Re: hi ,I'm new

[Guest guest]

Hi!

Welcome to the group! Glad to hear you're doing well on Lexapro. I

love to hear success stories like yours.

Liz

> i'm so glad I found a group!I've been on Lexapro about 2 weeks.I

had

> been on 30 mg Celexa for 2 years.I already feel so much better i

can

> hardly believe it.I feel like doing things again, and not so

> tired.Plus I can consentrate on things again.

> I had a couple of headaches that i don't usually have since i

> started but they didn'tlast long .

[Guest guest]

Hello Judy

and welcome to our forum where I hope you get all the support you need.

WOW I had all the symptoms of underactive thyroid, at last I knew why

I was so ill or so I thought. I contacted my GP after a couple of

weeks still waiting for the results. She categorically said she could

guarantee I didn't have a problem with my thyroid. And that first

test came back IN RANGE (or was it).

This,

sadly, is one of the biggest complaints we have. So many of us are unable to

get a diagnosis of hypothyroidism because doctors have not been taught how to

properly diagnose. They should take into account all of your symptoms, look at

the signs, take our temperature, blood pressure, check out tendon reflexes

(especially the Achilles tendon) to see whether it has a delayed reaction. They

should do a thorough clinical examination and follow this up with a full

thyroid function test. This test should include TSH, Free T4, Free T3 and check

to see if you test positive for thyroid antibodies. They should also take your

BP sitting down and immediately on standing up to see whether there is a drop.

If the BP drops several points, this is an indication you have an adrenal

problem, and doctors should make sure your adrenals are boosted before starting

any of their patients on levothyroxine. ALL the do is test your TSH and T4 (now

laid down in stone by the Royal College of Physicians). Nothing else needs to

be checked. I think there are too many people in this little island of ours and

they are looking for a way to keep the population down. There is the cynic

coming out in me..

By now I was very ill bearly able to look after my

family. Just about

able to get the children to school and get home. I cooked leaning on

the kitchen wall and washed up in phases. Sleep was unrefreshing, I

woke as tired as I went to bed. I began to think it was normal to

feel like this.

A

brilliant description Judy - all of us will recognise this feeling exactly.

I'm I right? was whatever I took 15 years ago

different to Levo. or

is it just that my body is having more problems?

Pretty

much the same I think now as it was then, though different brands at that time

could differ. Some were good, some not so good, but now the levothyroxine is OK

- at least, for those people who do well on it. However, there are thousands of

sufferers who appear to do really well on levothyroxine alone for months, a

couple of years or so, and some for many years, and then suddenly, it stops

working. There are various reasons for this, but usually it is because you need

some form of the active hormone T3, either synthetic or natural. Armour is

excellent because it contains all the thyroid hormones required by the body. It

also contains calcitonin for the bones and other enzymes we know nothing about.

If you go to our FILES (you will find these on the Home Page of this forum web

site) and scroll down, you will find one called " How to Use Natural

Thyroid Extract " . Hopefully, that will give you all the information you

need and it tells you where you can buy it. Read every word. It is very important

that you understand everything there is to know about it.

When you

next see your GP, ask her to check your ferritin level (stored iron) B12,

Vitamin D (very important), Magnesium, Zinc and Copper. If any of these are

low, this could one of the reasons why your thyroxine is not working any more.

Being low in any of these stops your thyroxine from being absorbed. Also, have

you been tested to see whether you have candida albicans? Is there any

possibility you might have mercury poisoning from amalgam fillings? Go to our

web site www.tpa-uk.org.uk and click on

'Hypothyroidism' and on the drop down Menu, click on 'Associated Conditions'

and read all the information there. Any of these conditions stop your thyroid

hormones from being absorbed.

There

IS light at the end of the tunnel and we will help you get there.

Luv -

Sheila

[Guest guest]

***I'm I right? was whatever I took 15 years ago different to Levo. oris it just that my body is having more problems?

Hello Judy, and welcome

Sadly, your story is not unusual. We keep reading about the same lack of care and attention to peoples symptoms on here over and over again. I am not talking from personal experience, as I am one of the lucky ones, but I do feel for everyone on here who had to go through this ridicilous ritual of "you are depressed" and doling out of antidepressants ... of course we become blooming depressed, anxious and frustrated when being told the same old chestnut that it's all in our heads. What do they expect?

I wish I could answer your above question, as I keep reading similar stories on here about Levo not working any more after several years on it. Like you, I felt sort of 90% on Levothyroxine, which I took for one year. But it had always been my intention to switch to Armour as soon as I reasonably could, and I did so when I reached the dosage of 150 mcg, which finally got rid of my hyPO symptoms - only to give me hyPER symptoms. When I reduced to 125 mcg, back came the hyPO symptoms. Luckily my TSH by then had vanished below the norm range anyway, so I thought this would be the perfect time to do a switch to Armour. I am now on 1 1/2 grain, and although 'not there yet', I feel very much better than on Levo already.

