Holtorf prescriptions - T3 and HC with my levels

[Guest guest]

Hi all. I posted a while back on my labs and medicine levels and am still

trying to wade through a lot of the info on this board. I'd like to repost to

see what other thoughts folks (Nick???) might have. Right now, I am dosing

exactly as my doctor from Holtorf indicated with a diagnoses of hypothyroidism,

adrenal fatigue, CFS and a sleep disorder. I am also interested in thoughts

about treatment from any others on this board who have seen doctors at Holtorf.

The doctor did not test me for ferritin (!) but started me on SRT3, 10mcg/7

days, 25mcg/10 days, and 37.5mcg for 50 days. I am in the last days of the

25mcg dosage. Have not noticed any change in temps (still very low, 97'ish, but

stable) or heartrate. He has also put me on 5mg of HC and a host of adrenal

support supplements. I have at his recommendation increased my iron, DHEA, vit

D, B12 and iodine supplements as well. What I am confused about is his

recommendations seem contradictory of a lot of what I am reading and I need some

help so I can go back to him fully informed. If I am NOT hypo or don't have a

RT3 probelm, I don't want to mess myself up worse by taking T3!

Thanks for any help you can give me.

in LA

Labs:

TSH: 1.73 (0.40-4.50)

Free T4: 1.2 (0.08-1.8)

Free T3 : 278 (230-420)

RT3: 329 (90-350)

T3/RT3 ratio: 8.4

Ferritin: 18 (**NOT tested by Holtorf - non-fasted, pm test, the week after my

period while I was fighting bronchitis). If this is so important, why didn't

they test it?) - started supplementing 170mg elemental iron daily

Iron total: 139 (40-175)

Iron binding capacity: 420 (250-450)

% saturation: 33% (15-50%)

Vit. D, 25 Hydroxy: 49 (20-100) - increased from 5000 to 10,000/day

Vit. B12: 555 (200-1100) - started sublingual B12, 5,000mg 2x/day

Folate: 461 (>280)

Total Cholesterol: 186 (125-200)

LDL: 96 (<130)

HDL: 77 (>46)

Triglycerides: 64 (<150)

Fasting Glucose: 84 (65-99)

Fasting Insulin: 9 (<17)

A1c: 5.2 (<6%)

Leptin Serum Level: 21.7 (4.1-25)

Cortisol Total: 8.3 (1.8-13.6)

Cortosol Free: 0.16 (0.04-0.45)

**This is serum, not saliva

ACTH: 8 (5-27)

Aldosterone: 25 (<= 28)

Sodium: 136 (135-146)

Potassium: 3.8 (3.5-5.3)

RBC Magnesium: 4.0 (4.0-6.4)

Thyroid Peroxidase: <10 (<35)

Antithyroglobulin Ab: <20 (<20)

Iodine: 3 (>120) - started Iordoral supplementation 12.5 2x/day

DHEA-S: 128 (25-220) - started DHEA 25/pregnonelone 100

[Guest guest]

Hi Val and thanks for the very timely response. Sorry to be a pest but I just

wanted to check my understanding...

-Your recommendation is that I STOP supplementing DHEA/preg and iodine? I have

taken DHEA in the past with no issues but if I don't need it, it's one less dang

pill! Testosterone did come out on the low side which is why he suggested the

DHEA supp (total 26ng/dL of 2-45 and free 2.4pg/mL of 0.1-6.4).

--and START supplementing sea salt and potassium? I already supplement

both--the sea salt through salting almost everything I eat and the potassium

through 100mg/day supp plus at least one avocado a day. Would you recommend

other or more?

-Is the iron supplement enough to start on the ferritin problem (170mg

elemental/day split doses without food or calcium/other minerals)?

-Should I STOP the T3 and or the HC (as small as it is) given the

ferritin/cortisol/adrenal issue? I haven't experienced any issues so far but I

don't want to do MORE damage.

-My adrenal support from the doctor is in the form of two supplements

(proprietary) whose main ingredients are bovine adrenal concentrate (am) and

skullcap root and ashwaganda root (pm). Both am and pm also include siberian

ginseng and rhodiola rosea root (for what it's worth). Is this a good start?

If not, what should I be doing or taking?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your (seemingly) infinite patience

and for everything you do!

in LA

>

> You rARE hypo and you DO have an RT3 problem. But you also have VERY low

> ferritin adn VERY low cortils both of which may contribute to the Rt3

> problem. I would have recommended MUCH more HC than he did and hav eno

> clue as I do nto knwo what other adrneal suppoorts he put in place what

> his menas of dealing wiht this is. I would also not take DHEA wiht low

> cortiosl as many cannto tolerate it. It also can cause extreme estrogen

> dominance when coritls is low as it tends to go to all estrogen rather

> than the testosterone we are usually olow in wiht adnrela fatigue. You

> need BOTH unrefined sea salt and potasisum and I also would not ever

> recommend iodine when adrenals are this weak as it can stress them. It

> also stimulat4es the thyroid to produce more hormones, especially T4

> which in turn makes more RT3. SO yeah, I disagree with his treatment plan.

>

> --

> 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/

>