Wow, thank you for posting some info. I'll be heading to my doctor for more blood work and see what I can work out with him. Thank God he's a good doctor and will actually try to help me. Unlike all the other docs I've had.
OutsmartDisease said...
I had just the same symptoms you described. The reason is turned to be a combination of low T3 and low cortisol. Both Syntheroid alone and desiccated thyroid medication were not helpful. I found that a professional trigger point massage kept the pain away for about a week allowing me to have a break.
After I started with Isocort (cortisol containing adrenal support) and switched to Syntheroid combined with time-released compounding T3, ALL symptoms went away within a couple of months. Sometimes, I feel tingling and aching pain in my arms and under the armpits (typical carpal tunnel syndrome symptom), then I know that I need to balance T3 and cortisol again. Usually, time-released T3 between 10 and 40 mcg is added to the same dose of Syntheroid you are on when your TSH is between 1.0 and 1.5 (optimal range). You DO NOT need to reduce the dose of Syntheroid and replace it with T3.
It would be great to check adrenal function and cortisol levels. Even the small abnormality makes a big difference for thyroid patients. If cortisol levels are sub-optimal thyroid medication doesn’t work as it supposed to. If cortisol is too high, T3 converts into reverse T3 and the person has hypothyroid symptoms. If cortisol is too low, T3 cannot enter into the cells and the person has hypothyroid symptoms.
According to my experience, it is difficult to find the right dose of cortisol also because the body’s requirements are different depending on the physical activity. However, not everybody needs cortisol. Often some kind of adrenal support will be enough. On the other hand, cortisol is only one of many factors affecting the action of T3 and may not be your problem. There are other factors affecting conversion of T4 into T3 as well.
Dr Lowe has a book The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia and he believes that fibromyalgia is a thyroid issue due to under conversion of T4 into T3 and can be helped with using the right form of T3. I personally think that the better way to go is to identify the cause why T3 is low and try to correct it.
