Guest guest Posted August 21, 2003 Report Share Posted August 21, 2003 Thank you, !! (Please see also my response to .) I agree 100% with your " take " on the medical and drug communities! As a nurse, I see it EVERY SINGLE DAY! I also have no problem educating myself and " assisting " the doctor (in my case, my PA) in my own care. And maybe in the process, she will be educated, too, to the point where she can truly treat some other miserable soul with the same problem and they won't have to go through what I'm going through. Always a nurse at heart!! Ever since I was hospitalized, I've had this feeling that my " psych problem " wasn't totally a psych problem. Depression and anxiety run in my family so I've resolved within myself the fact that I'll probably always need assistance in this area but I find it really hard to believe I respond relatively poorly to most antidepressants. I've been on just about every one out there! As far as the anxiety goes, Buspar has been a godsend. I find it really hard to believe that with all the anxiety out there, which I see way too much in my nursing practice, Buspar isn't prescribed more often. It's like no one has ever heard of it! And it's not sedating or addictive like the benzodiazepines (Valium, Ativan, Xanax.) To be honest, for the first time in month/years, today I'm feeling some genuine HOPE here and not just the little shimmer of hope I've felt on occasion during my long and exhausting ordeal with this crap. The thought of needing less of my psych meds or perhaps none at all would be like a dream come true. A true blessing. Even just the ability to " live " again like a " normal " person would be good enough for me! So God Bless You! Janet > Welcome Whitecap! And " this nurse " is going to gain a whole lot more > knowledge than the doctors that surround her (as usual). Your psych doc was > on the right track, and I submit to you that your psychiatric problems > are/were the result of, not the cause of, your thyroid problems. > > The medical paradigm, as a result of rich drug company propaganda (years ago > and now), has been sadly misled in the treatment of thyroid disease, and, in > your case, hypothyroidism. $ynthroid, or any T4, according to them, is the > only thing to replace our natural thyroid hormones (not true). T4 is the > hormone our thyroids are supposed to naturally make, but is supposed to be > converted to the useable form, T3. However, only a little bit of that is > naturally converted, and you will find that most of us are so highly > individual in our body chemistries that it's virtually impossible to bring > ourselves back up to standard of " where we were " formerly without a natural > thyroid hormone. The " old " Armour is still our best bet, as far as I'm > concerned, because it contains all the thyroid hormones that our thyroid > used to make (T1, T2, T3, T4). It is natural porcine thyroid from the pig, > and is the most similar to ours. Thing is, docs don't want to prescribe it > anymore because of brainwashing and drug company hype. Also, the TSH is NOT > the best standard for determining your needs, but the Free T3 and Free T4 > are (not the Total T4, etc...). Some of these tests are considered outmoded > by some, but not here. You will find that ALL of us have been to hell and > back, when it comes to this disease. As a result, the knowledge is rampant > here. > > On our Texas Thyroid site, go into " Links " and " Files " on the left side of > the page, and you will find a bunch of useful information that will bring > you to an understanding of all these things. In the links section, there > are also drug companies you can order from NON-prescription to obtain > Cytomel, various T4 brands, and Armour. There is also a section on labs > where you can get your OWN labs done, where you will not have to spend > zillions of dollars at the doc's office to get this done. > > I hope your experience here is a good one! You have come to a place of > understanding! If you can, please post your labs with the normal ranges to > compare. > > > > Cytomel > > > > Hi.... My first post here as I'm becoming somewhat desperate. Hope > someone can > > help me shed some light on my situation. > > > > I'm an RN who was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism about 3 years ago. > (I've also > > had depression and anxiety to varying degrees for the last 10+ years, for > which I > > currently take Lexapro and Buspar. I must add, out of all the > antidepressants and > > combinations I've tried over the years, these two seem to be working the > best for me.) > > For the hypothyroidism, I was initially placed on Synthroid 75mcg which > brought my > > TSH to a " normal " level. About 8 months later, I was so depressed and had > such great > > anxiety that I truly didn't feel safe and I admitted myself to a > psychiatric hospital -- > > talk about guts and the will to live! Thyroid levels drawn there as a > part of admission > > blood work showed my TSH was still in the normal range. I was there for 8 > days and I > > wasn't given my Synthroid there and due to economic reasons, I didn't see > my regular > > physician again re: the hypothyroidism until May of this year. At that > time, I was > > experiencing severe fatigue, feet/ankle swelling, anxiety and mild > depression. At > > that visit, my TSH was just under normal. When I was first diagnosed with > > hypothyroidism, I had discussed it with my psychiatrist and he had > mentioned > > Cytomel stating that in his experience, psychiatric patients with my types > of > > conditions seemed to do better on Cytomel than on one of the synthetics, > like > > Synthroid. My regular physician was reluctant to prescribe Cytomel for > me. Whether > > this was due to his not knowing enough about the drug or what, I don't > know and he > > wouldn't say. > > > > Anyway, after I got out of the hospital, I was barely able to afford my > psych meds let > > alone