mivox's blog

Medical non-Update

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:41:31 -0700

Part of the reason I haven't updated the site in so long? (Besides laziness that is ...) There has been no news. I mostly feel OK, I guess. Hands and feet not cold, sleeping reasonably well, not depressed, energy levels OK most of the time. Still at the 105mg/day Armour dose. However, I also have not lost any weight. In fact, I have gained back all the weight I lost while I was on the 120mg/day prescription. I have tried dieting (1500cal/day ... moderate low carb/whole grain diet), and succeeded in losing some water weight. Which, of course, came back as soon as my period hit. When I started exercising and generally being more physically active over the winter, I gained weight. As far as I can tell, I gained muscle mass, and did not lost one. fucking. ounce. of fat.

long time no nothing ... bad webmaster, bad!

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:21:10 -0700

Well here we are ... almost 13 months after my last post. I'm really rather crap at this whole "keeping a website updated" thing sometimes, to say the least.

However, I am in fact going to try to at least keep the blog better updated for a while, and add new research and factual information. I'm aiming for at least one new post a week. And a few more changes coming:

I plan to move the blog section of the site back over to a WordPress installation. I've been having bizarre login problems with the Drupal install for months now, and frankly, I don't think it's worth the hassle to figure out.
a. I haven't decided what to do with the forums yet. I have a feeling it will be next to impossible to export the existing forum content into a new forum program, but I'll look around and see what my options are.

Latest tests are in ... Looking good!

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:50:11 -0700

Almost exactly a year after my first blood tests (Sept 27, 2005 – Sept 29, 2006), I went in for the most recent round. I've been feeling pretty good on my current prescription (105mg Armour Thyroid: 60mg early afternoon, 45mg at bedtime), plus Thyromine and vitamins in the morning.

So, I was optimistic that my blood levels had dropped enough from last time (when my T4 and T3 was acceptable to the PhA, but my TSH was 10Xs lower than the bottom end of normal, and she wasn't comfortable with that, so she lowered my dose from 120mg/day to 105mg), that the doc would be willing to renew my current prescription.

Iodine deficiency: Testing yourself, and treatment

Sat, 16 Sep 2006 00:06:26 -0700

Apparently, from what I'm reading now, iodine deficiency is more common than you might think. It is also incredibly easy to test for basic iodine deficiency at home. Now, this test is not very precise, so if it indicates a serious deficiency, you may want to talk to your doctor about getting what is known as an "iodine loading" test done. But, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, no?

So, you'll need a bottle of tincture of iodine (2%), the standard orange antiseptic liquid from grandma's medicine cabinet (You may need to ask at the pharmacy. My local store doesn't stock it in the first aid/band-aid aisle). Swab a silver-dollar sized circle on the inside of your arm, and watch it for the next 24 hours. If you are not iodine deficient, the circle should keep a strong orange color for the whole 24 hours. If it fades before then, you could use iodine supplementation.

HOW to go about getting that iodine in your diet is where things start to get tricky.

Medical Records to Date

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:00:05 -0700

Here it is: the bare-bones history of my test results, vital stats and prescriptions since my first TSH test in September. In most cases, the prescription and vitals listed for a particular month were taken/written 3–4 days after the blood tests were drawn, so I've just grouped them all together.

September 2005: Labs: (27 Sept.) TSH: 150.0 uIU/mL (normal: 0.350–5.500)
Vitals: T:98.5 BP:124/92 HR:68 W:199.25
October 2005: Labs: (06 Oct.) T4, Free (Direct): 0.36 ng/dL (normal 0.61–1.76)
Triiodothyronine, Free, Serum (T3): 1.5 pg/mL (normal: 2.3–4.2)
Vitals: T:98.3 BP:108/82 HR:70 W:198.5
Prescription: 125mcg levothyroxine (generic)

My current regimen

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 23:14:40 -0700

Well, here's what I'm going to be taking starting later this week (when my old vitamin packs run out):

Morning:

Thyromine (thyroid/adrenal glandular with supportive herbs and amino acids)
TwinLab Women's Ultra Daily Multivitamin (has a lot of herbal ingredients on top of a very complete multi-vit ... including selenium and 100% iodine) [added: I read the back of the bottle, and realized the values on the label were for a dose of FOUR capsules. So I'm taking two, which is still more than 100% of most things.]
NOW B-50 (I'm debating whether I need this ... The TwinLab multi covers the same nutrients as the B-50. But I figure that just means it's the equivalent of taking a B-100, right?)
Schiff "Guided Mineral" Cal-Mag-Zinc (chelated, plus Vit. D for proper absorption) [added: You're supposed to take two of these as well. Eep!]
~~Your Life 500mg Vit. C with Rose Hips (because, hey, I had Vit. C sitting around in the medicine cabinet, and AFAIK you can't OD on C!)~~ After realising I had to take more than one of the other two vitamins, I decided I didn't need any extra C. ;-)
birth control pill

Mid afternoon: 30mg Armour
Late afternoon: 30mg Armour
Bedtime: 45mg Armour

Update, finally! (more Armour adjustments)

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:35:27 -0700

Well, after having all sorts of problems switching servers yesterday, I think everything is up and running and should stay that way ... but I'm scared to keep my fingers crossed. ;-)

So, back to On Topic news! I met with my PhA last week, and got a new prescription (yet AGAIN ... AUGH!!!). Taking two 120mg of Armour per day pushed my TSH down to .035, while leaving my Free T's not-very-different from the previous 90mg/day dose (which left my TSH at 2.4, as I recall?). But I'd been losing weight and feeling pretty good, so I practically begged to be left at the 120mg/day dose. No dice.

