Total peripheral thyroid resistance-I wonder what anyone can think of . Thanks..

[Guest guest]

Hi Guys. We have given up hope. Once, long ago, I had Val and other nice guys support me on STTM forum. Maybe somebody will be nice and look through this. It is pretty obvious now that i have complete thyroid resistance but maybe some of these tests will give somebody here a clue...why this is happening. I have had it for three years, and was completely resistant to T3 ever since my first doctor overdosed me on NT (raised Armour too fast, I went into thyroid storm and became resistant to thyroid hormones). My RT3 is kind of high, and not all of my tissues respond to T3 treatment (please note August T3 challenge, Ferritin and HDL usually respond positively to T3 while Cholesterol goes down ). I have been researching receptor resistance and doctors at Chicago University have been studying patients with the same response and resistance to TH for 20 years. Of course, all my attempts to contact these people miserably failed (even my sweet poor boyfriend tried to call them and email them for a year but to no avail). Most likely you guys don't know how to deal with such issues (if its genetic predisposition who can help, right) but maybe somevbody will see something I cannot see because I have trouble functioning. Something that might be a clue.Symptoms are..well, its been three years.Drastic facial changes (myxedema, skin thickening, its very fast now. )Walking/standing problems, I can't get up on my feet without a caneSevere hands, feet and body swelling. Drastic figure changes. Fingers and toes became very large, and I can't draw anymore. I haven't for many months. It was my job.Drastic hair lossMental changes, memory loss, hearing problems, severe depression, migraines every day.Developed a really big gallstone and an ulcer. Just out of emergency room, actually.very high Cholesterol, heart rate very fast even without T3. Muscles hurt every nightLow grade fever for months. We cannot stop it, it doesn't seem to be the cold.Freezing hands and feet all the time. Despite the fever.Body temperature when not feverish is 96.4, or even 96.0. Not kidding. Well, and because of all of this I don't leave the house, only to walk the dog and mostly during the night. I look scary and cannot get up the stairs. Im 32 (just turned). Maybe someone can help, but it has been so long and so much pain I really don't think I can be treated. I have tried T3, all possible doses, T4, NT Armour, Synthroid, Slow release..it has been a long time. I have tested positive for low Cortisol, but haven't been on it until this month for 2 years( this month I have gotten the shakes, blackouts and drop in blood pressure and had to get on it-(2.5 Prednisone Pills a day 5 mg a pill) ). Doctor who did the T3 Challenge tests wanted to prove to us that I don't have a Thyroid Resistance so hard that after my blood tests came back positive for it he lied to me that they are fine. me and my boyfriend found out later and tried to argue with the guy, so the guy went berserk and tried to hit me. Yes, no jokes, my boyfriend had to grab him to stop the guy, while I was sitting in a chair with my cane. Now we are in quite a situation, legally and medically> I am bedridden with no doctor, and I cannot turn to the mainstream facilities. I don't know how this happened. Maybe somebody here is not going to get bored going through the tests and will see smth. thank you everyone, hope you are doing better. I see that its not an easy road, All of this..terrible.First tests ever before they overdosed me and I became resistant:11/13/06TSH (0.4-5.5) 7.55T4 -TOTAL (4.5-12.5)12.11T3 -UPTAKE (22-35)22.5T4-Free (0.8-1.8) 1.2Transferrin saturation (15-50)39TIBC (250-400)33605/18/07TSH 0.027 LFT3 8.24 pg/mL HFSH (4-13)3.35 mIU/mL LH 5.11 mIU/mLAlk Phosph (42.0-98.0)48.9L U/LCa (2.15-2.55)2.48 mmol/LK (Potassium) (3.6-6.0) 4.10Na (Sodium) (130-150) 139.2PTH ((15.0-65/0) 13.57 L pg/mLDHEA (0.4-2.17)0.44 05/08/07FT3 (2.2-5.0)14.40 TSH 0.013 LFSH 5,54LH 2.31PTH ((8.8-76.6) always LOW 8.2 L pg/mL CA (2.15-2.50)2.42 mmol/LCRE (62-10.1)51 L mkml/lALT (0.0-40) 30.9 U/LK- (3.6-6.0)3.48 Na (130-150)-131,1HematologyWBC (3.00-9.00) 10.7 HNeu (37.0-80.0) 76.9% Lym (10.0-50) 13.0% Mono (0.00-12) 9.13%Eos . (0.00-7.00) .550%Baso (0.00-2.50) .406% Neu (2.00-6.90) 8.25 Lym (.600-3.40)1.40 Mono (0.00-.900) .979 Eos (0.00-.700).059 Baso (0.00-.200).04405/07/07Protein (65-85)66.7Albumin (22-44)41.5ALT (5-40)31 AST (5-40)35Alk. Phosph (30-117)81Cholesterol (2.8-5.2)3.21Triglycerides (0.05-2.3)0.8K (Potassium) (3.6-6.0)4.1Na (Sodium) (130-150)132Fe (Iron) (6.0-28.6)10.5 Ca (2.0-2.75)2.46 Tests in 2007 (summer):TSH (0.350-5.5) 0.135 LTBG (13-39) 17FT3 (2.3-4.2) 2.1pg/mL LrT3 (90-350) 135pg/mlT4 0.65 L Tests in 2008:FT3 (2.3-4.2)2.2pg/mL LrT3 (90-350)145 pg/mLTests in 2009:(Attempt to find out if all tissues respond to LT3)08/14/09 (no meds)TSH (0.37-4.42) -0.91FT4 (0.65-1.80) -0.67FT3 (2.30-4.20)-1.81 LFerritin (10-291)-56Cholesterol (<200) 264HHDL (>40) 7008/20/09 (given 25 mg LT3 twice a day)TSH (0.37-4.42)-0.01LFT4 (0.65-1.80)-0.54 LFT3 (2.30-4.20)-5.21 HFerritin (10-291)-53Cholesterol (<200) 197HDL (>40) 62LT3 test was performed per Dr. Refetoff's reference, and while my Cholesterol levels responded well to LT3 challenge (went down), Ferritin instead of going up went down as did HDL (went down). It was the indicator that I do have peripheral resistance.09/29/09 (2 weeks after LT4 treatment)TSH (0.37-4.42)-0.01LFT4 (0.65-1.80)-1.39FT3 (2.30-4.20)-3.23TBG (13.0-30.0)-43.3 H (I was still on birth control patch)Reverse T3 (90-350)-650 pg/mL HSHBG (30-135) 350 I was still on birth controlFerritin, Serum (10-291) 99 (Started Supplements)Cholesterol (<200) 199

