Guest guest Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 I find this very curious and maybe something I should investigate. I have been to endocrinologist and doctors who say that cytomel (t3) is not necessary, but for me it is absolutely necessary. I've been on a T4 only protocol and know that it doesn't work for me. In fact, I've walked out of an endocrinologists office when she said she wouldn't prescribe me T3, I literally got up and walked up, and saying " I know that I need T3 to function, and if you won't prescribe it for me, then I don't want you as my doctor. " She was a brand new endocrinologist, like in her first week of practice. What a way to start, to have a patient fire you before you even begin practicing. Perhaps I was a little too harsh, but I've learned the hard way to advocate for myself. Anyway, what exactly are you taking instead of cytomel (synthetic T3). is the natural stuff you are taking, does it have some T4 as well? It's been suggested that I try timed released T3, is what you are taking timed release? Is timed release natural or synthetic? I have been on Armour before and I think it was before the reformulation and it was a disaster, gained 20 pounds in 6 weeks so am extremely hesitant to go the natural route, but like you want to make sure that I always have access to T3. > > > You must be getting us confused with some other groups. No one in this > group ever said to not take synthetics nor do we advocate everyone > taking iodine. Your choice of thyroid meds is a highly individual > matter. > > For many years I have taken a combination of natural dessicated thyroid > and synthetic levothyroxine. I only recently switched to compounded > T3/T4 in olive oil capsules. This is an experiment. It is also insurance > for the future. Dessicated thyroid may not always be available. I also > may not have my great hormone doc and would be dependent on my great > primary care doc to prescribe my thyroid meds. He is utterly unwilling > to write for synthetic T3, but prescribes Armour or ERFA readily. I need > to be able to say to him, " I have been on this before and this is what I > need. " I am a dead woman without some T3. . . . . > > This came up when Armour was unavailable. He flat refused to write for > Cytomel. I then found compounded dessicated thyroid and ERFA. He was > glad to write for either of those and wrote me a generous script for the > ERFA. He wrote the compound from WIP for some of his other thyroid > patients. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Personally, I don't think you were too harsh to the new doctor - they need to learn to listen to their patients - the sooner, the better. Time release T3 is synthetic. Some folks do really well with that. I prefer to just take my Cytomel 3x/day, but that is hard for some folks to remember. You need to get the TR T3 compounded, which can make it more expensive. Although, I have found generic Cytomel to be significantly less effective than name brand so with insurance I pay just as much for Cytomel as I would for compound T3. Some folks just don't do well with Armour (that was the case for me - it turns out I do not tolerate pork). It's possible the dosage was too low, but if you find you do well with synthetic T4 and T3, then that's a good thing. B. I find this very curious and maybe something I should investigate. I have been to endocrinologist and doctors who say that cytomel (t3) is not necessary, but for me it is absolutely necessary. I've been on a T4 only protocol and know that it doesn't work for me. In fact, I've walked out of an endocrinologists office when she said she wouldn't prescribe me T3, I literally got up and walked up, and saying " I know that I need T3 to function, and if you won't prescribe it for me, then I don't want you as my doctor. " She was a brand new endocrinologist, like in her first week of practice. What a way to start, to have a patient fire you before you even begin practicing. Perhaps I was a little too harsh, but I've learned the hard way to advocate for myself. Anyway, what exactly are you taking instead of cytomel (synthetic T3). is the natural stuff you are taking, does it have some T4 as well? It's been suggested that I try timed released T3, is what you are taking timed release? Is timed release natural or synthetic? I have been on Armour before and I think it was before the reformulation and it was a disaster, gained 20 pounds in 6 weeks so am extremely hesitant to go the natural route, but like you want to make sure that I always have access to T3. > > > You must be getting us confused with some other groups. No one in this > group ever said to not take synthetics nor do we advocate everyone > taking iodine. Your choice of thyroid meds is a highly individual > matter. > > For many years I have taken a combination of natural dessicated thyroid > and synthetic levothyroxine. I only recently switched to compounded > T3/T4 in olive oil capsules. This is an experiment. It is also insurance > for the future. Dessicated thyroid may not always be available. I also > may not have my great hormone doc and would be dependent on my great > primary care doc to prescribe my thyroid meds. He is utterly unwilling > to write for synthetic T3, but prescribes Armour or ERFA readily. I need > to be able to say to him, " I have been on this before and this is what I > need. " I am a dead woman without some T3. . . . . > > This came up when Armour was unavailable. He flat refused to write for > Cytomel. I then found compounded dessicated thyroid and ERFA. He was > glad to write for either of those and wrote me a generous script for the > ERFA. He wrote the compound from WIP for some of his other thyroid > patients. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 For many years I was on Armour and then ERFA which contain both T3 and T4. I am currently on compounded T3 and T4 in oil capsules from Womens International Pharmacy. It is not timed release. I do not do well on timed release meds. I also cannot tolerate the fillers in standard meds such as Cytomel. First, avoid endos. Most of them are TSH worshipping $ynthroid Nazis. If you would like to state your location, we may be able to make some recommendations. Check out the Texas Armour Docs list in Files. Also read the Database on our site. > >> > > > You must be getting us confused with some other groups. No one in this> > group ever said to not take synthetics nor do we advocate everyone> > taking iodine. Your choice of thyroid meds is a highly individual> > matter.> > > > For many years I have taken a combination of natural dessicated thyroid> > and synthetic levothyroxine. I only recently switched to compounded> > T3/T4 in olive oil capsules. This is an experiment. It is also insurance> > for the future. Dessicated thyroid may not always be available. I also> > may not have my great hormone doc and would be dependent on my great> > primary care doc to prescribe my thyroid meds. He is utterly unwilling> > to write for synthetic T3, but prescribes Armour or ERFA readily. I need> > to be able to say to him, "I have been on this before and this is what I> > need." I am a dead woman without some T3. . . . .> > > > This came up when Armour was unavailable. He flat refused to write for> > Cytomel. I then found compounded dessicated thyroid and ERFA. He was> > glad to write for either of those and wrote me a generous script for the> > ERFA. He wrote the compound from WIP for some of his other thyroid> > patients.> > > >> >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Thanks to you both for clarifying about T3. I'm currently taking cytomel twice a day, and indeed sometimes have a hard time remembering to take it so I have an alarm set on my phone to remind me to take it in the afternoon. Up until I got pregnant, my retired physician father was prescribing my thyroid medicines. He did lots of research into thyroid dosages, and because he's my father, he has seen first hand how taking T3 has helped me and is willing to prescribe my dosages which have been very stable over the last few years. Now that I am pregnant, my OB has been monitoring my thyroid levels. I think she has a history of thyroid problems in her family so she is pretty good. She's had no problem with the cytomel and in fact, ordered Free T3 and Free T4 and TSH without my having to ask for the frees. That's one of the reasons I chose her as my doctor. I hope I can get her to continue monitoring my thyroid levels after I am no longer pregnant especially since I am assuming I will just go back to my previous stable dosage after the pregnancy. I am in Shreveport but used to see an endocrinologist in Houston that people on this board don't particularly care for. I didn't mind the doctor, but didn't really like his staff. I used to have no problem seeing him in Houston, but now due to changing life circumstances don't make it down there often and that's when my dad took over prescribing duties. If I ever need more help, I would probably seek out a doctor in Dallas but will cross that bridge if I come to it. But thanks for the offer of helping to find me a doctor. > > > > > > > > > You must be getting us confused with some other groups. No one in > this > > > group ever said to not take synthetics nor do we advocate everyone > > > taking iodine. Your choice of thyroid meds is a highly individual > > > matter. > > > > > > For many years I have taken a combination of natural dessicated > thyroid > > > and synthetic levothyroxine. I only recently switched to compounded > > > T3/T4 in olive oil capsules. This is an experiment. It is also > insurance > > > for the future. Dessicated thyroid may not always be available. I > also > > > may not have my great hormone doc and would be dependent on my great > > > primary care doc to prescribe my thyroid meds. He is utterly > unwilling > > > to write for synthetic T3, but prescribes Armour or ERFA readily. I > need > > > to be able to say to him, " I have been on this before and this is > what I > > > need. " I am a dead woman without some T3. . . . . > > > > > > This came up when Armour was unavailable. He flat refused to write > for > > > Cytomel. I then found compounded dessicated thyroid and ERFA. He was > > > glad to write for either of those and wrote me a generous script for > the > > > ERFA. He wrote the compound from WIP for some of his other thyroid > > > patients. > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.