Moving house ...

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:12:25 -0700

Well, after all my sites went down for over 24 hours with no communication from my hosting company as to what was going on or when it would be fixed, I have decided to (argh .. for the 5th time in the last two years?!) move to a new hosting company.

Natural Supplements: Thyromine

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:13:47 -0700

I ordered a 6 month supply of Thyromine (their "buy 4 get 2 free" deal), and expected to have to use it for at least a couple weeks before I could really say if it was helping at all, but much to my surprise the effects were almost immediate. I've tried various vitamins and other "thyroid support" supplements, and none of them has made as noticable a difference as Thyromine has. It's a rather spendy product (which is why I opted for the 6 month supply ... the discount was very persuasive. ;-), but so far I think it's quite worth it.

The three "active" ingredients are l-tyrosine (an amino acid), bovine thyroid powder and bovine adrenal powder. In addition, there are four herbal/nutritional ingredients: Guglipid, which I have seen in many thyroid supplements; Nori, a seaweed rich in iodine and trace minerals; Piper longum (long pepper) extract, which they say helps increase thyroid hormone production; Ginger extract, which is often recommended as a systemic herbal "tonic" and digestive aid.

Whew ... that's done!

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 16:20:45 -0700

Well, the posts are all migrated, and the software is all functioning properly, so welcome to ThyroidStory.mivox.com v.2.0! You can visit the first post in the forums for an idea of what's going on around here now: How to Use This Site. You'll have to sign up with the new system before you can post in the forum, but it's free and I promise I won't send you spam! ;-)

just a quick update ...

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 14:32:58 -0700

... I've been a bit snowed with work lately, so I haven't been concentrating as much as I would like on research and writing for this site. However, this weekend I am hoping that will change. With one outside project coming to an end, and some research into bulletinboard discussion area add-ons for this site, I'm hoping to accomplish the following things within the next couple of weeks:

Causes of Hypothyroidism: Congenital Causes

Sun, 11 Jun 2006 14:26:49 -0700

Some people are born with hypothyroidism, for a variety of reasons. Infants with untreated congenital hypothyroidism can develop a number of serious developmental problems as they mature, including mental retardation and stunted growth—a condition once known as "cretinism" (think of that next time you want to call someone a "cretin", eh? I don't think I've used that particular insult in months, for just that reason!).

TSH: One size does NOT fit all

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 14:23:51 -0700

As I've mentioned here before, in 2003 the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommended that the "normal" range of TSH be changed from 05.–5.0 to 0.3–3.04. However, for those of you who still feel crummy anywhere above 2.0, there's still hope to convince your doctor: Way back in 2002, the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry suggested the ceiling for "normal" TSH be lowered to 2.5, "because >95% of rigorously screened normal euthyroid volunteers have serum TSH values between 0.4 and 2.5 mIU/L."

So, my repeated comments here that folks without thyroid problems generally have a TSH around or below 1 is somewhat incorrect. There is a wider range of truly "normal" TSH values than I had heard, but a narrower range of normal TSH than most doctors use when evaluating their patients' test results.

Armour Troubleshooting & New Supplements

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 14:21:25 -0700

Well, I've been on the higher dose of Armour for a bit now, and there's no sign of my morning drowsiness going away. So, prompted by a comment from "Newbie" in another post, I'm going to try a little experiment. Thus far, I have taken half my Armour dose at 9am and the other half at 9pm, figuring that schedule would give the most stable T3 levels throughout the day. And I have yet to come close to the morning "get up and go" I had on levothyroxin. Which is a bummer. I feel better mentally, but I haven't gotten out of bed before 9am in weeks, and it's just not working.

A few assorted facts ...

Wed, 31 May 2006 14:18:41 -0700

There are a few questions that keep coming up in comments to other entries here, so I thought I'd just do a "quick review" entry of a few basic facts about hypothyroidism and the treatments for it, based on my own research. Mind you (once again) I am not a doctor. But I figure if multiple reputable sources all agree on a certain point, it's most likely true.

The current "normal" range for TSH tests is NOT 05.–5.5. In November of 2002, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists updated the "normal" range to 0.3–3.04. In "real life" people without thyroid problems generally have a TSH around 1.0 or lower.