10/01/09TBG (13.0-30.0)-31.5 HAlpha Subunit Of Pituitary Glycoprotein (Postmenopausal -0.9-33 ng/mL, Premenopausal -1.5 ng/mL or LESS) 0.4 ng/mL10/02/09Albumin (3.4-4.8)4.8Protein, Total (6.4-8.3)8.1Direct Bili (0.1-0.3)0.1Total Bili (0.1-1.2)0.3Alk Phosph (42-98) 117HALT (7-35) 1511/10/09TSH (0.37-4.42)-1.27LFT3 (2.30-4.20)-2.0Reverse T3 (90-350)-423 pg/mL H(the only values I had access to)

[Guest guest]

OK you need T3 onyl but to tolerate it you are going ot have to take

HIGH dose Iron. You need to have Aldosterone tested as I am sure it is

low and your leectrolyutes are HORRIBLE 2hidh wi why you sfeel so badly

along wiht the high Rt3. You will perobably nee dFlorinef and lots of

sea salt and potasisum, but first get the labs done for aldosterone and

it needs to be doine day 1-2 of your menstrual cycle and salt fasting

for 24 hours.

--

Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/

[Guest guest]

>11/10/09

>TSH (0.37-4.42)-1.27L

>FT3 (2.30-4.20)-2.0

>Reverse T3 (90-350)-423 pg/mL H

>(the only values I had access to)

Hello and welcome. I am really sorry to hear what a mess the medical

profession has left you in,

Val has already given you some answers but those last labs explain why

you feel like death warmed up. With under range FT3 and over range RT3

you will have massive resistance and be horribly hypo. It may be that

there are other causes of resistance as well but the RT3 is a BIG

part of it.

