Hi ladies,
Sorry I've been absent this week. I have several posts floating around in my head, but I just haven't made them a reality yet. It's been a busy week. I had an appointment with my Napro doctor this week, and that is usually a half day affair. So in between preparing lesson plans for a sub for the time I missed at work, preparing questions for my appointment, and then the travel time and appointment, it's been a busy couple of days.
I love my Napro doctor, but sometimes I feel like a 45 minute appointment isn't enough time to discuss all of my issues. Ever feel like that? And considering I drive 80 miles one way to see him, I wish I did have more time. I always have so many questions and concerns for him as we continue to try to get to the bottom of my health issues. This appointment was one where I definitely left feeling like I have more questions then answers.
The main focus was to discuss my thyroid results. I posted about them back here. He did agree that my Reverse T3 ratio was too high and agreed to start me on Dr. H's T3 regime. I know some of you are already doing this, so I'm interested especially in your experiences with T3. The problem is he doesn't have much experience working with the thyroid as his area of expertise is fertility and family medicine. He's also a researcher and spends a lot of time with current trends, so he's very aware of what Dr. H is doing with T3, but hasn't done it himself. I didn't want to ask, but I think I might be his first patient doing the T3 protocol, and my Dr. has been doing Napro for several years.
All of this makes me a little nervous. Do I try working with him for a month or two and see if the T3 makes a difference? He did say I need to monitor it closely, so things don't turn toxic. The toxic part freaks me out a litle bit. Right now the plan is to start with 7.5 mg of T3 two times a day (taken 12 hours apart). I have to check my temperatures and pulses 4 times a day and send him that information weekly and he will adjust the dosage accordingly.
I guess it's just something new, so I'm nervous. I want to get to the bottom of this cold sensitively and extreme fatigue. I keep thinking that there's no way I could be a mother with as tired as I am every day all day, so perhaps this is the answer, right? I still feel strongly that I need to get to the bottom of my health issues before I'm really gung-ho about trying to conceive again, so this could be a step in that direction.
Barbie, at Pray, Hope, Don't Worry, gave me the name of a thyroid doctor in my state, but he's 2+ hours away from me. I'm hesitant to go and see another doctor if my Napro one is willing to work with me. What do you ladies think??
Also, Barbie recommended that I do a 24 hour cortisol test from this place. I asked my doctor about this, and he said he wasn't sure how to test the cortisol since I'm on 5mg of it already. Is this something you think I should go ahead and test on my own? I think the test is only $100 and it's done over a 24 hour period with saliva testing. I've heard this method is more accurate than the blood test in the morning, which is the only cortisol test I've had done. Or should I just wait and see what happens with the T3 before doing more with the cortisol levels? Are T3 and adrenal issues connected or do they function separately? That is, could I have an issue with both the thyroid and adrenals, or would they be connected issues?
The good news is my D3 is up to 67 (range 30-80) now. It was March 2010 that I first had my levels tested and they were 21. I still wonder if that low level was one of the factors for my 1st miscarrage. I had my B12 tested for the first time and it was 746 (range 239-931). I asked about testing ferritin, but he said those results wouldn't change the course of treatment with the T3 that he was recommending.
The other thing I need to look in to is food sensitivity testing. It's something I've wanted to check out for awhile because of my fatigue. If the fatigue is not caused by thyroid issues, then I think it's either food related or endometriosis. Endo is the last option to explore because we have gotten pregnant twice before and because there's not a great Napro surgeon nearby. So I'm exploring the other options before deciding if laproscopy is something to persue. And ultimately, I know God is the one who creates life, so while I continue to advocate for my overall health, I realize a healthy pregnancy will come in His perfect timing.
Do any of you have experience with a food panel testing? I remember TCIE saying she had this done through Metametrix. My doctor said I could look into US Biotek. Basically, this is not something he's done a lot of either, but he's willing to. I need to get the info and research different prices and then he'll send the orders for the kit, if that's needed. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this as well.
Thanks in advance, ladies. It's nice to have a network of informed, experienced women to ask my questions to.
Hey friend! I am on the T3 right now and it has helped with my cold sensitivity. I was taking 7.5 and then they bumped me up to 15. I am also charting my temps and pulses. It is kind of a pain at times but I'm used to it now. I take my pill at 10 and 10. My temp has dramatically changed. It was around 96.1 to 96.4 and is up to 98.4 and 98.6 at times. This is a huge difference for me.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the tired part goes,for some reason that doesn't come with my hypothyroid. I have alot of energy, which is weird with being hypo, so I can't help you out there.
