Connie, What sites did you go to to learn about hypothyroidism? The are ones I recommend are: 1) Mary Shomon's thyroid.about.com 2) stopthethyroidmadness.com (especially the ironic list of symptoms that existed while taking Synthroid but went away after taking Armour Thyroid or other dessicated thyroid) 3) Dr. Bruce Rind's site drrind.com for a comparison chart of thyroid and adrenal symptoms 4) canaryclub.org which you can join for free and get a newsletter and get tested for FT3 (Free T3) and FT4 as well as TSH and other hormones for the best price out there if the VA won't do the frees and other hormones.
You want the FT3 and FT4 to be in the upper quarter of the referral range. The 24 hour saliva test is the best for checking your adrenals (cortisol). The chart of these should go down in a steep curve until the last test dose at midnight. All of the endocrine system interacts, but apparently the adrenals and the thyroid are more sensitive to each others disruption than most. High cortisol at night is a major cause of sleep disruption. Many doctors say if you have a cortisol problem you should treat it first before going on Armour thyroid. Some doctors are using low dose cortisol at physiological doses (10-20mg/day) to give the adrenals a rest while you build them up. The dose does not cause atrophy of the adrenal and should only be necessary for a few weeks or months. Check out the book "Safe Uses of Cortisol: by William McK. Jefferies. By the way, though it is made of desiccated pig thyroid, Armour is batch tested for consistent dosage. It is made by Forest Pharmaceutical, not Armour meat packing. The inconsistency issue was a marketing ploy used when the synthetics were first put on the market. Synthroid, on the other hand, was denied recertification for a while by the FDA a few years ago because of dosage problems. The two Yahoo groups I monitored were not useful except to search and check out the files. Magnesium is better for sleeping than calcium. You are taking way more calcium than is recommended. This can cause calcifying of your soft tissues.You may need to do transdermal magnesium to get an adequate dose as oral magnesium has a laxative effect in larger quantities. What is your source of Vitamin D? vitamindcouncil.org has a lot of good information. One final note: as an army brat who has also used the local county system I would suggest that you do what my father did after retirement - go to a private doctor and have your tests and prescriptions filled at the VA. Your health should not be in the hands of the guys who graduated in the bottom tenth of their med school class. Available off line if you want, Pat "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote: Thanks for all the input. That was much more then I found available on the Net. Someone asked what the VA was; it is the Veterans Administration. My symptoms are everything that was indicated on the different sites. These have been ongoing for approximate 2 years. I did read on one of the site that Mercury Posioning could also be attributed... at the time the symptoms became worse (extreme tiredness/sore muscles/aches/no motivation/depression/etc) I had just begun some dental work (again through the Veterans Admin Clinic) I was have old (20+ years) removed and filed. I had 10 or more of these filing done. I had asked them about composit filing but they indicated they do not use them. This is the one area that has always bothered me since I was 12 and had lots of dental work. My mouth felt like it was draining metal.... when I would tell the doctor/dentist they just dismissed me. I have been on Collodial Silver for over 3 years and I go through 5 to 8 gallons each month between me and my cats. I believe this has helped me but I'm not sure how it would assist the thyroid condition. I've also been taking Clarks collodial Minerals for about 2 years. I order a half case 2 to 3 times a year. My water intake is Walgreen Distilled water which I usually take hot. Once a day I go though my prepared drink (3/4 C all natual grape juice/3 caps Collodial Minerals/1/2 C Collodial Silver/Distilled water) my bottle hold 32 oz. My other daily items are EMPower Plus (6 capsules/Blessed Herbs Digestive Stimulator 5 Caps/Blessed Herbs Toxin Absorber 1Pkg to 3 Pkg/) (Bedtime: Herbalife Sleep Now-3caps/Herbalife Relax Now-1Cap/Natures Bounty Coral Calcium-1000 Mg/Puritan Pride-Chelated Calcium Magnesium Zinc-1000Mg/Baclofen 2-10mg pills (muscle relaxor)-Codeine- 1-300mg (only when needed) This night time regement allows be good sleep 4 to 6 hour straight. I used to be up and down every hour.... My diet is mainly vegeterian (not exclusive; do have fish/turkey/chicken occasionally) In the last 6 months I've reduced my food intake by over 50%. Again thanks for the comments and if anyone has something to add i appreicate all the comments. connie _____________________________________________________________ Earn ATM Machine Profits While You Sleep. Simple and Easy. Click Now. --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