I came here because I had some pretty impressive resistance, it took

12 grains of Natural a day for me to feel human.

After 3 months on T3 only during which time I got up to 250mcg a day

to feel " non-hypo " my resistance suddenly cleared and I dropped down

to 125mcg. I subsequently went up to 150 and was stable there for a

long time but am thinking I may need another increase.

This to me is indicating that I may have some other resistance of

unidentified cause but it's not giving a problem as long as I take

enough T3 and I am not getting adverse symptoms from it. In fact I

feel better than I have for 35 years or so.

>. I have tested positive for low Cortisol, but

>haven't been on it until this month for 2 years( this month I have

>gotten the shakes, blackouts and drop in blood pressure and had to get

>on it-(2.5 Prednisone Pills a day 5 mg a pill) )

There is your big clue. You have probably had low cortisol for a LONG

time, the Dr that overdosed you on Natural probably crashed your

adrenals and well as encouraging RT3 to build up.

There is a good chance that if you can get the main 3 things all in

place at once you can clear at least part of your resistance to T3.

These are:-

Adrenals. Until cortisol and Aldosterone are in place your body is

unable to tolerate enough T3 to do any good. Val has already given you

the aldosterone test instructions, the guidelines for " are you on

enough cortisol " are on here

http://thyroid-rt3.com/adrenals.htm

Once you get temperatures to stabilize when measured this way (and you

may need to clear that infection first) then you are in with a chance.

The next thing is Ferritin. you ideally need somewhere between 70 and

90 when measured having stopped supplementing 5 days before. If you

are still supplementing when you test you will get a false high.

The right amount of T3 for long enough. It's start low and work up

dosing several times a day. Take too much at once and you crash your

adrenals and think it's not going to work. You will find yourself

spending 8 to 10 weeks or so increasing dose every week as your T4

levels sink down getting up to a dose typically 75 to 125, possible

more with the severe resistance you have, you then have to hang in

there wondering if anything will happen. At around the 12 week mark

the receptors should suddenly clear, often overnight, and you then

have to adjust dose again.

It's a long process but it sounds like you've tried just about

everything else.

It may not clear ALL your resistance, you may still need to be on a

fairly high dose, but it ought to get you feeling a LOT better than

you do now.

If you don't have Ferritin and cortisol both in place then you won't

be able to tolerate enough T3 to get there.

A lot of people here are on Mexican T3 which is cheap, $49 for 300

tablets of 25mcg each.

Have a look through this site if you haven't been there yet

www.thyroid-rt3.com

Feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

From what you have said you haven't been on enough T3 for long enough

with everything else in place at once to know this won't work for you

so it's worth a try.

Nick

[Guest guest]

