thyroid log - ratio worries

[Peata]

I had to stop using tape because it was causing sensitivity. But that's how I am these days with any kind of tape or medical tape even, after I had to keep an area bandaged for months, my skin reacted bad and so I can't use tapes for long. Anyway, I got an Ace elastic bandage.

I experimented with different ways to wrap it around my chin, jaw, head. If it's too tight, it's uncomfortable and feels choking, if it's too loose, it doesn't work. It has to be tight enough, yet forward under my chin rather than back against my throat. I did get it to stay on all night but it was loose when I woke up, so I don't know how much mouth breathing I ended up doing. I'm going to experiment some more.

I do believe this is going to be a good method for me if I can get it to stay tight enough all night. It doesn't even look too ridiculous, not that I really care. It reminds me of ads I used to see in the back of magazines for some type of chin strap like this promoted to prevent sagging jowels and facial skin.

 

[Blossom]

A wide cloth head band might work too. They make chin straps for people who use CPAP but they would probably be expensive.

 

[SQu]

The taping just got me breathing worse not better, no idea why. I'll stop trying for a while.
Last night I slept much better, but had to break the heavy breathing pattern right at the start. Concentrating on relaxing.and also 1 g aspirin and sugared milk helped. Can't assume it will last though as it's also common to have a better night after a terrible one, probably just out of exhaustion. I did take vit d at bedtime, and had more protein at dinner.

 

[SQu]

Another thing to note is less hair on.face. I never had a problem but got a bit moustachey , not noticeable as blonde but might have been a shadow if dark. If dark, would have needed to wax. One or two wiry bristles. Receded now even when I look for it in the sun. An easily overlooked symptom, but surely meaningful indicator of androgens, conversion, progesterone (we should poll progesterone - best supp ever? Most dramatic results?) anyway, it's another little bit of good news!

 

[SQu]

Day 28 on this dose, going well. Sleep bit better. No PMS even though it's usually now..(very happy!) Less than usual swelling, in fact. Very happy with thyroid! Current dose is 3 or 4 x 2mcg t3 (tad over 2 perhaps sometimes) spaced during day, going these days by how I feel and pulse, and 9mcg t4+1mcg t3 at bedtime. My hair wasn't falling much before but it's falling even less now . Since using niacinamide topically a small colourless mole on my neck has shrunk. Holding thumbs for more sleep improvements, but very happy with progress!

 

[SQu]

I just reread some earlier posts here to see when I started and it's been 8 weeks, but what struck me was the clear change in mood. I am aware of being much better in mood but was still surprised at how strung out I was compared to now. This is obviously tweaking brain ratios of t4:t3 effectively, just with pulse!

 

[SQu]

Well, that's true when I'm sleeping a bit better - right now I'm not. Up from 1 - 3 last night,trying things. Tried t3. Ice cream. What finally worked was 1.5g aspirin. A lot.
I've had slight hypo signs lately (pulse, constipation, sleep). the weather got colder on Friday. First winter temps this season. But upping t3 slightly a week ago made me more hypo, not less. Which puts me off raising dose. nevertheless as signs are subtle, and as I'm otherwise stuck in a narrow and chilly zone between two hypos, today I'll raise t3 by a 2mcg dose. And see about dissolving pregnenolone in oil so I can try that, without the silicon dioxide.

 

[Blossom]

Well, that's true when I'm sleeping a bit better - right now I'm not. Up from 1 - 3 last night,trying things. Tried t3. Ice cream. What finally worked was 1.5g aspirin. A lot.
I've had slight hypo signs lately (pulse, constipation, sleep). the weather got colder on Friday. First winter temps this season. But upping t3 slightly a week ago made me more hypo, not less. Which puts me off raising dose. nevertheless as signs are subtle, and as I'm otherwise stuck in a narrow and chilly zone between two hypos, today I'll raise t3 by a 2mcg dose. And see about dissolving pregnenolone in oil so I can try that, without the silicon dioxide.

I was wondering if you have a little salt when you can't sleep? When I wake up in the middle of the night or even have trouble falling asleep I have a salty/sugary snack and it really helps. I will add salt and sugar to my hagen daaz or have some O.J. with gelatin and salt. I suppose this is common knowledge on the forum but thought I'd mention it anyway.

 

[SQu]

Thanks blossom! I drink sugared milk during the night, but don't like salt with it. I'll think of a salty snack to add.

 

[Blossom]

Thanks blossom! I drink sugared milk during the night, but don't like salt with it. I'll think of a salty snack to add.

Sometimes I just put a little salt on my tongue and wash it down with a drink. Small amounts seem best to avoid upset stomach by taking too much salt all at once. Let us know how it goes!

 

[SQu]

Yes that is a tricky issue at night as daytime salt is easy in hot broth but obviously that won't work at night. I don't like salty OJ or milk, only broth. I don't usually like salt straight or washed down. Will ponder.
Better sleep last night probably making up for previous night, a 2/10 on my sleep scale :
0 = no sleep,
1-2 = hours wandering house like banquo's ghost,
3-4 = restless, unsatisfying
5- 6 ="restless but somewhat satisfying
7 - 9 = no.description yet as hasn't happened in living memory!
10 likewise not yet happened but I'd know it if it did as that would be unbroken, satisfying sleep

 

[SQu]

Continued - I took a lot more t3 after checking pulse which was always below 85, usually in 70s. I took 6 doses of about 3mcg each, at 6,8.30,10, 1.30, 5, 6.30. same t4 @ bedtime. Plus 'haiduts t3' once. That's a lot more than before but weather is also colder. Worked well, symptoms improved. We'll see if it carries on working or if I get hypo again or need t4 adjusting. Holding thumbs.

