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988694 tn?1332359479

booldwork on Nature Throid, is it working?

I still do not know if Naturethorid is working.

Here are my results from 2 months ago at 1.5 grains:

THS   : 0.00  range 0.34-4.52
FT4     : 0.71  range   0.59- 1.61  
FT3   :  335    range   230-420  

I got results today at 3 grains (for the last 4 weeks):

THS:  0.00 range : 0.34-4.52 (the same)
TF4: 1.31    range: 0.59-1.61  
TF3: 448  range      230-420  (high)

Obvioulsy the medicine is bringing my frees up, however I do not feel any better. I woke up this morning thinking how hypo I felt.

I am going to decrease my dose, but I am not sure if I should go for 2.5 grains or 2.3/4
If I go too low my FT4 will come down as well.

I am not sure if I have an absortion problem or it is just a matter of time.  Any thoughts?
5 Responses
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393685 tn?1425812522
yep - we all go through that and it is trying on us.  It makes total sense on the taking of synthetic estrogen and you going bonkers for a while. All those hormones work together.
Helpful - 0
988694 tn?1332359479
I started to increase medication under my doctor's supervision. In every visit I bring with me a chart with all my increases, time spent in each and exact quantity.

It is true also that because I want to feel well soon (it is going to be a year since started treatment)  I have lately had not patients , It is al lot of time of not seeing any difference!

It is just now that I am seeing my numbers close to where they should be. That is what my doctor said. He wanted to see my frees in the upper range.

I have not shown my last test to my doctor because I had to cancel my appointment and I will see him in a month.

I will talk to my doctor about having another test by that time. I have been at 3 grains for about 4 weeks. If I decrease to 2.5 grains until I see my doctor, in a month, I am planning to stay there for a while.

I am very sesitive to medicine changes (brands, doses) and I think because I have been increasing constantly the last 6 months my body has not had the time to get well adjusted.

My TF4 is still low, but I guess like you said that might be okay in the long term.
For what I have read some people feel good when FT4 is in the middle range and FT3 in the upper. However, that might not be true for everybody.

This is being difficult for me because it is not like when you take an standard dose of any medicine.

I remember taking the birth control pill some while ago. I went nuts the first three months, then I stabilize finally. But my thryoid was always an issue and for a long time I did not know about it.

I am learning every day and lately I have been trying not to think about it too much, because I stress myself and become impatient.
Helpful - 0
393685 tn?1425812522
usually the ratios are higher FT3 and a mid - or even low FT4 for many.. Others tieter high on both labs as I do and feel really well.

Just becuase FT4 is low - is not an issue - FT4 is the conversion hormone going into FT3 to keep everything running good. Here is where paying very close attention to symptoms is key when you are this close to feeling well. This sometimes takes alot of patients on your part as well as the doctors.. that can be tough.

Keep in mind labs will not always be exactly the same... Change is reality depending on the body and the testing time. Diet - stress taking meds all pay a huge roll w/ specific hormone testing so always being one number exactly the same is never the case.

So in retrospect - you are decreasing your meds b/c of how you feel and that happened since you started the new NT? - that's concerning... You may wipe out all that hard work getting yourself better and with the new meds and fillers - AND dropping your optimal ( or close/near) dose - you could be in a situation starting from square one again very soon.

An extremely low FT4 would lean w/ an increase... being to low can confirm an increase - but the FT3 must be ran to see where you are with that too...

Can you convert too much FT4 at time... MOST definately and that may be just a clitch your body is going through until all even outs again. get it?

How long where you on the 3 grain increase? - see... when you up too high and largely.. the thyroid may stall and make dependance on the meds for a time. If you still have some normal function of the gland and induce meds to it to high - it kinda cr@ps out and says "OK - if your going to induce hormone into the body - then I just won't worry about working on my own." and then your body depends on the 3 grains/med - falsely coming in - when maybe - in reality the 1.5 was working w/ the normal function to give you more together to feel good.

Hormone induced is very hard and patients MUST be aware that it isn't always increase - increase - increase - or then MORE damage can be done..sometimes permanently. This is a process of timing and small changes to really keep the balance flow to stay well. No doctor will warrant a 1.5 grain increase respectively to a patient at one visit.. They understand the effects of hormones and safely must adhere to the smallest increase at the right time to safely treat the patient.

You may have stalled the hormone process with the high increase and that is why you may still be expericing hypo symptoms... Its a long process to put things back after something like that happens.. I do know first hand about this.. I too - felt high increases were best to get me fixed quicker... I spent quite a while in a very uncomfotable state for months until my body adjusted to that dose change.  I did not flop from decrease to increase either - like I read about. By the time I was already in that circle I understood more on hormone issues and realized that I better stay now with where I am at and not play too much for a long time.

I have no thyroid - gone - due to RAI - so I did  have room to know a higher increase won't hurt me within reason.... but with a person with real thyroid fuction still left inside of them and playing this type of rouleete with hormone meds can be very devasting to the body and sometime can not be fixed quickly. Sounds like this is really not your case with some things correctly itself.. period and cholestrol - but the stalling may be an issue w/ the hypoT symptoms still lingering.

Keep in mind the true cycle of thyroid hormones...

TSH - is capable of swing HIGH and LOW at any given time at the drop of the hat. very unreliable in most cases unless a pattern is established bu miracle or another condition.

same applies the the FT3 - it swings all over the place and is a direct hormone for wellness - It's not unreliable by no means and should be measured every time to see if you w/ symptoms are having issues until you get to optimal health.

FT4 has little play and is a conversion - by say - hormone... Its job is to convert into FT3 so the body can utilize the direct hormone... FT4 is usually the most stable look on the lab and can be a great tool to see conversion or changes needed in meds to help you recover quicker. Its a feeder to the liver and gives the liver a job to stay healthy too. Of course this is your master cleanser organ so many other things must take place in the liver too.

What did you doctor say when you told them about self medicating?
Helpful - 0
988694 tn?1332359479
Thank you for responding. (that's blood work and not booldwork oops!)

My last test is showing that my FT3 is high,  448 (range 230-420) and I would not like to start to feel hyper.

For some reason (or probably is normal), my TF4 is not increasing as the same speed than my FT3.

I felt good before the reformulation at 1.5 grain, but it was only for about two weeks.
Then, all my sympotms returned.

Plus, when I was a 1.5 grain I got the results showing a FT4 at 0.7 which was pretty low and my doctor suggested to increase.

I will see my doctor in a month, but I would not like to see my FT3  go to high. I want to be in the safe side at least until I see my doctor.

When I increased my dose 2 months ago, from 1.5 grain to 3 grains, I started to feel like I wasn't taking anything.

I still feel like that: headaches, insomia, anxiety, bloading, hair loss, constipation, acne, depresion, joint pain among other things.

My cholesterol dropped and now is below normal. My periods are now regular.



Helpful - 0
393685 tn?1425812522
no I see no issues going on with absorption or conversion. Your receptors look like you are responding well to the dosages.

Why are you decrasing your thyroid meds? Did you feel better with the previous labs that had lower frees?

you say you feel hypo - but decreasing meds... that doesn't make sense. Have you talked with your doctor about these dosage changes? and what symptoms are you experiencing . I need to know that more clear to even assume some things
Helpful - 0
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