.... Hi dear Val, thank you very much for answering. It is hard to squeeze my medical history even in this long message I wrote. High dose Iron..for half a year i was on iron supplements in 2007. I had pretty high test results. Didn't work. Aldosterone. Was low in 2007 and 2008, I will find the results. I was on HC and Florinef for almost a year in 2007 and a few months in 2008. I tried it, and even went to very high doses but still the same result with T3. I even started growing hair on my face (yes yes high cortisol, plus purple marks on my tummy which all stopped after I lowered the dose), doses were up to 100 or even 200 mg a day (made my RT3 go so high I was swollen and in tears all the time). I had such severe hypo symptoms on it (which didn't go away as fast after discontinuing the HC, all my regular symptoms amplified) that my mother (I was visiting home in Belarus) thought I am overdosing on HC and put me away into a russian mental institution for 3 months for allegedly "self-treating" with medication. I am seriously damaged after that but won't elaborate on what and how happened there, sorry. Electrolytes are usually very low but swelling is severe. High electrolytes happened a few times in the emergency room, I don't know why. Potassium made me swell so bad ( i tried high doses) that I had to stop. Sea salt I might try isn't if all those doses of HC etc. are so high sea salt isn't gonna do much? I can do the testing again-everything at the same time. When I was on HC for such along time (I was on low doses too, for many months, then raised, all by the book really..but it didn't help at all) I was also on T3 for a year on different doses. I went from 25 to 500 mg with NO RESULT whatsoever (well, TSH and heart responded so everybody thought I am tripping and all severe symptoms are from abusing HC). Needless to say HC was over but the symptoms got so bad and worse every day :-) but I haven't had HC since early 2008. For the least week not just the face but even the lower lip started to grow. I don't even come to the mirror anymore, and I thought it was BAD a year ago. :-(SAlt fasting? Not eating salt for 24 hours? Thats interesting. I ahve to find a way to make Medi Cal pay for my tests. its virtually impossible if you go to anyone who is ..not mainstream. We ve been saving money for months.>> OK you need T3 onyl but to tolerate it you are going ot have to take > HIGH dose Iron. You need to have Aldosterone tested as I am sure it is > low and your leectrolyutes are HORRIBLE 2hidh wi why you sfeel so badly > along wiht the high Rt3. You will perobably nee dFlorinef and lots of > sea salt and potasisum, but first get the labs done for aldosterone and > it needs to be doine day 1-2 of your menstrual cycle and salt fasting > for 24 hours.> > -- > Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV> > http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/>

[Guest guest]

