Re: kitkat4184 re dosage of ATDs

[Guest guest]

Hi

I'm being treated in Sydney at the Royal North Shore Hospital.

You are very confident in the dosages of ATDs. How did you get to this point?

You have been dropping very very slowly!!

Was it something you negotiated with your endo about the time frame to stay on

these drug dosages.Maybe you are the really really really really lucky ones and

have an endo who knows how to dose you. I would love to know. You said that

your doctor listens to the way you feel, rather than by the numbers. Let me

tell you - when I went off the ATDs for 24 hours I felt wonderful!!! But as

soon as I went back on a lower dose, i definately started to feel drugged again.

So my question is: are you supposed to feel great on these dosages? How are

you supposed to tell you doctor where to go next. I only every feel great when

I am back on minimal i.e. 1/4 a day.

My endos zips and zaps me around from 30mg for 2 weeks, up to 45mg for 17

days, off for 24 hours because of a low blood count, and drop really quickly to

15mg. At my last visit I was very cautious and suggested that maybe the drop

was too quick and we agreed on 20mg. (I only questioned this because I have

heard in this support group that it is better to drop slowly.)Now I am wondering

whether I am right to stay on 20mg, or should I have not questioned the endo

and taken his suggested 15mg. This is what is really bugging me right now -

should I be in control of the dosages and keep pushing him to keep me on the

dosages longer. They didnt seem to have harmed you for such long period!

Anyway, longer is better for the thyroid??

21 Needles - wow! How often do you get 21 needles? Once or twice a week. My

acupuncturist treats single zones. So far it has been to do with my thyroid.

But because my WBC dropped, she is treating that instead of the thyroid

condition. Do you also have acupressure massage?

My acupuncturist is a lady from China who is also a doctor, but prefers

chinese medicine. She trained at the Ghungzoo Universty. She lectures on

chinese herbs at Sydney Uni. She is also doing research on the effect of

various herbs on cells. She cant convince me to put anything in my mouth yet.

Just green tea. I also go to a short meditation session regularly once a week.

I am trying to develop a habit of it, so that every day at 12.00 I WILL do it!!!

What sort of herbs are you taking exactly. Do you get a combination of real

roots. Or is it a standardized pill of some kind and you take 4 or so three

times a day type of thing. Do any of your combinations include Kelp? I thought

anything to do with salt was a no no? I am curious to compare. When I read

Elaine's book, she listed a whole lot of chinese and japanese herbs used.

Cheers

Liz

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on

liz.jameson@...

Dosage Adjustments---Liz

Liz,

I have been away for a few days and am just catching up.

My, it has been busy here the past couple of days. Just a short

bcomment in relation to the RAI: Yes or No debate. I was diagnosed in

Australia (Brisbane), by an endo in Dec 2001. Was told immediately I

was an ideal candidate for RAI. Fortunately I live in Japan and the

Australian endo wrote a letter to " advise " my Japanese doctor what the

ideal course of action was when I returned there. My doctor in Japan

read the letter carefully and without a word filed it. RAI was never

mentioned from that day to this, twenty months later.From what I have

learned from this group and from the doctors here in Japan I am

satisfied that ATDs, carefully monitored, are the way to go.

Now to the question of your dosage. I started out on 45mg a day of

Neomercazole as prescribed by said endo in Brisbane. This was changed

to Mercazole (has to be very similar) when I got back to Japan and

reduced to 30mgs after six weeks and then to 20, 15, 10 and then to 5

in December last year and that is where I am now. These dose

reductions were done at about two-three month intervals and only after

monthly labs and more importantly a close examination of what my

symptoms were every month on the day blood was drawn. On more than one

occasion the doctor made his decision based on how I felt rather than

what the numbers said. My FT4 numbers have been normal for months now

despite a slightly low FT3 and a non existent TSH.

I guess what I want to say is that with monthly labs you can control

quite closely where you are. Do the reductions slowly. Your body will

tell you what level is good for you. When you do feel good make sure

you make a record of it and tell the endo and mark those next lab

numbers. Those will probably be your set points, where you feel best

and those will become your guidelines.

I took Chinese herbs for about 9 months and now I am having

acupuncture. I believe that the body's overall balance has to be

restored and I think that TCM is a good way to do this. I had to smile

at your acupuncturist post. I was at my acupuncturist this afternoon

and at one point I asked him how many needles he had in my body and the

answer was 21! What is interesting is that he never inserts needles

anywhere near my thyroid. I have them in the lower legs, around the

elbows, in the chest, behind the ears and in the back of the neck.

Cheers,