Natural v synthetic thyroid horrmone replacement: How I started getting my shit together!

These past five months have been tough on me.  I've been depressed, sad, and unbalanced.  I tried to hide it because... well, just because.  It's my journey, ya know?   Grief, medicine disproportion, and insomnia has wreaked havoc on my well being and I'm just now starting to feel better. FIVE MONTHS LATER... sheesh!

It's amazing what your thyroid controls.  If you don't know, look it up HERE! It's ah-MAZ-ing and frankly quite shocking at just how much that little W shaped gland can fuck up when it's out of whack or worse, non-existent.

I had been on Armour (a natural option to synthetic replacement) for about 1 1/2 year pre-surgery and I felt great.  I could have lived like that for ever, but that pesky nodule just wouldn't quit making the doctors nervous, so out came the thyroid and all hell broke loose with my meds.  After the surgery, I was left on my original dosage, but was changed to Synthroid instead of Armour because 'they preferred it'.  I was told that they preferred it due to it's accuracy of dosage and consistency of shelf life.  That with synthetic you can rest assured that you're getting the dosage that you are taking, but with a natural supplement there's dosing issues and it can lose it's potency due to not knowing how long it's been on the shelf and you can't be sure you're getting exactly what you're taking, and blah blah blah.  Stupid me figured yeah sure they're the specialists and that's fine - I had taken it before, no biggie.  Or so I thought.

I have been miserable.  Exhausted to the point that my eyes were burning by 11:00am as if I hadn't slept a wink the night before, insomnia regardless that I was utterly exhausted, depression, brain fog, memory issues (big time), weight gain, loss of motivation, chills, and an outpouring of tears at the slightest thing.  Out of creamer... crying.  Late for an appointment... crying.  Misplaced my glasses that were JUST IN MY FUCKING HAND... crying.  OMG, it was a nightmare.  And to let you in on a little info - that's not me.  I'm annoyingly positive and overly energetic, kinda like a sarcastic bunny on crack.  And I'm not shy about calling and asking or complaining, so I did just that.  It was explained to me that I needed to 'bottom out' before they could do a blood test and up my dosage from the 100mcg of Synthroid (generic Levothyroxide actually) that I was on.  Fine.  So the wait began.  I pitied my husband.

Two long ass emotional months later (April), my labs were drawn and I'm bumped from 100mcg to 125mcg... YES!!  I was a little concerned with such a big jump, since I'm hypersensitive to medicine (how lovely), but was told that it was the way to go and I would be fine.  Tick tock tick tock... I feel... nothing.  Okay, maybe a smidgen better, but still exhausted, emotional, depressed, and all the other crap.  I call again about 2 weeks into the new dose and explain what I'm going through.  'Sorry, you have to wait another 2 months before we can draw your blood again to really see how your body is processing the medicine'.  SERIOUSLY?!  And what's worse is that I bought it and didn't question them.  My state of mind at that point had me so frazzled, boo-hoo-ey, and full of self-doubt that I was more sad over the info I had just received than mad.  By now the hubs had to be numb to my crying and zombie-like state, lol.

Two more long ass emotional and exhausted months later (June), my labs are drawn again and BAM, I need a new dosage... but they're lowering it.  Excuse me, but WTF did you just say?  Yup, seems my numbers show that I was teetering on hyperthyroid and they have to balance that out.  Umm, how about you balance out the symptoms and not just the numbers?  What do you think of that???  By this time I am fuming and ask that the doctor call me personally.  The conversation with him is about as pointless as the one with his nurse.  They need to wait until I've been on it for at least a few weeks before they can make a new decision about the dosage... insomnia is a symptom of hyperthyroid, maybe your body is reacting to too much hormone?... you have to trust us.  More blah blah... Fuck you.

Let's just skip forward from that call to my appointment with my Primary Care Physician (9 July).  Her name is Dr. Bacon... she's a vegan.  I love that.  Anyway, I went in to bounce some questions off of her, because, well my thyroid was already removed and all I needed now was to have my meds balanced out... maybe she knew a local doc that I could switch to.  And then the million dollar question... 'Have you ever tried Armour?'.  Why yes I had, and geez I remember feeling pretty damn great on it. 'You may have an issue converting T4 to T3'... man, I forgot I had been told that before!   Her suggestion is that I lower off of the synthetic and simultaneously reintroduce Armour into my system, but do it slowly as not to shock my system.  Funny, my current endo wasn't concerned with shocking my system even after having a fricking small organ removed... but I digress.  Furthermore, she offered to take over managing my thyroid meds, as she has experience with it and multiple other patients with thyroid issues.  HELLS YES.  Good bye Moffitt doc, hello earthy-crunchy PCP Dr. Bacon.

She immediately prescribed 30mg of Armour and left my existing 112mcg of Levo... four days later I was already feeling better.  Crying is minimal, depression is practically gone, insomnia is taking it's sweet time, and everything else is slowly falling into it's comfortable place.  She plans on raising the Armour & lowering the Levo equally until I'm completely off the synthetic and 100% back on natural.  Six week wait until my labs and next appointment with her... I can't wait.  I can't wait to tell her how much better I'm feeling and how optimistic I am.  I'm certainly not 100%, but this is the first and only positive change since my thyroid was removed on 26 Feb.  I'm so looking forward to my progress as I increase my Armour :)

I'm certainly not a doctor.  I know that everyone is different, and not all of our bodies & minds react the same to medicines, BUT if you're suffering from ongoing hypothyroid issues and have not had any relief, talk to your doctor about going natural.  And if they don't want to talk about it or refuse to prescribe it, find another doctor.  It's YOUR BODY and YOUR CHOICE.  If there's a medicine available to you that can make you feel so much better and keep your hormone levels on track, then why would you not look into it?
I'm sure there is truth and science behind main stream endocrinologists preferring Synthroid over Armour (one doc's opinion) (and hopefully it's not mainly due to kick-backs from pharmaceutical companies), but there is also truth and science to how great natural is for your condition and symptoms.  I know on a personal level... I truly feel better on the natural hormone replacement.  It is not a placebo.  That's coming from a strict non-mammal eating or wearing human, that took a lot of convincing to initially use this animal derived product.  And there is a LOT of material on why natural is way better than synthetic.  Check out this awesome write up by the Deranged Housewife http://thederangedhousewifeonline.blogspot.com/2012/01/synthroid-vs-armour-squashing.html... so spot on.  And this great article and explanation by Dr. Jeffrey Dach http://jeffreydachmd.com/why-natural-thyroid-is-better-than-synthetic/ ...such great detail!!  And be sure to check out the book Stop The Thyroid Madness by Janie Bowthorpe and visit her website STTM Here!  It will open your eyes to changing the way your condition is treated and how you can take control!!

So, ROCK ON with your bad hypothyroid selves and get your shit together!!  I'm still trying to get my shit together and I promise to keep you posted along the way... even if takes me a while due to feeling like a crazy person, lol.  And please keep me posted on how you're doing!  I would love to read what meds you take, how you react to them, and if there are any new 'all natural' changes coming your way :)

Peas, Love and T3
MaryAnn ~