Hi Nick, thank you for reading such an endless post. I have covered most of information, they will get shorter very soon:-)"> Val has already given you some answers but those last labs explain why> you feel like death warmed up." -Funny. Yes, I know, the labs are pretty bad ! but the doctors say TSH is fine so NO resistance:-(."With under range FT3 and over range RT3> you will have massive resistance and be horribly hypo." I am like this with EXTREMELY high FT3s as well. I have NEVER tested RT3 while on high doses of T3. The highest doses of T3 I went to out of despair? Up to thousand, no reaction just the heart beats faster. Seriously. On 50 a day (T3) I have extremely high lab results ( up to 14 when the upper range is about 4)."> There is your big clue. You have probably had low cortisol for a LONG> time, the Dr that overdosed you on Natural probably crashed your> adrenals and well as encouraging RT3 to build up." I have started with a low cortisol in the beginning of the therapy, felt incredible improvement though but local doctor raised Armour so fast (a few gains a week) that I had too much thyroid and bang, that s it, got sweaty, hot, eyes bulging out, hair falling out even faster, heart pain, blackout, emergency room, thats it, resistance. Was put on HC, was put on Iron, D3 , Florinef, MAgnesium, B12, everything, everything one can think of, and started to get worse..colder, sicker..with no improvement anymore. I had normal and even HIGH cortisol for a long long time. I got sick in 2006, so for almost 2 years. And 2 years off."> After 3 months on T3 only during which time I got up to 250mcg a day> to feel "non-hypo" my resistance suddenly cleared and I dropped down> to 125mcg. I subsequently went up to 150 and was stable there for a> long time but am thinking I may need another increase. " Well, in the very beginning when everything worked -in early 2007- ONE GRAIN of Armour made me have palpitations and chest pains, as if I started to go hyper, more Armour, more chest pains, high temperature, etc....I don't get it why I got so hyper on such small doses. I was on 80 mg Synthroid and feeling better..well, noticed the changes very fast, air loss stopped etc...and swapped to 1 grain Armour and here we go. "> There is your big clue. You have probably had low cortisol for a LONG> time, the Dr that overdosed you on Natural probably crashed your> adrenals and well as encouraging RT3 to build up." Can Adrenal crash create RT3 problem that just peripheral? Can it get "stuck in the loop"? How can there be any "loops" if receptors are renewing, allegedly? Why my heart and pituitary are responding to T3, and the rest doesn't? I know different tissues have different absorption rate and all, but can it possibly be that with no mutation some of them just..stop doing it? We are saving money to test for receptor resistance, but some people have resistance without identifiable cause. I knopw that I had very good Cortisol for such a long time and I am on Prednisone for the past monthso thats fine..feels not hypoadrenal anymore, I don't know."Once you get temperatures to stabilize when measured this way (and you> may need to clear that infection first) then you are in with a chance."Can the gallstone or gallbladder disease cause constant infection? I had extremely strange reaction to liver cleansing ..thing..just when I got sick, i was forced to go to this acupuncture place and thye stuffed me with some herbal supplement allegedly fr liver function..I was dumb enough to actually take it as prescribed, cannot find out what was in them..but i started foaming at the mouth ion two days and lost coordination..couldn't walk, was really sick..Evidently, I stopped the "medication" and avoided that place after:-). Everybody says my liver is fine. I don't know anymore. i had this gallstone for 3-4 years, I know for a fact.There is some research mentioning that high D-125 can get stuck in the receptors. It is the active form of D-3, and is caused by long-standing disease and infection. People with lupus etc get this problem. My D3 is very low, but I am covering all the bases. I will try with the Ferritin again, but to be honest I did. I just never! tested it right I guess. I always tested while on supplements. I have Cynomel. it is very reasonable, even for people on Social Security:-).I am going to a new doctor this Monday. he allegedly knows how to deal with thyroid, I only hope that he will be supportive and read our research. Previous one (SFGH endo) screamed at us that Thyroid resistance is so rare, there are no people like this at all:-(. He told me to ride a bike 2 hours a day, and told my boyfriend "that I need to have a healthier attitude and everything will go away". That he should stop supporting my "delusions, and that some women age very fast and should get used to it"> Got my boyfriend so angry. The guy wrote on his every medical record page that I am "delusional" or "have a factitious disorder". We are trying to sue them now. Then it was lunging at me because I noticed he lied about the tests...I discovered that the guy actually holds seminars about aggressive behaviour in teenagersand how to deasl with violence. Irony:-)))))Sorry, this was the last long post. > > >11/10/09> >TSH (0.37-4.42)-1.27L> >FT3 (2.30-4.20)-2.0> >Reverse T3 (90-350)-423 pg/mL H> >(the only values I had access to)> > Hello and welcome. I am really sorry to hear what a mess the medical> profession has left you in,> > Val has already given you some answers but those last labs explain why> you feel like death warmed up. With under range FT3 and over range RT3> you will have massive resistance and be horribly hypo. It may be that> there are other causes of resistance as well but the RT3 is a BIG> part of it.> > I came here because I had some pretty impressive resistance, it took> 12 grains of Natural a day for me to feel human. > > After 3 months on T3 only during which time I got up to 250mcg a day> to feel "non-hypo" my resistance suddenly cleared and I dropped down> to 125mcg. I subsequently went up to 150 and was stable there for a> long time but am thinking I may need another increase. > > This to me is indicating that I may have some other resistance of> unidentified cause but it's not giving a problem as long as I take> enough T3 and I am not getting adverse symptoms from it. In fact I> feel better than I have for 35 years or so.> > >. I have tested positive for low Cortisol, but> >haven't been on it until this month for 2 years( this month I have> >gotten the shakes, blackouts and drop in blood pressure and had to get> >on it-(2.5 Prednisone Pills a day 5 mg a pill) )> > There is your big clue. You have probably had low cortisol for a LONG> time, the Dr that overdosed you on Natural probably crashed your> adrenals and well as encouraging RT3 to build up.> > There is a good chance that if you can get the main 3 things all in> place at once you can clear at least part of your resistance to T3.> > These are:-> > Adrenals. Until cortisol and Aldosterone are in place your body is> unable to tolerate enough T3 to do any good. Val has already given you> the aldosterone test instructions, the guidelines for "are you on> enough cortisol" are on here> > http://thyroid-rt3.com/adrenals.htm> > Once you get temperatures to stabilize when measured this way (and you> may need to clear that infection first) then you are in with a chance.> > The next thing is Ferritin. you ideally need somewhere between 70 and> 90 when measured having stopped supplementing 5 days before. If you> are still supplementing when you test you will get a false high.> > The right amount of T3 for long enough. It's start low and work up> dosing several times a day. Take too much at once and you crash your> adrenals and think it's not going to work. You will find yourself> spending 8 to 10 weeks or so increasing dose every week as your T4> levels sink down getting up to a dose typically 75 to 125, possible> more with the severe resistance you have, you then have to hang in> there wondering if anything will happen. At around the 12 week mark> the receptors should suddenly clear, often overnight, and you then> have to adjust dose again.> > It's a long process but it sounds like you've tried just about> everything else.> > It may not clear ALL your resistance, you may still need to be on a> fairly high dose, but it ought to get you feeling a LOT better than> you do now.> > If you don't have Ferritin and cortisol both in place then you won't> be able to tolerate enough T3 to get there.> > A lot of people here are on Mexican T3 which is cheap, $49 for 300> tablets of 25mcg each. > > Have a look through this site if you haven't been there yet> > www.thyroid-rt3.com> > Feel free to ask as many questions as you like.> > From what you have said you haven't been on enough T3 for long enough> with everything else in place at once to know this won't work for you> so it's worth a try.> > Nick>

