Help changing from T4 Levothyroxine to Naturethroid

[DVS1956]

I'm wondering if I could get to advice as to how much Naturthroid to start verses my Levothyroxine.

I have looked up the conversion from Naturthroid's website, but everyone says to go slow.

I just had blood work done last Thursday (2-28-13). I haven't gotten the lab report yet, but hoping I will from my doctor's office today.

I know I'm probably asking to soon before you have my new labs, but I am wanting to get some good advice .

As of January 10, 2013, I had to titrate up from around 87 to 100 mcg. due to my labs done on that date.  After about 4 weeks of taking the new dose I felt very hyper and requested  to have labs done 2-28-13 (doctor wanted me to wait until 3-13-13, but I couldn't. I knew/know something is very wrong inside me right now.

I am a bit of a wreck and after talking to a friend who takes Naturthroid, she suggested I take it rather than T4 only. She believes I have RT3 going on and says going on NTH will do me better, but I don't want to start to high on this combo T med.

By the way, these are the Lab reports I am waiting on from my doctor's office: TSH, FT3, FT4, RT3. In addition, the doctor also ordered, which is really a waste of money and is redundant, the TSH reflex to abnormal FT4 (which it means, if the TSH is abnormal, test the FT4)! Sheesh, we were already testing the FT4 and TSH.

My prior Labs were taken on 1-10-13 - 9 am at LabCorp (87 1/2 mcg) Doing the 75/100 every other day to average this amount (I only use 50 mcg tabs due to dyes):

CBC With Differential/ Platelet

WBC 8.5 4.0-10.5 x10E3/uL
RBC 5.22 3.77-5.28 x10E6/uL
Hemoglobin 15.0 11.1-15.9 g/dL
Hematocrit 46.1 34.0-46.6 %
MCV 88 79-97 fL
MCH 28.7 26.6-33.0 pg
MCHC 32.5 31.5-35.7 g/dL
RDW 13.6 12.3-15.4 %
Platelets 371 140-415 x10E3/uL
Neutrophils 62 40-74 %
Lymphs 31 14-46 %
Monocytes 6 4-13 %
Eos 0 0-7 %
Basos 1 0-3 %
Neutrophils (Absolute) 5.4 1.8-7.8 x10E3/uL
Lymphs (Absolute) 2.6 0.7-4.5 x10E3/uL
Monocytes(Absolute) 0.5 0.1-1.0 x10E3/uL
Eos (Absolute) 0.0 0.0-0.4 x10E3/uL
Baso (Absolute) 0.0 0.0-0.2 x10E3/uL
Immature Granulocytes 0 0-2 %
Immature Grans (Abs) 0.0 0.0-0.1 x10E3/uL

Glucose, Serum 93 65-99 mg/dL
BUN 14 6-24 mg/dL
Creatinine,Serum 0.89 0.57-1.00 mg/dL
eGFR If NonAfricn Am 73 >59 mL/min/1.73
eGFR If Africn Am 84 >59 mL/min/1.73
BUN/Creatinine Ratio 16 9-23
Sodium, Serum 140 134-144 mmol/L
Potassium, Serum 4.6 3.5-5.2 mmol/L
Chloride, Serum 100 97-108 mmol/L
Carbon Dioxide, Total 23 20-32 mmol/L
Calcium, Serum 10.3 (H) 8.7-10.2 mg/dL
Protein, Total, Serum 7.4 6.0-8.5 g/dL
Albumin, Serum 4.8 3.5-5.5 g/dL
Globulin, Total 2.6 1.5-4.5 g/dL
A/G Ratio 1.8 1.1-2.5
Bilirubin, Total 0.7 0.0-1.2 mg/dL
Alkaline Phosphatase, S 91 25-150 IU/L
AST (SGOT) 21 0-40 IU/L
ALT (SGPT) 25 0-32 IU/L
(I cut back on Calcium to only 1 pill daily instead of 3 - Doc was worried about me possibly getting kidney stones etc.)

Other tests taken:

TSH 8.220 (H) 0.450-4.500 uIU/mL
T4,Free(Direct) 1.35 0.82-1.77 ng/dL
FT3  2.6 2.0-4.4 pg/mL

Vitamin B12 1221 (H) 211-946 pg/mL
(I've heard this is okay being this high from research)

Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy 67.8 30.0-100.0 ng/mL
(I increased an addt'l 2k IU)

Iron Bind.Cap. (TIBC) 353 250-450 ug/dL
UIBC 210 150-375 ug/dL
Iron, Serum 143 35-155 ug/dL
Iron Saturation 41 15-55 %

Ferritin, Serum 54 13-150 ng/mL (could be a lot better, but haven't done iron yet)

Cholesterol, Total 291 (H) 100-199 mg/dL
Triglycerides 105 0-149 mg/dL
HDL Cholesterol 81 >39 mg/dL
VLDL Cholesterol Cal 21 5-40 mg/dL
LDL Cholesterol Calc 189 0-99 mg/dL
(This is the highest it's ever been in my life. I will not take Statins...period)

Of course, once I have my new labs as stated above, maybe someone can help me know where to start with NTH. My doctor will allow most likely, but she may not know how much I should start and how soon to titrate. I don't want to be more of wreck than I already am and have been for the past month!

