confused and confused some more!

[Guest guest]

Hi there.

I'm having confusing results, partly good, but totally confusing!

My temp was 98.2 on WAKING this morning. Crazy!! It's 3:30pm and I have more

energy at this time than I've had in five years, no exaggeration, but my temp is

97.9 and my hands and feet and nose are freezing, as usual, still brain fogged,

but thinking is less taxing (at least when I started writing this!). My temps

have been getting up to 98.6 in the afternoons the last few days!! I think they

dropped yesterday after some T3, though I'm not totally sure, but if it did

suggests my adrenals can't handle the load, but I'm only on 25mcg and the 4.5mcg

that is in the ½ grain of NT. 27.5mgHC (see below)

My temps have definitely started going up in the last few of days, as a result,

I'm sure of starting I HC on 10 January, which I went on after RT3/T3 test

(ratio: 11) not being able to raise T3 (and seeing low cort. labs).

Time machine back to November: I started trying Cytomel on 4 November (thought

it was SR – I took 7.5mcg 3x/day, totaling 22.5). Then on 4 December I tried

mult-dosing with Cytomel – 37.5mcg and going off NT, titrating appropriately and

dosing correctly with the help of this list. Experience was HORRIFIC. Could

not function. Missed over a week of work. I mention this because I've been now

on some sort of T3 since early Nov. - around at least 20mcg. And when I did my

labs in late Oct. my RT3/T3 ratio was 11 – this was after changing from 1 grain

of Armour to 2 grains of NT. On just one grain of Armour my ratio was 17. And

my T3 went from lowest normal number, up a bit. But, when I raised the Armour I

felt awful, too.

Fastforward to now: So, I haven't even gotten my adrenals totally stable so I

can do a T3 regimen to clear RT3, but my temps are going up and I'm feeling,

albeit, not consistently, like my body might be getting what it needs – like I

am getting the chemicals to think. But, as I said, I'm only on 25mcg T3 and ½

grain NT (both Nick and Val have said I probably have some resistance (or was it

a conversion issue, which I've always suspected before I knew there was such a

thing, or both?) and was living off the T2 in the NT, which is going on T3

alone was an unmitigated disaster. So, I'm staying on a bit of NT.

QUESTION: Could it be that somehow my receptors weren't damaged enough or

somehow some of the cortisol is helping a bit to get the T3 through NOW, or the

fact that I've been doing cytomel in some way since early Nov is helping

somewhat?

QUESTION: I'm also super confused as to whether the T3 is making my adrenals

crash, or, Nick, I read you said front loading HC for you can make you hypo all

day. I know we're all different, but it's like I need a decision tree or

something! (If this happens, think of x, y, z. And if that happens, think of

j,k,z) (I've read the helpful RT3 site, have the STTM book, researched my

eyeballs off, too!) I know I'm not on a high dose of T3, but am wondering if I

should reduce to help my adrenals, since I was only on 1 grain of armour forever

( I'd previous to that: levoxyl, lev/cytomel combo platter, etc. etc.) (Agggh,

me and my labs showed I was hypo for all those years and my doc said I was

" fine " !) Or, should I try to go up on the HC? - though I'm already on 27.5 and

don't want to shut down my ACTH. I tend to have the atypical reaction, and

except for little waves, I haven't gotten hyper or certainly haven't gotten

sweaty or gotten edema, etc.

Ex: in the time it took me to write this, either writing and/or taking my T3 has

increased my brain fog a LOT and now I'm literally too foggy to reread to see if

I'm making any sense. So either, 1. I crashed my adrenals by using up cortisol

to think! (sounds hokey, but I think it has happened for years) 2. Used up my T3

by same mechanism, 3. Took my T3 before writing this and it is the T3 that is

crashing me/my adrenals currently. Not so much energy-wise, but brain fog-wise.

So confused on teasing this out, and my temp doesn't always mesh with my sxs.

I know this is a disjointed mess. Super sorry. It's amazing how much my brain

can crash. It's never good – varies from about 50% at best these days, to 20%,

I'd say. (HC is giving me a glimmer of hope, though!)

Thanks so much, Nick and Val (and all!) ~ Carol

FYI:

Vitals: Pulse remains steady at 60! Past avg: 57. BP is weird now: old avg:

87/47, better on fludro, but now it's: 117/57. Yay for systolic going up, but

the diastolic won't budge. Doc says maybe it's Vit. B issue. (????)

Ferritin: was 6, did IVs, up to 130, down now to 88, so in range, but I'm not

holding it. Will take another test tomorrow.

Medications:

• Cortef: 27.5mg/day in divided dose (10mg on waking, 7.5mg 3 hours later, 5mg

3 hours, 2.5mg 3 hours, 2.5 at bed)

• Fludrocortisone: .1mg, in divided dose (½ on waking, ½ at 2pm)

• 7-Keto DHEA: ~15mg on waking (doc wants me to stay on it as my DHEA was only

normal in labs while being on it)

• Cytomel: 25mg/day in divided dose (6.25mg on waking, 6.25mg at 12am, 6.25mg

at 4pm, 6.25 at bed) – just changed this from 3 hour intervals to 4

• NatureThroid: ½ grain in divided dose (¼ grain on waking, ¼ grain at 2pm)

• Progesterone: 100mg at bed (bio-identical micronized capsule)

• Estrogen: transdermal diestrogen (estriol, estradiol) 2.5GM tube (1 gram per

day)

also taking C, B, omega 3, potassium for the fludro, 1/2 tsp salt in morning.

etc.

12/23/09 – saliva testing

• Cortisol

o 6-8am: 24 (range: 13-24)

o 11-noon: 2 (range: 5-10)

o 4-5: 1 (range: 3-8)

o 10-midnight: 2 (range: 1-4)

• Cortisol burden: 29 (range: 23-42)

• DHEA: 7 (range: 3-10) (supp'ing 7-keto, prior to that 15mg DHEA since last

test)

10/09 – serum – on 2 grains NT

• FT3: 331 (range: 230-420)

• FT4: 1.1 (range: 0.8-1.8)

• RT3: 28 (range: 11-32)

• FT3/RT3 ratio: 11 (optimal: 20)

• TSH: .06 (range: .40 – 4.50)

6/09 – serum – on 1 grain NT

• FT3: 279 (range: 230-420)

• FT4: 0.8 (range: 0.8-1.8)

• RT3: 16 (range: 11-32)

• FT3/RT3 ratio: 17 (optimal: 20)