[Guest guest]

My symptoms are pure myxedema. i was off HC or any Adrenal support for 2

years. the skin on the face neck upper part of the body hands and feet

became severely thikened ( huge) and hard to move ( i can't move head

side to side, or have facial expressions) . Samer with upper

body-turning sideways hurts. It looks like lymph infiltrations in skin.

I cannot draw or hold a pen/brush because my fingers are really large

and its not water retention. It has gone very far. When it just started

it was water retention, and now, well, its not anymore and getting

progressively worse. I have became like this in the last year. I only

took Prednisone for a month now, and it didn't change a thing besides i

stopped shaking all the time and blood pressure is higher than 100 over

70:-).

I have done T3 with Iron. I will try again what do i have to lose:-)My

aldosterone i can't find but it was low before HC was ever taken. Are

there any potassium/sodium rules and regulation on how to take it (i

watched the video..) Regular salt makes me swell up like a balloon. So

scary. Sea salt I have never tried.

I have Fludrocortisone, I can try it again with prednisone. It really

haven't done anything before. Thank you, I will see what happens on

Monday...I can try to put a picture (its a month old its worse now)

online and delete it later. Its traumatizing but I guess if its for

medical purposes:-(. thank you.

>

> BUt you need to do high dose iron WITH T3 protocol. Eiyther alone or

> iron with Natural thyroid is not going to work. This si the way RT3

> resistance works. Build the iron WITH SLOLWY building the T3 and

support

> the adrenals all the while with what ever adrenal support is working

for

> oyu at the moment. Your symptloms sound a little Myexedema and a

little

> Cushings. And I fear a little of both is veyr har d to live with I

have

> had both thne add in your intolerance to thyroid due to low Ferritin

> which ALSO causes fluid reteniton no wonder you feel bad. But the

> protocols here WILL help you.

> Abotu taking potasisum . NO ONE shoudl take it wihtout sodium. You

need

> bOTH together. ook in earlier posts for th epotassium/sodium pump

video.

> It takes BOTH to remove fluids and hydrate the cells where oyu body

wil

> lnto hold onto all th efluid it can in desperation as there is no

> balance to be had. Too much of either potassium or soium and you hold

> fluids, too little and oyu hold fluids. Having this many issues with

> fluid retention begs for ALdosterone testing as well, sorry I can;t

> remember if oyu have dine proper aldosterone testing.

>

> --

> Artistic Grooming- Hurricane WV

>

> http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/

>

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalThyroidHormonesADRENALS/

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RT3_T3/

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypoPets/

>

[Guest guest]

