January 18, started Armour brand natural dessicated thyroid - 2 grains in the morning.
(Prior to going on NDT, I was on 150 mcg Levothyroxine, which is equal to .15 mg. One grain of NDT is about 60-65 mg.)
At this point, my notes are a little unclear. Why didn't I take better notes in the beginning? Because I was SO SICK!
I wrote that on Wednesday, January 25, I started taking 4 grains NDT in the morning. I know that I did not jump from 2 to 4 grains, but I don't have anything written down in between the 18th and the 25th. Hopefully the doctor's office can clear this confusion up for me.
On Friday, February 10, I had an appointment with doc.
On Saturday, February 11, I went up to 4.5 grains Armour thyroid.
In hindsight, I think this was too fast. The group forums support that assessment. However, doc thinks titrating 1/2 grain 10-14 days is, and I quote, "overly cautious." He recommends titrating 1/2 grain every 5 days.
On Saturday, February 11, I went up to 4.5 grains Armour thyroid.
In hindsight, I think this was too fast. The group forums support that assessment. However, doc thinks titrating 1/2 grain 10-14 days is, and I quote, "overly cautious." He recommends titrating 1/2 grain every 5 days.
On Friday, February 17, I started Isocort (see How To Treat Adrenals)
after talking with doc's nurse the day before. I regret this very
much. I wish I had insisted on waiting until I had gotten my cortisol
levels checked, to fully assess my situation. But we live and learn through this thyroid adrenal mess.
On Saturday, February 18, I took 4 pellets Isocort in the morning, along with my 4.5 grains NDT. By 9:30 I was suffering from hand tremors, by 10:30 I was experiencing shakiness in my whole body. Stupidly, I got confused by the dosage chart and took an additional 4 pellets at noon. Later that day I had low back pain and reflux (which I rarely experience).
I was scared and confused, and on Sunday, February 19, I adjusted my dose to 4 grains NDT + 4 pellets Isocort. At 2 PM I had chest pains. That evening I began to get sick with a nasty cold and cough, headache, achiness, that would knock me out until the following Saturday. Oi!
On Monday, February 20, I took 4 grains NDT + 4 pellets Isocort.
On Tuesday, February 21, I took 4 grains NDT + NO Isocort. Was I planning to take another 1/2 grain in the afternoon, but forgot due to my viral sickness? Not thinking clearly. Also, I stopped the Isocort because I somehow had it in my head that I needed to sort of come down from my overdose of it. I don't think this thinking was correct, but again I was sick from my virus and not thinking clearly anyway!
On Saturday, February 18, I took 4 pellets Isocort in the morning, along with my 4.5 grains NDT. By 9:30 I was suffering from hand tremors, by 10:30 I was experiencing shakiness in my whole body. Stupidly, I got confused by the dosage chart and took an additional 4 pellets at noon. Later that day I had low back pain and reflux (which I rarely experience).
I was scared and confused, and on Sunday, February 19, I adjusted my dose to 4 grains NDT + 4 pellets Isocort. At 2 PM I had chest pains. That evening I began to get sick with a nasty cold and cough, headache, achiness, that would knock me out until the following Saturday. Oi!
On Monday, February 20, I took 4 grains NDT + 4 pellets Isocort.
On Tuesday, February 21, I took 4 grains NDT + NO Isocort. Was I planning to take another 1/2 grain in the afternoon, but forgot due to my viral sickness? Not thinking clearly. Also, I stopped the Isocort because I somehow had it in my head that I needed to sort of come down from my overdose of it. I don't think this thinking was correct, but again I was sick from my virus and not thinking clearly anyway!
On Wednesday, February 22, I took 4 grains NDT + NO Isocort, then 1/2 grain NDT in the afternoon.
On Thursday, February 23, I took 4 1/2 grains NDT in the morning + NO Isocort. Obviously not thinking clearly; reverted to single dose.
Same dose for Thursday and Friday. I think that I spoke with doc's office on Friday. Nurse suggested that I go back on Isocort on 2 pellets instead of 4.
Saturday, February 25, took 4 1/2 grains NDT + 2 pellets Isocort. By 10:15, I was shaky. Noon, I was dizzy.
Sunday, February 26, same dosage. By 3:45 I was very shaky and had heart palpitations. I had heart palpitations that evening around 9 PM, too.
I continued on that dosage on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday I even added 2 capsules of doc's "Adrenal Support"--basically vitamins, iodine, etc. and a smidge of thyroid to support adrenals.
I took the same (4 1/2 grains NDT + 2 Isocort) on Wednesday. At 11 AM, I had a panic attack. At 2 PM I was very winded.
On Thursday, March 1, I took 4 1/2 NDT + NO Isocort. I was convinced that all my symptoms were from Isocort and that after my appointment that morning, I was going to be done with Isocort. That was this day.
Friday, I took 4 grains NDT + 4 pellets Isocort. By 7 PM I was very irritable and very discontent. Those are always the first signs I see when my progesterone levels are plummeting. That night, I read in STTM and wrote this. So I was debating about whether or not to order my own labs. I was leaning toward yes which was what I ended up deciding.
On Saturday, March 3, I took 4 grains NDT + decreased to 2 pellets Isocort.
Sunday, March 4, I took the same dosage, but added 2 Adrenal Support caps at noon.
On Monday, March 5, I took a chance and dropped my Isocort to nothing + 4 NDT.
This will be my dosage until Monday, March 19 when I get my labs drawn.
I now know what I didn't know when I was beginning
NDT. I wish I had started at 2 grains and held for one week, then
titrated 1/2 a grain and held for a week at a time, until I reached 3
grains and held for 4-6 weeks, then titrated again until I reached my
optimal dose. But hindsight is 20/20.
Thyroid Dump (see page 96 of Stop the Thyroid Madness and "What if I'm already on already on dessicated thyroid when I start using cortisol?")
Thyroid Dump (see page 96 of Stop the Thyroid Madness and "What if I'm already on already on dessicated thyroid when I start using cortisol?")
