looking for advice...

[Guest guest]

hi all,

i don't post often, but i read the posts most every day. i have some

lab numbers i would like you all to look over. to start, here's a

little bit about me [the short version which is actually long!]:

all of this started about 1 1/2 years ago [actually back in the 90s i

was diagnosed hypo and took synthroid for a while but decided the

meds didn't make me feel any better so i just quit taking them [yell

at me later...and do you know my PCP never even questioned why i

wasn't asking for refills!]]. anyway, january 2007 i went to my PCP

because my back kept locking up and i was always tired and couldn't

think. turned out my TSH was 16.9. he put me on

levothyroxine .100. i took that for a few months and my TSH came

down but i started getting the shakes and heart palps. called and

got my dose lowered to .88. still had the brain fog, anxiety,

depression, and all that, so i started reading up on hypo. wow. i

had no idea all this stuff was going to turn out to be related.

next i get sent to an endo and had an ultrasound that shows numerous

nodules of various sizes on my gioterized thyroid. while in the endo

office i described all the symptoms i continued to have and asked if

i could get switched to armour. boy, did i get THE speech...you know

the one..it isn't regulated and you are going to get some other

disease if you take it etc etc. i got a letter in the mail saying my

TSH was good, come back in a year. since he was the chief endo of

the health system i had been going to, i knew i wasn't going to find

another dr there that would agree to prescribe it, so i searched high

and low elsewhere. i live in houston, and i can't believe in a city

this size NO ONE [that takes my insurance] is spoken of highly. or

even lowly for that matter. basically whether or not they take my

insurance. that is just so sad.

ok. so after all my searching, i find a dr. she is actually in your

database and has been bashed, but, it was one of those let me go see

for myself kind of things. some people love her, some people hate

her. for the most part, i like her ok and she seems to know a heck

of a lot more than my PCP, and she takes my insurance. she started

me on bio-id progesterone and testosterone and switched me to nature-

throid. we slowly built up the nature-throid. i got to 2.5 grains

and was feeling really great [compared]. lost a few pounds without

even trying. then i had to have a few surgeries on something totally

not related to my thyroid [two without being knocked out and one

under general anesthesia], did multiple rounds of nasty [levaquin and

flagyl] antibiotics and BAM, i was messed up again.

my resting heart rate was getting up over 100 bpm. i've tried going

off the nature-throid for 3 days and my heart rate will go down. but

as soon as i build back up to 1 grain it starts pounding again.

right now i'm taking 1/2 grain just so i can try and get by and my

heart rate still gets up there. last time i was in to see her, she

told me she really wanted me to take a grain and wanted me to do a

stress test and ultrasound on my heart. my work schedule has been a

bear since september of last year and has just finally slowed because

the project is finished. next week i go in to see her and get my

results. last time i was in for an appt, i spoke with her about

possibly having adrenal problems, but the response i got was that if

we could get my hormones in the right place the adrenals should

correct themselves. yeah, red flag, i know, but she does seem to be

willing to listen. i think if i can just go in there with

some " sound advice " she will be willing to try adding something for

adrenal support.

sorry this is sooo long - here are the numbers from the last labs i

did pre surgery:

b-12 - 429 range 250 - 1100

dhea sulfate - 224 range 35 - 430

cortisal - a.m. specimen - 8 - range 7-25 [this was actually taken

about 10:30 a.m.]

ferritin - 100 - range 10-220

iron binding capacity and iron and % saturation:

iron, serum - 64 - range 35-145

unsaturated IBC - 266 - range 155-300

calculated total IBC - 330 - range 250-450

calculated % iron sat - 19 - range 20-50

estradiol - 14 - range prepubertal <20.0

folic acid - 22.4 - range <5.0

progesterone - 3.2 - range luteal phase 1.84-30.2 [don't know what

luteal phase is!?]

FT4 - .091 - range 0.73 - 1.95

FT3 - 3.2 - range 2.3 - 4.2

thyroid peroxidase ab - >1000 - range <35 [ok, now we know i'm a

hashi - no other dr had even tested my antibodies]

TRAB - 8 - range <10

high sensitivity CRP - High - 11.3

i am 45 and still have a monthly cycle. i'm taking 75 mg bio-id

progesterone and 16 mg bio-id testosterone per day.

hope all this makes sense. please let me know what you think.

thanks,

joan

[Guest guest]

My guess (as an individual, not as a medical professional) is that

you have adrenal issues. Your morning cortisol is very much on the

low side and you would likely benefit by doing a 4x/day saliva test.

You may not be able to tolerate the Armour until you do something

for the adrenals. But, you likely would benefit from Armour based on

where your FT4 and FT3 are. Also, since you have nodules, you do

want to keep your TSH at the range you are (<1).

Both levaquin and flagyl are very, very brutal ABX. I've been on

both and not even at the same time and they both will mess up your

liver functions and without a doubt contribute to an overgrowth of

fungus (even if you take probiotics (+4 hrs) while on those abx).

So, you should consider taking a high quality probiotic and might

need to consider an antifungal (Diflucan, nystatin or Sporanox).

Nystatin is the most gentle, followed by Sporanox, followed by

Diflucan. One clear sign this is an issue is to look at the back of

your tongue - if it's black or not a nice pink, then you are sure to

have fungal issues. It took a couple months on the Sporanox for my

tongue to return to a lovely pink.

Also, the estradiol range you listed is probably the wrong one

(i.e., pre-prepubertal). Also, are these tests after you started

the progesterone and testosterone? If not, you should be retested.