Nick and , that RT3 website -I finally got through it-is really smart. thank god people have this help from you guys, otherwise there would be a lot of folks in a coma judging by the way doctors ruin our health. I am fed up with endocrinology, and in the US it seems its still better than in other countries. Dang.I have a serious question, hope nobody here will get mad at me for taking medication like this on my own, we decided to try this out of desperation really.OK. So I was on 300 mg T3 for 5 months, then on 500 mg T3 (no kidding, a day) for three more months. Along with this, I have been on slowly increased doses of HC , all smartly done, divided during the day as was T3 etc. All with the whole temperature observation and it didn't work. I have gone from 25 mcg a day to almost 200. Thsi was in 2007 and never happened again. i have tried T3 in different doses after, but NO AMOUNT of it ever mde me feel better (just almost killed my heart a couple of times..but the rest..no relief). Levothyroxine made me so swollen it wasn't even funny. So, a month and a half ago we found a way to get a hold of Tapazole. Yes, it is the medication used in HYPERthyroid patients to treat EXCESS amounts of Thyroid hormone. I researched the way it works for months and with no help from anywhere and after noticing RT3 results, we decided to go for it and see if it will kill my T4 (and everything else):-). I started the experiment and dosed it carefully with about 40 mcg of T3, and somethign incredible happened, for about 2 hours (I know, too short) I felt AMAZING. I got warm, my hands started to sweat, swelling went DOWN! first time in 3 years, migraine stopped immediately, heart rate went up way too much and terrible weakness disappeared. I got up, tossed my cane got the dog and we went for a long long walk, I jogged with him, we went to the park-its over fifteen blocks-it was amazing. I felt like myself again. And then it ..changed. I got sicker than ever, with symptoms coming back very fast, became disoriented, swelling came back, muscles hurt so much i couldn't walk for weeks, skin changes got so quick that on our New Years Eve we were home and I was crying with a cold towel on my face, in pain. What a way to spend the night. Of course, I didn't research it enough:-( but after a terrible painful week I discovered that Tapazol is known for "reducing the affinity of T3 receptors". So much for a miracle cure. I had felt so great, and apparently something good happened to me on that day. It has done something good, before doing smth bad I guess.Regarding TSH responding to T4...i think its T3 but it acts differently--- On Dr. Holtorf's website there is a little article about research done somewhere to check the Pituitary Gland's response to T3 in comparison to other tissues and its so much more sensitive to thyroid hormone plus there is a chart showing that there is NO RT3 produced from T4 in pituitary, period. Different mechanism. I will find the link. I hope it is all true on his site, because in genetically impaired patients most of the time pituitary is also resistant to TH due to a gene allele missing..parts of receptors missing, i.e., so in their case, TSH is very often not suppressed correctly. I have tons of research done and god it doesn't help me:-). Y> > >Yes, I know, the labs are> >pretty bad ! but the doctors say TSH is fine so NO resistance:-(.> > No conversion either, not in the right direction anyway.> > TSH is an intrinsically unreliable way of measuring your thyroid> status, it reflects what your body THINKS it's doing, not what it's> actually doing. > > Hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong here but I have a> feeling that TSH levels respond to T4 as well as to T3 and hence a> good level of T4 and a low level of T3 will still result in a low TSH.> > Free T3 is the one that most reflects how you feel and it needs to be> top of range. Not only does FT3 need to be top of range but it needs> to be in a healthy balance with RT3. In practice that means a ratio of> FT3 to RT3 of 20 to 1 or greater once the decimal points are in the> right place. Your ratio calculates as 4.7 which is the second worst> ratio that I have seen in the 9 months that I have been on this group,> first as someone seeking help and then staying on to try and help> others.> > With a ratio of 4.7 you have a strong culprit for SEVERE resistance.> Get that better and you will lose a large proportion of that> resistance at least. This will take time to do, you effectively have> to "starve out the RT3" by taking away what it's made from and> waiting until it's all been excreted or metabolized. I don't have> evidence for it but suspect that cases this severe may take longer> than people with less RT3 to clear.> > It's going to be a matter of getting the pieces in place and hanging> in there for a few months, it will probably seem that nothing is> happing for ages but labs taken along the way will show a reduction in> FT4 and a reduction in RT3. This will initially have no metabolic> effect but once the serum levels are low enough the receptors WILL> clear and the bulk of the resistance will go. > > Nick> > -- > > for more information on RT3 and Thyroid Resistance go to > > www.thyroid-rt3.com>