Thyroid Stuff

In Nov I had my Thyroid hormone levels checked.  Initially only my free T3 was on the low side and I was being treated with slow release T3 since 2010.    In late 2013 I tested low for T4 so I started taking (NDT) desiccated thyroid med in addition to the slow release T3 I was on and felt great for about three months.    My anxiety and fatigue resolved on NDT and I felt a whole lot better than I felt in years.    Then suddenly I wasn't able to tolerate T3 and LDN and I had a lot of sleep disturbance and palpitation.   

I went back to my Doc after being only on NDT for about two months and still tested low for T4 even though I was on NDT.  T3 was within range but not optimal.    So my doc suggested raising the NDT dose to twice a day and cutting T3 dosage by half.  I still couldn't tolerate the T3 but also the 2nd dose of NDT in the afternoon.  So I went back just to taking the NDT in the morning and see what happens.  I attempted to raise NDT and also add the T3 multiple times through out 2014 and couldn't tolerate it.   I was feeling OK on just morning dose of NDT (32mcg).   

Around the same time I initially found out I couldn't tolerate the T3 & LDN, after the blissful 3 months I was on estradiol and progesterone and my pain level due to the endometriosis was up for the obvious reason that I was on estradiol.    To make it worse my doc switched me to cream form of estradiol in an effort to build up my lining which wasn't responsive to the pill form.  That month I had increased pain, heart palpation, chest & shoulder pain and I stopped the medication right away.  And then in March 2014 I attempted to take increased dosage of estradiol pre ovulatory to again build up my lining.   Lets just say that playing around with estradiol made my endometriosis worse.   After that I had a good talk with my DH and we decided that I would stop both estradiol and progesterone permantently and focus on taking herbs to fix my lining.  

So the thyroid and endometriosis are pretty connected.     So back to last Nov visit after a lab work.   My T4 was normal, T3 in the mid range  and high RT3 level.   Here is a summary of the last three different tests over a year.

Date	TSH	T4	FT3	RT3	FT3/RT3
10/25/2013	1.76 (0.450-4.5)	0.53 L(0.82-1.77)	3.2 (2-4.4)	7.8 (9.2-24.1)	41.0
1/31/2014	0.01	0.56 L	2.7	10.1	26.7
10/31/2014	2.29	1.23	2.7	25.9  H	10.4

levels in bracket  normal range

So my doc suggested to cut the NDT level by half (16 mcg in the morning) and add 5 mcg of T3 (cytomel).   My local pharmacy has the NDT on back order so I decided to experiment with the current dose (32 mcgs of NDT) and adding the cytomel at 5 mcg.  Well that didn't work out so well.   Around 2 pm I had an urge to take a nap and took a 2 h nap.  That evening I felt kind of funny and knew that the same thing may happen so I stayed up until 2 pm just to let the feeling pass.  By 4 am I woke up with my heart thumping and slightly numbness feeling of the legs and my lower bell was hurting (more like inflamed)  so much and I felt tense.  As usual I got up, walked around, drank water and stayed up for 1h or so and went back to sleep.    I ignored my Thyroid issues during Christmas break and only took NDT. 

Just this week I tried taking 16 mcg of NDT and 5 mcg of Cytomel in the morning.  I had a headache after about 2 hours which got better after lunch.   Besides that I didn't wake up with palptation.  So the next day I just took the 32  mcg of NDT and the 5 mcg of Cytomel.   I think I think I took it for five days and I just didn't feel right on it.  I still woke up every night and during the days I had headaches and didn't feel good at all. 

I have been thinking about this the past few days and I think the bottom line is I may not need to increase NDT or start T3.  Since the T4 level is within range with out the increased meds may be my body is healing.   I don't have hypo symptoms.   My doctor may suggest taking only T3 but I am not willing to go that route since I had anxiety and fatigue on it.   With the exception of low vitamin D (27-the last test) my vitamin levels are fine.   I am going to keep tweaking my diet, continuing vitamins & pycnogenol and see how it goes.  I will have another test in about two month and see how I have progressed. 

I think taking pycnogenol may be the reason for some of the improvements.   It certainly have helped my cycles.  I don't spot as much and has improved the quality of AF.  In addition the fatigue I got in the afternoons are gone.

Now how to get minimize the endometriosis pain?   That is the biggest obstacle right now and I don't think the pycnogenol has helped much. 

 

Anti-Inflammatory/Paleo like Diet Update

So back in October I started a modified Paleo/anti-inflammatory diet.   So this post is meant to keep me accountable to continue and improve my diet even further.  

So I stuck to most eliminated food.  I have been off gluten for six years now.  In addition to gluten, I cut out most grains with the exception of rice and teff.   I also cut out legumes and decreased my rice intake by at least half and filled my plates with more vegetables.    The little cheese I was eating on a daily bases with breakfast I eliminated.  The only diary that I have been consuming is a little cream with my coffee. 

So first on the measurable accomplishment, I lost about 6 lb and able to wear some of my pre-pregnancy pants.  6lb on my small frame is huge for me.  My tummy is still a little big but not as big as what it used to be.  On most days I don't look pregnant so that is a huge plus.   Another 3-4lb would put me back in all of my old clothes. 

The occasional IBS symptoms are completely gone and I rarely get blotted.    Overall I feel better, I don't get hungry easily like I used to. 

Around Christmas my DH was home for 6 weeks and I kind of slipped a little on eating more vegetables.   Our schedule was tossed in the air; we would get up late and only managed to eat two meals.   I have been making soup (mainly veggie) that I have with breakfast which has helped a lot. 

Where I did not do good is on giving up sugar and eating more fish.  I still have a teaspoon of sugar in my one cup a day coffee and enjoy it so I am not going to give it up.  Besides that I rarely have any sugary food; going off gluten eliminated most of my sugary intake.   I haven't been able to find a good source of fish that don't cost a lot.

The next phase is for me to try to cut our red meat consumption.  We eat it at least 2-3 times a week.   With all that I am eliminating it is hard to find protein source to replace the red meat.  I still need to do better on increasing our vegetable intake.  I am not consistent, some days I manage to cook 2-3 kinds of veggies and other days I barely have one.  I also need to increase my fruit intake.

What is lacking here is the inclusion of exercise.  But that is another blog post.  With the Endo pain, any exercise I incorporate leaves me with increased pain the next day :(