Cytomel and other options

04-06-2012, 09:50 PM

In the past year I have experienced almost every symptom of hypothryoidism. I can only describe it as hell and I wish that the doctors who scoffed at me and didn't take me seriously could experience the symptoms themselves and see if their mindset changes.

I gained 20lbs in 3 months(30 total lbs gained) despite diet and exercise - I also had extreme exhaustion, extreme lethargy, no sex drive, hair loss and change in hair texture, heart palpitations, dry skin and dandruff, anxiety attacks, extreme ADD, missing periods, my toenails were falling off, high cholesterol, and bloating.

Also ALL of my lab work was normal - in December 2011 I started taking a small dose of generic synthroid. After a month - my period was on schedule and I was not as tired and lethargic and my sex drive returned. Also the dandruff went away. But the other symptoms lingered. At the end of Feb I got an endo to let me try Cytomel. I have been on that since Feb 23rd and my anxiety attacks have pretty much gone away and the ADD has improved. The one thing that hasn't changed is my weight and the bloating. It has been very frustrating because I feel so unattactive and just plain old uncomfortable all the time.

It seems that Cytomel seems to work quickly for everyone else - I am on 5 mcg two times a day. I also still have a low body temperature of 96-97 degrees. Should I maybe look at having my dose increased and maybe explore things like insulin resistance? Thank you for reading my post!

04-07-2012, 01:05 AM

Are you still taking levothyroxine too? 10 mcgs of T3 is a small dose especially if you're not taking any T4. I started to really return among the living after about 6 weeks on (10 mcgs of) T3 - and I was also taking 175 of T4.

Do you have any labwork to share? It would be easier to comment if we could have a look at your labs (with your lab's reference ranges)

04-07-2012, 07:17 AM

Regarding the bloating, the most common cause is wheat. So I'd suggest cutting out wheat for a minimum of 6 weeks and seeing if that makes any difference.

04-07-2012, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by distantdrum

Regarding the bloating, the most common cause is wheat. So I'd suggest cutting out wheat for a minimum of 6 weeks and seeing if that makes any difference.

Does Wheat come in anything other than bread products? I don't eat any bread products and mainly have a diet of lean meat, veggies, fruit, and greek yogurt and I am still bloated all day. I bloat even worse the second I eat something.

04-07-2012, 08:02 AM

Do you have digestive disturbances as well as the bloating?

04-07-2012, 08:05 AM

Processed foods seem to contain wheat but so if you cook your food yourself from "plain" ingredients there should be no wheat. I remember when I first started taking T3 I had an issue with meat and dairy - mixing these 2 was a big no-no

04-07-2012, 08:25 AM

I was wondering about the dairy too. Milk doesn't give me bloating, but it does give me heartburn (and the runs), so I gave that up as well.

04-07-2012, 09:06 AM

I am taking .25 of levo and 5mcg of T3 twice a day. My endo now did not check any t3 levels so I will give you my lab work before I was on meds. I started out on 50mcg of Levo but I started having heart pain so I went down to .25 and I think it's fine. I think I mainly have a conversion problem to T3 anyway. Even my endo now doesn't think it's my thryoid but I think it's not a coincidence that my period was literally missing for months and the first month I started Levo - it has been on schedule even since.

My labs before I started any medication were the following:

TSH .45
t4 FREE 1.2
t3 FREE 3.2
t3 Reverse 25

Thanks!

04-07-2012, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by distantdrum

Do you have digestive disturbances as well as the bloating?

I really don't have any other digestive disturbances - I have had the bloating since the summer and it has just gotten worse and worse

I'm curious as to when the weight loss is going to start - it seems everyone is losing it immediately I haven't lost any.

04-07-2012, 09:55 AM

Do you have referenges ranges for these (as they vary from lab to lab)? You need to keep an eye on FT3 too as with a low dose of T3 it may become even lower. We all have different needs, for years I needed 30 mcgs of T3.

04-07-2012, 10:00 AM

Hi!Are you on the generic levothyroxine? I have heard people on name brand Synthroid have bloating because of the lactose in it. It just might be a leftover symptom of being hypo and you might need to go up to 37.5 after 6 weeks or so. Some go right to 50 but I couldn't. You'll have to see where the FT4 is when you get labs again. You might be able to go back to the 50 after you try the in between dose and it won't affect you like it did after awhile.

04-08-2012, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinnMaid

Do you have referenges ranges for these (as they vary from lab to lab)? You need to keep an eye on FT3 too as with a low dose of T3 it may become even lower. We all have different needs, for years I needed 30 mcgs of T3.

There is no range for the TSH but for the other are:

T4 Free .8 - 1.8 and I had 1.2
T3 Free 2.3 - 4.2 and mine was 3.2
T3 Reverse 11- 32 and mine was 25

Do you have any other lab work you recommend? The endo I have now - she gave me the lab work form and just checked the T4 and TSH(lame) so I think I'm going to check some other things. At one point my testerone was high so I might check that again. When I told her I gained 30lbs in 6 months despite diet and exercise she just said that that weight gain looked okay on me anyway because I was big boned. I normally am 140lbs and I weight 174 now and i'm not big boned - I'm 5'9 and normally tall and thin. Ugg.

Thank you for your help!

Cytomel and other options

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