 

[SQu]

Adding more salt especially in the night helped a lot with sleep. But I'm currently trying to stop a migraine , with some success, which I'll post on once I feel less groggy from the cypro. As there seems to be a pattern.

 

[tara]

Good luck getting out of this one.

 

[SQu]

Well, I learned something about migraines. Firstly I saw my old post on your migraine thread, Tara, and realized that I just repeated some stuff. 1 - I had more protein, in this case about 20g or more extra protein from farmer's cheese than usual (ditto last time) and more T3 than usual (ditto).And pregnenelone. I did have lots of accompanying OJ and sugar, but it couldn't keep up. I also this time, neglected to snack enough during the previous afternoon and felt my energy drop. Bad habits, but eating is just a chore since low carb took away my appetite seemingly forever.
The result was a migraine, kind of a milder one, but all the same symptoms, just less pain. 2 days worth. I'm confident now that it's the blood sugar drop that starts it. And I'm also confident that small doses of cypro (1-2mg every few hours) helped more than anything else I threw at it - and I threw a lot! T3 also surprisingly helped, but I suppose that must be because by then I'd got the sugar up with enough food. Other things I threw - lots of sugar, salt, ice cream, aspirin, charcoal, but less coffee than usual, just had to eat what I could face.
One other contributing factor the previous day was a very stupid thing I did, which was to suck an aspirin, start coughing as it slightly irritated my throat, and then choke on the tablet. I was always able to breathe so I knew I was okay, but it was scary nevertheless and I coughed and frothed for about 20 minutes. That night I had a burning throat. So there was stress and some trauma there. And that would require more sugar to heal, right? Levels I can't seem to provide even with lots of eating of sugar.

 

[tara]

Congratulations on coming through it easier. Thanks for this report. Wish I could get some cyproheptadine to try. Bad luck with the aspirin.

Do you use the cypro every day, or just when you get a migraine?

 

[SQu]

I can get it without prescription here so I bought some. Tried it for sleep - not so good after the first few nights. Does a melatonin-thing of knocking you out only to wake a bit later, wide awake, unrefreshed. So I stopped it for that and just left it. But I see people talk about cutting up a pill and taking bits in the day. So if it's mainly for lowering serotonin and that's what I have to do in a hurry with a migraine, I decided to try that. And it worked really well. So now I'm over that, I'm not taking it unless I see a daily reason, and most days I no longer feel serotonin symptoms. But I'm going to look it up again. It did lots for me when I really needed it.

 

[SQu]

I use pulse not temps to decide when to take more thyroid, because my pulse behaves itself in a reasonably textbook fashion and makes me feel like I'm making progress! But today, just to see, I took my temps - 36.2 wakeup, 36 after breakfast, 36.3 mid afternoon. That is really low, lower than I used to be even. I feel a lot better than those temps would suggest. So the thermometer can go back into its drawer in disgrace and stay there.
I'm now taking 1/4 of a 20mcg T3 tab 3 times a day (finally, visible pieces)! and 11.25 T4 + 1.25 T3 combo pill at bedtime. Feel pretty good, could be warmer, slight hypo signs still, may slowly raise that again, but other benefits continue so no rush.
Gradual weight loss continues. A thought I've had before from purely personal experience is as follows, this swam up out of years of struggling: the better I feel the more fat I'm losing. The worse I feel the more weight and swelling goes on, and stays on. Food intake correlates with this, because as soon as I restrict I feel myself get cold, slow, swollen, and fat. I can't restrict and lose weight. I have to put health first and hope it happens that way, as it so far is. This has been my motto for some time now.

 

[SQu]

5 minutes on the legpress machine at gym three days ago after a 3 month break has messed me up. I took b1, 3, aspirin, caffeine before and after,also plenty of sugar after. pulse still over 100 three hours later. Salt finally worked. Finding it strangely tasteless since. Think one's taste for salt is meaningful. Since then, very tired, blood sugar feels low and unraisable for all the sugar, salt, protein, milk , OJ I'm trying to get in. Milk soothes. Salt a bit. Most food unfaceable but I am forcing it down as things will go badly downhill if not. Thyroid lifts briefly but don't want to raise t3 above current ratio of about 16 mcg: 11t4 out of the (uncharacteristic!) caution that has served me well so far.
Remembered that my blood sugar crashes go way back pre low carb, to low fat days. Oat bran days. Skip meals days. Low fat diet stage always failed due to them plus sugar cravings. Craving nothing anymore, for years. 3 years of trying to fix blood sugar, with some success but still very much prone to dropping, Plus of course insomnia. Think liver glycogen may be my biggest issue, with associated insomnia and weight.

 

[SQu]

I've been a bit worried about ratio as in my case I feel better on much lower amounts of t4 than 4/3/2:1, but I go by symptoms, and pulse. If I take care not to take t3 if pulse is at a level where I think it indicates adrenalin, in my case that feels like about 90+, (though RP says 100 + IIRC); and if I do take it if pulse is below what feels for me to be about right, which is 85-90, then I keep safe and level, with, if anything, a tendency to go too low, into hypo symptoms. Which I've had since gym, till today. Right now that means I'm taking a bit more t3 than t4, which on the one hand makes me nervous because of the ratio, but on the other, seems to be working reasonably well. And based on symptoms I'm considering raising t3 again, to 20mcg a day (a whole pill!). We'll see what that does, if I need to raise t4 a bit or not. But I've remained cautious about raising t3 to deal with hypo symptoms, and this week at least, that caused unnecessary difficulties. I've been watching for hair loss if t4 goes too low, but so far, no problems there.