- new to group

[Guest guest]

Hello - and welcome to TPA-UK where

I hope you will get all the help and support you need. Obviously, you already

know that there is a connection in most cases between the pain caused through

fibromyalgia and the effects of thyroid hormone replacement in relieving such

symptoms. I am one sufferer of such debilitating pains when taking

levothyroxine alone who found tremendous relief after only 9 days of changing

over to natural thyroid extract, Armour Thyroid. I admire greatly Dr

Lowe on this subject and I would read everything you can about his reasoning

why he uses the active hormone T3 to bring relief to his patients. I am pasting

below one of his many Q & A from his website that should help you understand

his thoughts concerning amitryptilline and T3. I apologise for half of the

article being inside a frame, but not sure how to get rid of it.

You should also read Dr Peatfield's paper

on the thyroid/adrenal connection. Not many doctors understand this connection,

so you are not alone and we are trying to get doctors to look at this

connection rather than just dismissing it altogether because they are taught

that only the two ends of the extremes of cortisol production (Crushing's or

's) need to be treated. Treating low adrenal reserve is paramount before

even starting thyroid hormone replacement. Go to our website www.tpa-uk.org.uk and then click on

'Hypothyroidism' and then on 'Associated Conditions' - and finally click on '

Adrenals'. Whilst there, read the other associated conditions that if

unrecognised and untreated, will cause problems with the absorption of thyroid

hormone replacement.

This might be something you may wish to

talk to your doctor about, but if he is not willing to go down the road of

giving you a trial of T3, then you may find it necessary to take your health

into your own hand as so many of us have had to do. If you would like an

appointment with Dr Peatfield, you can see the venues for his many clinics

throughout the UK on our website. On the Home Page, look in the right hand

column under TPA-UK News, scroll down until you find his clinics and click

there.

Hope this helps.

luv - Sheila

______________________________________

From Dr Lowe: http://www.drlowe.com/QandA/askdrlowe/t3.htm

(Do read the other letters on this page too )

Questions: My rheumatologist

treats me for my fibromyalgia with amitriptyline, brand name Elavil. I

haven’t gotten any better from using this drug for a year. At my last

visit with him, I asked him to prescribe T3 so that I can see if your type of

treatment helps. He went ballistic! He told me T3 will give me osteoporosis and

might make me have a heart attack. He said he never prescribes dangerous drugs

and he’s not going to start by submitting to patients’ requests for

T3. He said others have also asked for it. If T3 is so dangerous, why do you

have your patients use it?

Dr.

Lowe:

First, let me clarify an important point: Our treatment protocol does not

consist solely of patients using T3. Only two groups of our patients use T3.

One group is patients who appear to have thyroid hormone resistance. The other

group is hypothyroid patients who fail to benefit from desiccated thyroid. Our

other patients use desiccated thyroid as part of their metabolic

rehabilitation regimen. (We don’t, of course, waste time any more trying

T4 alone; it’s too seldom of any use.)

Now, to address

your rheumatologist’s assertion that T3 is dangerous, and his implication

that amitriptyline is not. I think the best way to reply to him is to quote

publications that are available to him. In the USA, when patients get their

prescriptions filled for T3 (usually the brand Cytomel), the pharmacist usually

gives them a leaflet on the product. The leaflet contains the following

statement:

" NO COMMON

SIDE EFFECTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED with the proper use of this medicine. "

(Medi-Span, Inc.: Database Version 97.2. Data © 1997.)

This statement

makes a fact perfectly clear: When used sensibly, T3 is extraordinarily

safe among prescribed drugs. When I say extraordinarily safe, I’m

comparing T3 with drugs such as the amitriptyline which your rheumatologist

prescribes for you. Below is a list of potential harmful effects of

amitriptyline. This list comes from the Physician’s Desk Reference,

53rd edition, Medical Economics Company, Inc., Montvale, 1999, page 3418.

Some

patients took amitriptyline at the same time as monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

Some of them had crises of extremely high fever. Some had severe convulsions.

Others died.

Patients with

cardiovascular disease have had a range of harmful effects from taking

amitriptyline. Some had irregular heartbeats, extremely rapid heart rate, and

abnormalities of their EKGs. Some had heart attacks and strokes. Patients had

altered impulse conduction between the chambers of the heart and heart block.