the Synthroid so I was basically taking it sporadically and > " stretching " out the > > prescription so I wouldn't have to spend the $200+ for the office visit to > the doctor > > plus the lab work. I know..... not a really great thing, but that was my > reality. I don't > > know if it was the work I did for myself in the hospital and after > discharge or if it was > > discontinuing the Synthroid, but I did begin to feel better and better. > > > > After the first couple of months on the Cytomel, the feet/ankle problem > diminished > > significantly and the depression I was feeling improved. I feel my > anxiety isn't as bad > > on the Cytomel as it was on the Synthroid, but the fatigue is still with > me in full force. > > This past Friday, I was in bed for almost 24 hours and slept for probably > 18 hours of > > those 24. It's beginning to scare me a lot that I can't seem to shake > this! > > > > I know I can throw in a lot of situational things here to explain the > fatigue, depression > > and anxiety but I'll save that for my book! :-) What I'd like to gain > here is some > > insight into getting my hypothyroidism under control so that I will KNOW > it's not my > > thyroid when the psychiatric things get out of whack. I've done a lot of > reading on > > this since I last visited my physician as he doesn't seem to know a lot > about the > > subject and is always so busy that him doing any research in his " free > time " probably > > just ain't gonna happen here. I've read some various group posts about > mixing > > Cytomel and a synthetic T4. Why exactly would one do this? (I know this > has proably > > been explained at some point in this group but I just don't have the hours > necessary > > to go through all of the posts here and elsewhere.) And information on > the T3 meds > > is so very limited. So will anyone help me? Does anyone have an > explanation or a > > direction they can send me? There is only ONE endocrinologist in this > city and it > > could late months to get in. The nearest major city is 3.5 hours away. > So any help > > would be so greatly appreciated! I'm just sick and tired of feeling so > sick and tired! > > HELP! A HUGE thank you to anyone who is willing and able! > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2003 Report Share Posted August 22, 2003 Janet As a CNA, I too see the suffering every day and know about the kind of emotional and physical stress that this profession brings. I see over too much time that the nursing floor is the backbone of the doctor, and that most of the time patients wouldn't be treated squarely if it wasn't for that. In nursing, it's hard to be the patient. This site has opened up a whole new world to me, and I sought it because of " rebellion " t'wd the medical paradigm and my own illness. Many things just aren't right, and we need to work to change that, in my opinion. If you have good insurance, then you are sitting pretty, so to speak. So many of us don't have insurance, and the labs that allow us to order what we want (as long as we know what we're doing), are a life saver for us. Between my immersion in my work, a WHOLE lot of reading, and this site, I've empowered myself. Re: Cytomel > Thank you, !! > > (Please see also my response to .) > I agree 100% with your " take " on the medical and drug communities! As a nurse, I see > it EVERY SINGLE DAY! I also have no problem educating myself and " assisting " the > doctor (in my case, my PA) in my own care. And maybe in the process, she will be > educated, too, to the point where she can truly treat some other miserable soul with > the same problem and they won't have to go through what I'm going through. Always > a nurse at heart!! > > Ever since I was hospitalized, I've had this feeling that my " psych problem " wasn't > totally a psych problem. Depression and anxiety run in my family so I've resolved > within myself the fact that I'll probably always need assistance in this area but I find it > really hard to believe I respond relatively poorly to most antidepressants. I've been > on just about every one out there! As far as the anxiety goes, Buspar has been a > godsend. I find it really hard to believe that with all the anxiety out there, which I see > way too much in my nursing practice, Buspar isn't prescribed more often. It's like no > one has ever heard of it! And it's not sedating or addictive like the benzodiazepines > (Valium, Ativan, Xanax.) > > To be honest, for the first time in month/years, today I'm feeling some genuine HOPE > here and not just the little shimmer of hope I've felt on occasion during my long and > exhausting ordeal with this crap. The thought of needing less of my psych meds or > perhaps none at all would be like a dream come true. A true blessing. Even just the > ability to " live " again like a " normal " person would be good enough for me! > > So God Bless You! > Janet > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 20, 2003 Report Share Posted November 20, 2003 I wouldn't take this med all at once. I would take it spread out during the day. That's how our thyroid glands distribute it anyway. A hefty bolus of it all at once I know would probably make me very hyper for at least several hrs a day. Re: Cytomel > I've been very successful using both of them. I also used to take it > at the same time as the Synthroid, now I am experimenting with > splitting up the Cytomel dosage and taking it 3x a day instead. > > > Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 9, 2008 Report Share Posted April 9, 2008 I'd sure like to know the answer to that. No doubt it has something to do with Big Pharma extending their monopoly. -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 , can you send me the list at: dbkczar at gmail.com I guess it didn't go thru my isp, but usually I don't have problems..thanks! Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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