Interactions?

I am currently taking Synthroid (.137mcg) which I've been taking at various doses since I was 4 years old (Hashimoto's). I am also taking 300mg Wellbutrin and 40mg of Celexa. I am still feeling a lot of the affects of hypothyroidism and am interested in adding some supplements to see if it improves my condition any. I am not currently insured, so I can't really afford any proper testing at the moment (lots of debt). I'm interested in possibly adding Gaia Thyroid Support and Licorice Root and would like know if anyone has experience with these (taken with Synthroid) and if they saw any marked improvements. I've been reading a lot about desiccated thyroid (Armour) and synthetic T3 (Cytomel), but would like to try OTC supplements before throwing in the money for doctor's appt, testing, etc. Amazon also has natural thyroid available on its site. Does anyone have any experience with it? My last test was done about 6 months or so ago and the school physician said that things looked normal. Before this, the test showed 12 (this was a basic test), so my Synthroid was increased from .125 to .150. The followup test was a 0, so I was decreased to .137. The upping of the Synthroid (.150) was around the same time I started experiencing problems with tremors and an increase in anxiety. These are still present, but not necessarily as often. I just wonder if, since I've been on it my whole life, if adding a nice little supplement to promote t3 would help my situation any. I'm willing to do most anything within my resources to help my fatigue and braindeadness. Years ago I had a fibro diagnosis and just want to see if it might be caused by deficient thyroid hormones.

Thanks.

I can tell you what I have been taking so you can compare. My gynecologist tested my thyroid 5 years ago because I was so tired. My TSH was 6.78 and she told me it was borderline so left it up to me if  wanted to start on medication. My GP said that I should wait until my thyroid was "gone"  and then

start meds. At the time I didn't know any better so I didn't so anything.

Two years later, after feeling awful for all of that time, I went to a naturopath and started on Armour. That definitely helped. But I went in for blood work and found out I had Hashimoto's and my TSH

was constantly fluctuating.

I stayed on the Armour but last fall I went to a different naturopath because I didn't feel as

well as I should. My thyroid antibodies were really high even though my TSH was low. So he started me

on Levothyroxine, a quarter of an Armour tablet and the Gaia thyroid support. The Gaia made a

difference almost immediately (I know it was that because I hadn't started the Levo yet). But after

several weeks I started feeling crummy again. I tried this for about four months and decided to go back

on just Armour. I definitely feel much better on the Armour than the Levothyroxine.

These last few months I have been finding out as much as I can about Hashimoto's. I have read 

many books and I have come to the conclusion that I really have to try to stop the inflammation or the

medication is not going to make that much difference for me. So I am coming up with my own treatment,

taking selenium, taking undenatured whey to increase glutathione levels, trying to cut back on sugar

because it is inflammatory, cutting out gluten, etc. And I am still taking an Armour tablet each day.

And I think I'm feeling better. I feel like I am on the right path for my situation but would be happy to

answer any questions.

Hi Curious Kitty,

Could you talk to the doctor who wrote the  prescription for the synthroid and ask if they would consider

changing to Armour just to see if you feel better? You might have to back up your request with some

actual research showing that people do benefit from adding T3 to their prescription. And ARmour is

pretty cheap, I paid $14 for 60 tabs, a 2 month supply.

Like I said, I did try the Gaia Thyroid Support and it did help at first. But then after a few weeks it seems

like I started feeling run-down again. I also tried a product called Thyromine several years ago but really

didn't notice much of a difference. It sounds like you've done a lot of research. I don't know if you looked

at Dr. Alexander Haskell's website http://hopeforhashimotos.com/  but I think it is really informative.

He outlines his approach for treating Hashimoto's. He has three phases that he describes in a series

of videos on his website. He does feel like most people need a thyroid medication to lower the TSH, but

after that he recommends supplements to reduce thyroid inflammation and nourish the thyroid gland so

you might check his website.  He also recommends going gluten-free. I have read that patients have

been able to reduce their medications, sometimes in half or more, by going gluten-free. And he also

talks about the adrenals.

One other website that you might have already looked at is http://www.womentowomen.com/

They take a natural approach to treating women's health problems and they have articles about

adrenal imbalance, thyroid health and you can see what products they recommend to treat these

problems.

Oh and as far as our TSH, I have read that most people feel better if their TSH is under 1.0 but

I don't know if there are many doctors who agree with this. Once you get your insurance back,

see if they would cover a naturopath or a functional medicine doc.