Interesting Dr follow up with LCHF friendly doc for T2
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KnitOrMiss wrote: »Most thyroid meds are pretty small. It was crazy, as I had to split one of my meds in half at one point!
I know most thyroid meds have warnings about blood glucose numbers, increases in blood pressure, intolerance to heat, etc., so just be on the lookout. And remember that you can have improvements in labs without improving any symptoms (I know you didn't have the traditional ones)... That was something I hadn't know about when I first started playing this game...
However, by random chance, I just discovered that carnitine can interfere with thyroid uptake... GRR... I at how many conflicts there are within things that are good for other conditions...
Well, shoot... I take both synthroid and carnitine.
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cstehansen wrote: »KnitOrMiss wrote: »As for the med, not sure. It is the generic and just says something like NB thyroid. Pharmacist said take it in the morning on an empty stomach and don't eat for at least an hour. Smallest pill I remember ever seeing.
It's probably NP, which is a natural, desiccated thyroid medication. Many people do better on a natural thyroid medication because they include all of the thyroid hormones, not just T4. Unfortunately, many doctors won't prescribe the natural medications, including my own.
Did your doctor check your thyroid antibodies to rule out an autoimmune thyroid condition - Graves disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis? Your mention of being hyperactive when you were younger and now becoming hypothyroid could point to one of these conditions.
I hope the thyroid medication helps.1 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »KnitOrMiss wrote: »Most thyroid meds are pretty small. It was crazy, as I had to split one of my meds in half at one point!
I know most thyroid meds have warnings about blood glucose numbers, increases in blood pressure, intolerance to heat, etc., so just be on the lookout. And remember that you can have improvements in labs without improving any symptoms (I know you didn't have the traditional ones)... That was something I hadn't know about when I first started playing this game...
However, by random chance, I just discovered that carnitine can interfere with thyroid uptake... GRR... I at how many conflicts there are within things that are good for other conditions...
Well, shoot... I take both synthroid and carnitine.
@midwesterner85 - Me, too - well, Armour and carnitine, but still, same principle! Hence the reason I was frustrated reading it. I guess I will gear my carnitine toward evening, and keep my thyroid med at first light... Interfering with uptake is NOT something I need, since I already have conversion and absorption issues! I'm going to do some more research, but probably after the 26th, when I have a consult with a new endo office...0 -
cstehansen wrote: »As for the med, not sure. It is the generic and just says something like NB thyroid. Pharmacist said take it in the morning on an empty stomach and don't eat for at least an hour. Smallest pill I remember ever seeing.
It's probably NP, which is a natural, desiccated thyroid medication. Many people do better on a natural thyroid medication because they include all of the thyroid hormones, not just T4. Unfortunately, many doctors won't prescribe the natural medications, including my own.
Did your doctor check your thyroid antibodies to rule out an autoimmune thyroid condition - Graves disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis? Your mention of being hyperactive when you were younger and now becoming hypothyroid could point to one of these conditions.
I hope the thyroid medication helps.
I was going to ask the same question, @bametels - about the antibodies. And remembering that folks can be serum negative on those, too... But I'm so glad to get the indirect insights of a functional medicine doctor. Pushes the need further up on my list to find one myself, too!0 -
KnitOrMiss wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »As for the med, not sure. It is the generic and just says something like NB thyroid. Pharmacist said take it in the morning on an empty stomach and don't eat for at least an hour. Smallest pill I remember ever seeing.
It's probably NP, which is a natural, desiccated thyroid medication. Many people do better on a natural thyroid medication because they include all of the thyroid hormones, not just T4. Unfortunately, many doctors won't prescribe the natural medications, including my own.
Did your doctor check your thyroid antibodies to rule out an autoimmune thyroid condition - Graves disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis? Your mention of being hyperactive when you were younger and now becoming hypothyroid could point to one of these conditions.
I hope the thyroid medication helps.
I was going to ask the same question, @bametels - about the antibodies. And remembering that folks can be serum negative on those, too... But I'm so glad to get the indirect insights of a functional medicine doctor. Pushes the need further up on my list to find one myself, too!
Yes, I'm probably one of those people with serum negative Hashimoto's according to my doctor. Given my medical history including a very bad bout of thyroiditis (which she says people only get if they already have a sick thyroid) about 15 years before being diagnosed with hypothyroidism (a relatively common pattern - the thyroid is damaged by the thyroiditis - it keeps trying to plug along but eventually starts to give out). My doctor was shocked that I came back negative for antibodies.0 -
@bametels & @KnitOrMiss - Antibodies did not come up. I have a follow up in 6 weeks and will add this to my list of questions.
I have to say the thyroid part was a bit of a surprise, so I did not listen as well as I should have for regarding the meds, but I do know he said something about it in regard to T3 and not just what is frequently used because he believes this is more effective. That in combination with the functional medicine approach he takes would lead me to believe the assumption about NP is correct.
In looking up symptoms of hypothyroidism since the appointment, there are a few that stand out for me. Obviously, I mentioned energy is not what it used to be. In really thinking about it, my inability to sit still now seems to be related to my mental inability to focus on the same thing for long periods of time versus physically feeling the need to move like it used to be. I do have periods of fatigue now that are frustrating as well.
The biggest one I saw was feeling cold. When I lived up in Ohio, my next door neighbor called me a "freeze baby" because from October through May, I would wear thermal underwear all the time. There were times we would be talking in the yard and I would be wearing several layers including a heavy coat and he was wearing shorts. Granted, he was from up there and had a higher tolerance to cold, but I am way more sensitive than pretty much anyone I know (which really sucks given my wife has had pre-mature menopause via full hysterectomy and is constantly hot).
Some other symptoms fit as well, but others don't. From what I can tell, most people only have some and not all the symptoms. Again, not being an expert, I just used the observance that nearly everyone I ever heard of with hypo struggled with weight. Since that was never a significant issue for me, I just assumed thyroid was not going to be the problem. Once again the definition of assume is proven.2 -
@cstehansen - Look at the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, too. It is very possible (sadly or eerily common?) for a person to flip from one to another. In fact, that is one of the "hallmark" signs of it being an autoimmune issue. From what you've said about your fidgeting and overabundance of energy in the past, that could have been hyperthyroidism.
And if you were hyper and flipped to hypo just recently, it could by why you are just beginning to exhibit some of the more "usual" signs. Remember, that blood glucose levels, insulin levels, hormone levels, endocrine levels, and adrenal levels are so closely related that any issues in one category can surface in/ripple through another category in the most unexpected way. It is definitely annoying and frustrating, because the symptom that gets your attention is not always the root cause/problem that needs to be addressed!!
P.S. In my former life, I always used to joke about wearing sweatpants in July!0 -
Bumping, because - thyroid... carnitine, etc.
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@canadjineh - I stopped the carnitine completely, as I'm not in currently need of the physical boost (I started it during our move at work), and my adapting to my new medicine (switched from synthetics to NDT) is seeming much smoother. I don't know if it is just time (it's been a little over 2 months now) or if it is the carnitine, but I feel so much more level (that first 3-4 weeks was pure HADES - essentially T3 withdrawal from what I could tell)...1
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I seem to need the physical boost - maybe the carnitine will do it (who knows), but since I don't actually take any thyroid meds, maybe I don't have to worry about interference. I'll just keep plugging along with the selenium and see how October's tests go.
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