Yesterday I took the plunge. I was due another blood test, and I took the opportunity to tell my GP that Levo is not working well for me. I told him that I had to reduce my dosage and that the lower dosage is just not doing it for me, yet I can't go any higher .....and that I now wanted to try Armour. I did not admit that I was already on it though... After this latest press release by the RCP I knew that I haven't got a hope in hell to get it prescribed on NHS now, so I said, tongue in cheek, that I was prepared to buy it myself as I would not wish to compromise his position, being seen to prescribe an unlicensed drug . I must be the luckiest girl on this planet, because my GP is totally oblivious about the fracas over Armour - he even asked me how to spell it (he put my request in my notes). He just asked what it contains, and I listed all the T's & calcitonin, and said it was licensed in the US ... and he gave his blessing

I'm a bit nervous about what the lab results will show. But my TSH had been down to 0.03 anyway on Levo, so that won't give the game away, and I have taken the precaution of stopping the Armour for about 36 hours ... which should show relatively 'normal' FT4 and FT3 - fingers crossed.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about how you'll get on when you switch to Armour, Judy. It certainly feels better to me than being on Levo.

Best wishes,

[Guest guest]

Hi Judy ,

Sadly your story is very common, and quite similar to mine.

I too became ill following the birth of my second child, but as there

was a family history of thyroid disease I got a TSH test quite quickly-

though I too had protested that I was depressed because I was ill I

still got the antidepressants shoved at me. Thyroxine helped a bit for a

couple of years but I never got really well and started to decline, but

now am well on Armour and T3.

No, the levothyroxine is the same, and inert until it is converted

mostly in the liver to T3. Being on only one thyroid hormone seems to

exhaust the conversion system as a healthy thyroid produces about 5

hormones- which is why folk like us do so much better on Armour.

Jeny

Subject: Hi ,I'm New

Hi, I hope I am introducing myself in the correct place. I'm Judy

married with 2 grown up children,

So that was 1994 and Thyroxine worked OK. I would say I was back to

90% in time. I'm taking 150 mcg Levothyroxine now and I'm not doing

that good. I've seen Dr P.( through Stockport ME group) and have been

taking Adrenal support but think I want to change to Armour. Yes I

know, not a good time to decide this so guess I will be funding it

myself.

I'm I right? was whatever I took 15 years ago different to Levo. or

is it just that my body is having more problems?

Judy

------------------------------------

TPA is not medically qualified. Consult with a qualified medical

practitioner before changing medication.

[Guest guest]

Hi Jeny Thanks for you reply. I've been so much on in the last few

years that my own health have been forgotten to some extent. I just

keep on keeping on as best I can but I know I'm not well.

My daughter has Chronic Fatigue and dealing with her health has taken

up all my time and now I feel I'm fatigued too. I'm going to read

all the info on here and get my own health sorted. I saw Dr

Peatfield last year, what lovely man, and I'm going to contact him

again I've been taking Nutri adrenal extra support which has helped

a little but think now it must be a conversion problem. I'm getting

excited about taking Armour just need to get it straight in my head

how to go about it.

Thanks again, judy

>

> Hi Judy ,

> Sadly your story is very common, and quite similar to mine.

> I too became ill following the birth of my second child, but as

> there was a family history of thyroid disease I got a TSH test quite

> quickly- though I too had protested that I was depressed because I

> was ill I still got the antidepressants shoved at me. Thyroxine

> helped a bit for a couple of years but I never got really well and

> started to decline, but now am well on Armour and T3.

[Edit Abbrev Mod]

> ------------------------------------

>

> TPA is not medically qualified. Consult with a qualified medical

> practitioner before changing medication.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Judy

You would

do well to buy Dr Peatfield's Book " your thyroid and How to Keep it

Healthy " . You can buy this through Amazon UK. Go to the link on our

website www.tpa-uk.org.uk and click on 'Buy

Anything from Amazon' in the link under 'TPA News' in the right hand column.

That wail TPA makes a little money. He wrote this book for patients who had

been badly treated within the NHS and who needed to know about the workings of

the thyroid and how to treat it. It is excellent. I would also draw your attention

to our own TPA-UK Library. We lend books out for the cost of postage. The link

is in our FILES on this forum. Also, look at the file 'How to Use Natural

Thyroid Extract' as that tells you everything about Armour - what it is, where

you can buy it, everything you need to know and how to use it.

Luv -

Sheila

I saw Dr

Peatfield last year, what lovely man, and I'm going to contact him

again I've been taking Nutri adrenal extra support which has helped

a little but think now it must be a conversion problem. I'm getting

excited about taking Armour just need to get it straight in my head

how to go about it.

,___

[Guest guest]

Hi just a little update.

I have slowly worked my way up to 2 grains of Armour (having taken levo for 15

years) and I am feeling much better, amazing in fact. The cotton wool head has

gone and I feel I can concentrate better and think straight. Energy levels are

much better too. I feel happier too.

So far my temp is the same 36.5 but my pulse has increased.

I'm so pleased and thankyou so much for helping me do this. Just so you know I

have seen Dr P and we had discussed this but I needed the support of TPA to help

me make the decision and go for it.

Thanks again everyone Judyx

;

[Guest guest]

Well done Judy - and long may this continue. Please look at our

document in the files on this forum entitled " How to Treat with Natural

Thyroid extract " in case you need to know any answers to questions you

might need to ask in case things don't go quite right. I can't see why they

wouldn't, but it is good to have something handy like this.

Keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

luv - Sheila

Hi just a little update.

I have slowly worked my way up to 2 grains of Armour (having taken levo for 15

years) and I am feeling much better, amazing in fact. The cotton wool head has

gone and I feel I can concentrate better and think straight. Energy levels are

much better too. I feel happier too.

So far my temp is the same 36.5 but my pulse has increased.

I'm so pleased and thankyou so much for helping me do this. Just so you know I have

seen Dr P and we had discussed this but I needed the support of TPA to help me

make the decision and go for it.