?


All my numbers were tanked. TSH was high, both frees were low. T4 was in range, but low range and T3 was below normal, yet I feel great. If you look at the labs, I should be in a coma, but I feel fine.
So far the Synthroid is working. It's only been a week, but so far so good. I haven't had one symptom other than some sore muscles, but I own a very large home with acreage and horses, so no wonder I am sore!
I haven't had one skipped heart beat since I started the Synthroid and that was my biggest complaint on Naturethroid. My doc seems to think I was reacting to the T3 in it. Here were my last labs after being medication free for a month:

TSH 9.48 (range: .34 - 5.6)
FT3 186 (range: 210 - 440)
FT4 .07 (range: .06 - 1.2)
TPO 365 (this is up from a year ago - they were 237)

These labs were done after I went hyper from the Naturethroid and stopped taking it for a month. I felt great and when I went for labs, I thought for sure they would look better. After these results we decided to start the Synthroid. I have no goiter, no visable inflammation, no throat issues at all and now no hypo symptoms. I feel better now with these labs than I did a year ago with better numbers. Go figure.


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Glad to hear the Synthroid seems to be working for you. Just goes to show what a balancing act this, ahem, "stuff" is. And how it isn't always about the numbers. 

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm heading down this path, too. Taking 1 grain of NT at bedtime, and 1/4 grain of NT in the early AM. Boy, there sure are some days with strong anxiety, especially after the AM dose, with today being one of them. (Granted, I'm also taking testosterone, which can cause thyroid doses to need adjustment.)


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

bigfoot said:


> Glad to hear the Synthroid seems to be working for you. Just goes to show what a balancing act this, ahem, "stuff" is. And how it isn't always about the numbers.
> 
> I'm beginning to wonder if I'm heading down this path, too. Taking 1 grain of NT at bedtime, and 1/4 grain of NT in the early AM. Boy, there sure are some days with strong anxiety, especially after the AM dose, with today being one of them. (Granted, I'm also taking testosterone, which can cause thyroid doses to need adjustment.)


Bigfoot,
That's how my issues started. I was having anxiety issues that started to occur in the afternoon and sometimes last for hours, then the skipped heart beats started. It was weird though because I took NT (1 grain) for over a year and never had an issue and then BAM. I just couldn't take it anymore. After I stopped taking it, the anxiety was gone immediately. The skipped hearts beats still happened for about a week but now they are completely gone. I am not sure 25 mcgs of Synthroid is going to be enough, but I will do labs again in 8 weeks and see where I am. I have a hard time getting my Free T3 in range and this is why I thought NT would help, but it just made me hyper.


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## bigfoot (May 13, 2011)

Yeah, I was always a little curious why my Free T4 looked good, but my Free T3 was in the dumps. We did discover a nasty Reverse T3, and with the recently-cleared up liver disease and going GF, I'm hoping that I'm a better converter from T4->T3 now. This might be worth checking out. On Nature-Throid my FT3 looks good, but now my Free T4 is below range. I can't seem to tolerate going up very much, even slowly.

That is totally weird how you took 1 grain of NT for a year, then out of nowhere you started having symptoms. I have noticed that my dosage timing makes a big difference, too. The 1 grain at bedtime seems to be nearly as effective as taking 1 1/2 grains throughout the day.


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## sjmjuly (Mar 23, 2012)

bigfoot said:


> Yeah, I was always a little curious why my Free T4 looked good, but my Free T3 was in the dumps. We did discover a nasty Reverse T3, and with the recently-cleared up liver disease and going GF, I'm hoping that I'm a better converter from T4->T3 now. This might be worth checking out. On Nature-Throid my FT3 looks good, but now my Free T4 is below range. I can't seem to tolerate going up very much, even slowly.
> 
> That is totally weird how you took 1 grain of NT for a year, then out of nowhere you started having symptoms. I have noticed that my dosage timing makes a big difference, too. The 1 grain at bedtime seems to be nearly as effective as taking 1 1/2 grains throughout the day.


I am gluten free too. It definately helps, but my T3 is always low. My T4 got lower the more I took NT. I have heard that's a common thread with combo T3-T4 meds though. 
I always take my thyroid meds at 4:00 AM. I did the NT and now doing the same with the Synthroid. I don't know much about helping the "conversion" process. I wish I knew.


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