HE Diagnosis and Armour Questions

[diazmommy]

I posted last month about feeling horrible over the last few months.  Two weeks ago I began having slurred speech, balance problems, disorientation, memory problems, etc.  I was admitted to the hospital by my Dr. and had numerous and numerous tests completed and saw a neurologist. After 3 days.....and IV of large doses of steriods, I was diagnosed as having Hashimoto's Encephalopathy. I have read and read about this and know that it is rare but they believe and are adamant I have it because of the response to steriods and a few other tests they ran.  It has been a horrible time but I am recovering but scared to death that his may return.

----Does anyone on here have any experience with this or have this diagnosis?

Also....I was tapered down after the IV from 60 to 20 of prednisone.  I also know all about steriods and the effects and hate having to take these but it is needed.  20 is a moderate dose. They plan to keep me at this level for about a month.

----Is anyone else taking this much and if so...is it hard to taper after a month. They are planning to taper me off in small amounts in the next few weeks (down to 15 then to 10, etc).

Lastly.....before all of this happened, my endo wanted to switch me to Armour because T4 meds did not seem to improve my fatigue even though TSH, FT3 and FT4 were all in the upper ranges they needed to be.  He said it would be worth a try.  I am also going to get labs tomorrow hopefully again before making the switch.  

----Question:  Dr's have all said that I should still switch to Armour now since the steriod is balancing out some of my problems.  I am nervous about this but want to go ahead and make the switch. I am currently taking 63 of Tirosint.  They are putting me on 60 of Armour. I understand that 60 of Armour is about equal to 74 of Tirosint.  They told me to take 60 all at one time and I would be fine. But....I want to do a little lower. Can I start with 1/2 pill first?  I am scared of going full blast and making things worse. Thoughts?  Also......do I really need to chew it?  Any advice on how to approach Armour during this time would be great. Thanks!

[diazmommy]

Thank you ladies so much!  This has been consuming me and I have been reading so much.  I have a neurologist appointment in Jacksonville next Friday with a neurologist who has experience with 3 of these cases so we will see what happens!  I am getting labs today and should be able to post  them tomorrow afternoon.

What about Armour and how should I start that dose.  Should I start lower than 60, spilt the doses, chew them?  Just confused about to make the switch the right way so it will not backfire.  

[Red_Star]

Beverly J. Seminara is a patient advocate for Hashimoto's Encephalopathy. Her websites have so much information!  You were lucky to be diagnosed and treated so quickly.

Two articles to check out...

FAQ for Hashimoto's Encephalopathy, by Beverly Seminara, Patient Advocate

Hashimoto's Encephalopathy - A Complete List of Published Case Studies

[flyingfool]

I know HE it is VERY rare condition from what little I've even read on this. You may be only the 2nd person I've read about on this forum (that is made up of people who are outside normal issues with thyroid) that I've ever heard of having this. You may want to do a search of this site to see what was discussed about them.

Have you ever had your reverse T3 (RT3) checked.  If you both your FT4 and FT3's are towards the upper end and you are still hypo it might suggest an RT3 dominance problem.  For whatever reason the T3 is not getting to your cells.  

Since RT3 is only made during the conversion of T4 to T3.  it would make sense to reduce the amount of T4 and increase or add a source of T3 directly so that your body's cells can have the T3 available in your blood.

But since your FT3 you say are high then there is already plenty of T3 available.  But if all the cell receptors are "plugged" up with RT3 there is no way for the active T3 to get in and do its work.

Could you please post your last or last couple lab results.