Should I get on thyroid medication or not?

[NeedSomeHelp123]

I tried medication in the past. When I was on Synthroid (50 mg) I was very depressed. The doctor added Cytomel, 5 mcg and lowered my Synthroid to 25 mg and I felt great for 2-4 days, but then it was back to being miserable.

I then went to a different doctor who is obsessed with T3 and added up to 15 mcg Cytomel which made me feel like I had an electric shock running through my veins.

QUESTION #1: Why did I get suicidal depression every morning when I was on the 50 mg Synthroid? And, what could/should I have done to correct this situation? When this happened, my thyroid labs were (My doctor didn't test FT3):

06/06/11 TSH 1.23 -- Free T4 1.2

QUESTION #2: When my doctor added 5 mcg Cytomel to my existing Synthroid dosage (it had been 50 mg Synthroid, but he reduced it down to 25 mg and I assuming that the 50 was still in my blood stream for at least several days while I went on Cytomel), how come it only felt great for 2-4 days? Why did it not last? What should I have done to make sure I felt great every day? When my other doctor added in 10 and eventually 15 mcg Cytomel, I felt an electric shock through my veins.

QUESTION #3: What do you think I should do now? Should I get on thyroid medication? If so, what? I don't seem to be able to tolerate T3, so I am tempted to just start on Synthroid and add Cytomel later on. Can I start out on 50 mg Synthroid or is that too much?

Here are my latest labs WITHOUT the influence of thyroid medication:

TSH 2.79 (Range: 0.40 - 4.50)
Free T4 1.0 (Range: 0.8 - 1.8)
Free T3 2.8 (Range: 2.3 - 4.2)
Reverse T3 20 (11-32)
Thyroid Antibodies (ATA, TPO) NONE

[debz223]

I don't understand why you want medication when all your levels are normal? Am I missing something?

[flyingfool]

I suppose it was possible that the combination of the 25 mcg T4 along with the 5 mcg T3 that you were originally so deficient in free T3 that it took a couple of days for that to work up and stabilize. So that the first couple of days as you started building up the needed T3 you felt better.  But after that you started to go Hyper.  That MIGHT explain what happened.  T3 is used fairly quickly so your thinking that the "left over" T4 from the higher 50 mcg dose may have still be contributing to conversion to T3 also has some validity.

There are a few people who are ONLY on a pure T3 medication.  Possibly you might be one of those people.  It is hard to determine since there has not been much else tried.

Triosint also comes to my mind as a  possibility. But again be aware of depressions/suicidal thoughts as this is still a pure T4 medicine. It just does not have any fillers/buffers or dyes like the pressed powdered pills.

Another option would be natural dissected Thyroid.  This has both T3 and T4 in it.  And while natural for a pig. It has several times the amount of T3 by proportion as a human thyroid.  This is not to scare you away because many people natural dissected thyroid (Armour & Nature Thyroid are examples) have worked out or was the only medicine that some people can take and regulate their thyroid levels to make them feel well.

[goolarra]

Just my opinion, of course, as a fellow patient, but I would recommend you NOT go back on meds that made you feel suicidally depressed.

That is not a usual reaction to the active ingredient in Synthroid (T4).  It is also not a usual reaction to the inactive ingredients (fillers) in the tablets.  However, the different manufacturers use different fillers, so changing to a different brand does help some people.  In addition, Tirosint has the same active ingredient, but is in a hypoallergenic gelcap.

Are you feeling very hypo now that you've not been on meds for a while?  What are your symptoms?

Why did you only feel better for a few days after adding Cytomel?  I don't know, but it's not unusual to feel slightly worse (good days and bad days) on starting meds until the hormones all stabilize again.  Thyroid meds don't have instant results.  You have to stick with a treatment plan until hormones stabilize.

What is your doctor suggesting you do at this point?