Others had low blood pressure, orthostatic hypotension (which many

fibromyalgia patients already have), fainting, and palpitations. Other

patients had high blood pressure.

Amitriptyline enhances

some patients’ response to alcohol, barbiturates, and other central

nervous system depressants. If a patient taking amitriptyline drinks excess

alcohol, " potentiation may increase the danger inherent in any suicide

attempt or overdosage. "

In pregnant women,

amitriptyline crosses the placenta to the fetus. The children of some mothers

who took the drug during pregnancy had harmful central nervous system

effects, limb deformities, and delays in development.

The patient using

amitriptyline may go into a coma. She may have tremors, trouble

coordinating her muscles during movement, confusion, disorientation,

delusions, hallucinations, and seizures. She may develop a peripheral nerve

disorder with numbness, tingling, and other abnormal sensations in the hands,

feet, arms, and legs. She may have abnormal involuntary movements such

turning of the head one side. Her speech may be impaired, and she may have

problems using language properly. Her ability to concentrate may diminish,

and she may become restless, excited, and anxious. She may have insomnia,

nightmares, and be drowsy, dizzy, weak, and fatigued. She may have headaches

and ringing in the ears.

The patient may also have

skin rashes, eruptions of itching skin wheals, sensitivity to light, and

edema of her face and tongue. The drug may suppress her bone marrow. Her

white blood cell and platelet count may drop, and her eosinophil count may

rise. Her skin may hemorrhage, and she may develop hepatitis and jaundice.

She may be nauseated and have epigastric distress, vomiting, and anorexia.

She mouth may be dry and inflamed. She may have odd tastes and lose her sense

of taste. The parotid glands in her mouth may swell, and her tongue may

turn black. She may also have diarrhea. Her blood sugar levels may become

abnormal, and she might suffer liver failure.

The male’s

testicles and breasts may swell, and he may become impotent. The

female’s breasts may swell and her nipples discharge a milky fluid.

The patient may gain

weight and her hair begin falling out. She may urinate and perspire too much.

On the other hand, she may retain urine, and her urinary tract may dilate.

She may be constipated, and her bowel may become obstructed from paralysis of

the bowel wall.

The pressure in her eyes

may rise. Her pupils may dilate and her vision blur, and the ability of her

eyes to adjust to distance may diminish.

Some patients have

developed a lupus-like syndrome with arthritis with positive tests for ANA

and rheumatoid factor.

As you can see, T3

has no reported adverse effects. By contrast, amitriptyline has 88 reported

potential harmful effects—not the least of which is death. Let me

understate the circumstance as politely as I can: Your rheumatologist seems

confused about the relative risks of using T3 and amitriptyline. If so, perhaps

your sharing this question and answer with him will clear up his confusion.

I have come on here as a result of advice by a

friend who took a few

years to sort out her hypothyroidism. She now uses a combination of

Armour and Adrenal support as recommended by Dr P.

I have Fibromyalgia. Been diagnosed about 4 months. I had been

undiagnosed for about 8 months before that. My main symptoms were

tingling in thighs first, then in neck rest of legs, Now I have quite

bad elbow joint, rheumatic type symptoms in wrist, I was quite

fatigued but that is getting better. I just started on half grain

armour for last week or so. My temp range is 35.8-36.2. I take a bit

of amitryptilline from my GP.10mg, I have quite an empathic physician

who diagnosed FM, so calming fears of MS and Motor Neurone. He didnt

offer any great cures though except for Amitryp.

Would welcome comments.

I am a dentist age 59 so I have reasonable medical knowledge. I have

read some stuff on Thyroid Adrenal interface. Despite my medical

background I am quite new to these ideas and I havent fully grasped

it. I have had a few years of problems with irregular heart rhythm,

atrial fibrillation, but I have had this treated by a procedure called

Ablation. This took 3 attempts over a full year which were quite

traumatic. This preceded the onset of my FM symptoms by about 3

months. I have some rlationship issues too that contribute to a lack

of relaxed calm in my circumstances. All help/direction appreciated.