As far as my advice goes and the advice to me from my NaPro praticioner, I don't think the T3 can hurt you. If anything, it can help you. I would go with it and try it out and just monitor yourself. I turn in my temps/pulses weekly so they monitor me pretty well. With that, I don't think you could go wrong.
That's my 2 cents:) Hope it helps! Oh and I would try this before switching to a thyroid dr b.c you never know, it might help you and fix you! It's worth a shot!
Thanks for sharing your experience with T3 so far, Awaiting. I appreciate knowing someone else is doing this as well and it's going ok.
ReplyDeleteI have no advice.
ReplyDeleteI only come seeking pictures of scarves :)
was that too direct? ha!
Moonheads, you crack me up. A knitting update is one that I plan to do this week. I'll tell you thought, my scarf can't even come close to comparing to your nifty hats!
ReplyDeleteI have Grave's Disease. Sometimes its really bad, sometimes it cools down. I never took T3 but did the tradtional pharmaceutical route and took PTU.
ReplyDeleteIt helped a lot. The good news is I really need it in bursts. Who cares what the doctors say, like needing to take your whole thyroid out or be on a medication your whole life. Not necessarily true.
Hope you find answers soon!
My prayers for you.
The endocrine system is so tricky.
JoAnn...you have Grave's? My dad has that and got his thyroid killed. Yeeep! I'm worried its hereditary...
ReplyDeleteI have been taking T3 for a few months now (now at 15mcg) and while it hasn't raised my temps much, I do feel a little warmer. (I have been very cold intolerant for a few years now). I also have a little more energy. The T3 therapy did and still does make me nervous as the thyroid affects so many things and this therapy is totally against the conventional wisdom of other doctors and endocrinologists. (Thus I wouldn't bother seeing a thyroid specialist as they will likely tell you it's all bunk and not to do it.) Try it for a while and your pulse will definitely go up but you'll get used to it in a few days. Just make sure your doctor monitors it carefully and if you don't tolerate it you can always stop it. I hope it does help though!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, you can have both thyroid and adrenal issues. I recently had a laparotomy with Dr. H and he is planning on starting me on hydrocortisone in a few weeks for "likely adrenal fatigue" even though he has never tested me for it. I asked him why he doesn't test my cortisol levels but he said those tests really don't work well and don't give any useful information. He's basing it all on my symptoms. So again I am very nervous about this treatment due to potential steroid side effects but willing to give it a try if it will help. Sometimes I feel Dr. H, or NaPro docs in general, just throw everything at you and hope something will stick....I don't know if that's right, but it's how I often feel.
I did food intolerance testing through Alca.t. A friend had done the testing with them, and there was a local vendor that sold the kit, so that made it convenient since I didn't have a doctor ordering it for me. I did call the company with a few questions before picking up the kit, and they tried to "sell" me one of their more expensive packages. Luckily I knew that Dr. Boyle, the Irish NaPro doc who has been the big advocate for having patients get the test done, only orders a small number of foods (40) in the panel. I ended up doing the 100-food panel because I was already suspicious of an intolerance to several foods in that particular panel. If I didn't have that suspicion, I would have done the 50-food panel. (The phone rep from the company said the 50-food test is normally for children only and wouldn’t have let me order it even if I had wanted to...another reason I had to go through the local vendor!)
ReplyDeleteAlso, endo can definitely cause miscarriages as well as infertility… It is hard with so few NaPro surgeons around. All of my CrMS clients who have had a lap made the trip to Omaha, but not everyone is able to do that.
Anonymous- thanks for sharing your experience thus far with T3. It's so helpful to hear other women's experiences and it always gives me ideas of questions I should ask my doctor!
ReplyDeletePolkadot- thanks for your info on the food testing. I'm going to look into the company you mentioned. Do you recall how much the test was and did you submit it to your insurance company or just pay out of your pocket? I'd like to get the test done and then TTC for awhile on Clomid again before having a lap, but I can also see how a lap would be helpful for long-term health. Also, I didn't realize you were a CrMs practitioner- very cool!
The test I did was $350, and we just paid out of pocket.
ReplyDelete