Thanks so much and hope someone with good knowledge can help me figure this out before my next doctor's appt, which I can get sooner than 3-15-13 (of course, I'm sure it will be based on my new labs of 2-28-13)

Debi

[Red_Star]

I think i did retain magnesium when taking supplements since i corrected a severe magnesium deficiency taking 100mg of elemental magnesium a day (RDA is 350mg of elemental magnesium).  All i know is my kidneys could not handle the magnesium i was taking and i wish i had know this as i still suffer a couple of symptoms two years later.

I always thought my poor diet was to blame in particular for my magnesium deficiency (besides surgery and high vitamin D supplementation which did worsen my deficiency) but i found this...

"Healthy kidneys are able to limit urinary excretion of magnesium to make up for low dietary intake. However, excessive loss of magnesium in urine can be a side effect of some medications and can also occur in cases of poorly-controlled diabetes and alcohol abuse [11-18]."

I'd like to add severe insulin resistance to this statement me thinks. :)

[Anazon123]

Hello - I have been following your posts which are always thoughtful & informative & needed some feedback.

No thyroid 8 years on synthroid, 1 year on Levothyroxine 150 Tues-Friday; 175 Sat-Mon. Last Monday was the last day I took Levo -

I recently got my GP to allow me take NTH. So he gave me .90 Armour which I cut in half & got violently ill, the next day I tried an 1/8 got ill but not as bad just foggy thinking for several hours. So with my pharmacist's help we got the doc to switch me to .25 Nature Throid I took half of that yesterday had some stomach discomfort but felt great until I crashed around 1:00pm then decided to take the other half - no problem felt pretty good actually.

After doing a lot research on taking T-4 & supping with T-3 & not wanting my levels to slip too much I decided to take 1/2 my regular Levo of 175 with the intent of taking the 1/2 NatureThyroid here shortly.

My doc does not agree with this but he's letting me at least try something different - it's just I'm my own mad scientist. There is no good time that is not 'stressfu' in life or career that allows me to go 'there' I have to take the chance. He doesn't know & I should have that I needed to cut back on the Levo before adding anything very high.

I guess my questions/s are have you heard of anyone taking Levo/Nature Throid at different times of the day? I also have permission to do compounded time released T3 as the pharmacist & I believe I am not converting. If I have no thyroid do i really need T4? If I do need T4 I would take it at a lower dose & add T3 2x a day?

I do not have current numbers right now and won't for a few weeks - the fact that I took the chance, that the doc is even working with me & I have  a very knowledgeable pharmacist who also hopes to open the docs closed mind is a miracle and a door that I must keep walking thru - T3 is VERY powerful & it scares me to go to hypo right now. Tomorrow will be 7 very long days of not taking synthetic. Thank you for your time.

[LazyMoose]

There you go, read the two previous comments. All the more reason to ask specifically for a RBC magnesium blood test. And make sure your kidneys are up to par from your yearly physical (I hope you get a yearly blood physical).

[LazyMoose]

I guess we should never say never here.  

So your kidneys were previously damaged before and excess magnesium finally overworked them into failure?

Damaged kidneys can cause unnaturally high levels of magnesium even without supplementation.

Guess that would be a good reason for people to get the RBC magnesium test in addition to reviewing kidney health via their blood test from a yearly physical prior to taking large doses of magnesium.

from a magnesium website: "Magnesium is excreted by your kidneys. Any damage to your kidneys, when they are not working properly, may cause an increase in magnesium levels called Hypermagnesemia."

Have you ever had a RBC mag test? I have twice. I was like pulling teeth to get them to do it even though they new I take a lot of supplemental magnesium glycinate (the highest elemental amount).

If I remember right, I was still only in the middle of the RBC mag range (with mag supplementation). I take less in times of less physical activity and /or stress.

[Red_Star]

I just read your last comment LazyMoose and i wanted to mention i developed acute kidney failure taking one capsule (100mg of elemental magnesium) once a day for three months.  

My kidneys are damaged (i believe the reason is due to severe insulin resistance for over a decade) although the lab clue was bicarbonate just under the reference range as far back as i can access (2000).

I take a magnesium supplement once in a while as i keep developing symptoms of magnesium deficiency but i cannot take them everyday. My poor kidneys are not up to scratch.

[Red_Star]

Thanks LazyMoose! I wasn't expecting to feel worse to be honest. I'll see how i go. :)