High testosterone can contribute to some of these problems based on

my experiences and I've personally had very, very inconsistent lab

results for my testosterone. One important thing is that often

folks that take progesterone (especially at your age based on my

recent experiences at 47) also benefit from bio-identical estradiol.

That may also help with the heart. In looking at my labs for

estradiol, the range for pre-menopausal is 1.3-3.3.

And, finally, based on my experiences the fact that your folate is

above normal means your body is not able to use it in the

methylation cycle with B12. You may have gut issues (possibly due to

fungal overgrowth or celiac/gluten intolerance) and thus are not

absorbing the necessary (and very important) B12. In my experience,

low B12 has been the biggest contributor to depression. You might

ask the doctor about B12 shots or at least take a sublingual or

liquid B12 everyday for a while - it can take a bit to get those

levels up. And, you'll want to take a B combo (i.e, what's called a

B-50 or B-100) as it's important to take all the B vitamins

particularly if you're adding extra of one, as there are some

synergies necessary to effectively use the B vitamins. There are

good liquid products for the B vitamins.

Peace and healing,

B.

>

> hi all,

>

> i don't post often, but i read the posts most every day. i have

some

> lab numbers i would like you all to look over. to start, here's a

> little bit about me [the short version which is actually long!]:

>

> all of this started about 1 1/2 years ago [actually back in the

90s i

> was diagnosed hypo and took synthroid for a while but decided the

> meds didn't make me feel any better so i just quit taking them

[yell

> at me later...and do you know my PCP never even questioned why i

> wasn't asking for refills!]]. anyway, january 2007 i went to my

PCP

> because my back kept locking up and i was always tired and

couldn't

> think. turned out my TSH was 16.9. he put me on

> levothyroxine .100. i took that for a few months and my TSH came

> down but i started getting the shakes and heart palps. called and

> got my dose lowered to .88. still had the brain fog, anxiety,

> depression, and all that, so i started reading up on hypo. wow.

i

> had no idea all this stuff was going to turn out to be related.

>

> next i get sent to an endo and had an ultrasound that shows

numerous

> nodules of various sizes on my gioterized thyroid. while in the

endo

> office i described all the symptoms i continued to have and asked

if

> i could get switched to armour. boy, did i get THE speech...you

know

> the one..it isn't regulated and you are going to get some other

> disease if you take it etc etc. i got a letter in the mail saying

my

> TSH was good, come back in a year. since he was the chief endo of

> the health system i had been going to, i knew i wasn't going to

find

> another dr there that would agree to prescribe it, so i searched

high

> and low elsewhere. i live in houston, and i can't believe in a

city

> this size NO ONE [that takes my insurance] is spoken of highly.

or

> even lowly for that matter. basically whether or not they take my

> insurance. that is just so sad.

>

> ok. so after all my searching, i find a dr. she is actually in

your

> database and has been bashed, but, it was one of those let me go

see

> for myself kind of things. some people love her, some people hate

> her. for the most part, i like her ok and she seems to know a

heck

> of a lot more than my PCP, and she takes my insurance. she

started

> me on bio-id progesterone and testosterone and switched me to

nature-

> throid. we slowly built up the nature-throid. i got to 2.5

grains

> and was feeling really great [compared]. lost a few pounds

without

> even trying. then i had to have a few surgeries on something

totally

> not related to my thyroid [two without being knocked out and one

> under general anesthesia], did multiple rounds of nasty [levaquin

and

> flagyl] antibiotics and BAM, i was messed up again.

>

> my resting heart rate was getting up over 100 bpm. i've tried

going

> off the nature-throid for 3 days and my heart rate will go down.

but

> as soon as i build back up to 1 grain it starts pounding again.

> right now i'm taking 1/2 grain just so i can try and get by and my

> heart rate still gets up there. last time i was in to see her,

she

> told me she really wanted me to take a grain and wanted me to do a

> stress test and ultrasound on my heart. my work schedule has been

a

> bear since september of last year and has just finally slowed

because

> the project is finished. next week i go in to see her and get my

> results. last time i was in for an appt, i spoke with her about

> possibly having adrenal problems, but the response i got was that

if

> we could get my hormones in the right place the adrenals should

> correct themselves. yeah, red flag, i know, but she does seem to

be

> willing to listen. i think if i can just go in there with

> some " sound advice " she will be willing to try adding something

for

> adrenal support.

>

> sorry this is sooo long - here are the numbers from the last labs

i

> did pre surgery:

>

> b-12 - 429 range 250 - 1100

> dhea sulfate - 224 range 35 - 430

> cortisal - a.m. specimen - 8 - range 7-25 [this was actually taken

> about 10:30 a.m.]

> ferritin - 100 - range 10-220

> iron binding capacity and iron and % saturation:

> iron, serum - 64 - range 35-145

> unsaturated IBC - 266 - range 155-300

> calculated total IBC - 330 - range 250-450

> calculated % iron sat - 19 - range 20-50

> estradiol - 14 - range prepubertal <20.0

> folic acid - 22.4 - range <5.0

> progesterone - 3.2 - range luteal phase 1.84-30.2 [don't know what

> luteal phase is!?]

> FT4 - .091 - range 0.73 - 1.95

> FT3 - 3.2 - range 2.3 - 4.2

> thyroid peroxidase ab - >1000 - range <35 [ok, now we know i'm a

> hashi - no other dr had even tested my antibodies]

> TRAB - 8 - range <10

> high sensitivity CRP - High - 11.3

>

> i am 45 and still have a monthly cycle. i'm taking 75 mg bio-id

> progesterone and 16 mg bio-id testosterone per day.

>

> hope all this makes sense. please let me know what you think.

> thanks,

> joan

>