Well $230 later, Nic has seen her.

She's took urine, given loads of bloods tests to do, said she'd happily prescribe that pig one (lol), checked her teath for fillings, and thankfully she only has the one, etc etc.

End of the day Nic was happy with the consultation, and was assured once again that her anti D's have more than likely been the cause of the weight, especially as her thyroid seem to be a lot better now as well.

Yeah she's been fine for a long time now and what with the side effects. She printed off a set of instructions for weaning off her one (known to be hard). It even gets to the stage of 1/4 one day, 1/8th the next! ... Either way, it's a VERY gradual process, and so far she's been fine. Her GP is aware and keeping an eye on things, so I spose never been a better time really.

Yeah her energy has improved tenfold, and is now up early on weekends tidying up the house and stuff. A few months back it was a day in bed, but for all the wrong reasons ... boom boom! ...

Seriously tho, as much as the AD's were needed once upon a time, we've moved on from then and hopefully 3 - 6 months after being off them, she should be seeing signs of weight loss.

Great news Paul. Very encouraging.

I really hope she can get to the bottom of it. Great that the anti' D's are being cut down too. Given that you were so sure that couldn't happen a few months ago, and now look where you're both at!
Keep us updated on progress and if you need anything, just ask.

Thanks matey ...

If she needs to get the amalgmam filing removed,there is a good dentist in the Brissie area that removes them safely.Ive just had 7 removed and rate her.
Glad you got on well with Helen
donna

That's great news, Paul - for both of you.

Hey Seasider...how are you going on the HC and 'pig'? I've just got off the T4 completely (took my time weening off it!) so I'm hoping over the next 4 - 6 weeks things start to improve for me. I'm currently taking 90mg - 2 in the morning and 1 at 11am. I was taking 28mg HC but with the extra thyroid (the weaning process meant I had to increase my dosage slightly) I needed to increase my HC so I'm now taking 32mg per day

Hi Mrs J, haven't seen you around lately.

Gone back down to 60mg of pig as I was a bit shaky on 90mg. Trying just 1*4mg HC on a morning but honestly not sure what it's doing for me.

How do you feel about possible side effects - do you experience any? I've made so many changes lately that it's hard to tell what's causing what, but I am quite achey and keep getting cramp in my feet. It could be the osteoporosis drug; I'm really not happy about being on that and Dr B does not rate it at all (she'd rather have me on HGH but that's a bit too whack for me, and very expensive) but I'm already quite severe for my age and have to do something about it.

On the whole I don't feel unwell, just still not really "well". Brain is very fuzzy indeed.

I definitely need the HC for sure. At the beginning I could definitely notice the difference as I felt a calmness in my chest that I hadnt felt for years plus I could cope a lot better with stressful situations. 4mg would do absolutely NOTHING for me though. What was your urine cortisol test result - mine was 186 (range 70-430)? If you're being put on HC for adrenal fatigue then you will definitely need more than that to see any sort of effect. Also you need to make sure your adrenals are supported before hitting the 'pig'. That could be why you cant tolerate the 90mg just yet. Having said that I took a lot longer to move up to 90mg. I stayed on 50mcg T4 & 60mg NTH for a month before finally deciding to knock the T4 on the head completely (this was only on Monday so we'll see how I go).

I've been very crampy in bed at night recently too but I think that may be due to my calcium levels...I'll get those checked out soon. My parathyroids were damaged when I had my thyroid removed.

I try to only adjust one med at a time so that I know whats doing what. I was on HC for about 6 weeks...I made sure that the average of my daily temps had stabilised (meaning that my adrenals were getting the support they needed) and then started the transition to NTH.

Its a long haul this getting healthy isnt it?!!

Sure is! Been at this about 3 years now and changing countries hasn't helped. The first GP refusing to give me BHRT set me back a few months; thankfully I'm back on it now so hopefully stabilising that one at least.

Dr B said I could take another HC at lunchtime so maybe I will try that and see if it makes a difference. I'll have to dig out the results - the study is a total mess at the moment as we've been reviewing all our finances (how did I end up with so many frozen pensions? ) Got to be careful though as I'm wide awake on an evening. Maybe I should get a night job.

On the first appt Dr B told me the maximum you can take of HC is 20mg...on the 2nd one she told me 25mg I've done a lot of research myself and am happy to increase to 32mg while I'm getting stabilised on NTH.

If you dont actually need HC then it could be that which is causing the shakiness. Has it subsided since you reduced your NTH? How long were you taking the HC before starting the NTH? Like I said though...one 4mg tablet would do absolutely nothing for me. I dose mine throughout the day like this:

7am: 10mg HC (with 2 x NTH)
11am: 8mg HC (with 1 x NTH)
4pm: 8mg HC (with 1 x Elemental iron)
Bedtime: 6mg HC (with 2 x caltrate)

I have to take my bloody tablet box with me everywhere and have alarms going off on my phone all the time to remind me to take them...to say my memory is lacking some is a huge understatement!!

I used to set my alarms for my drugs too.

Now I have stabilised, I don't bother.

You guys will get there... just keep on going.

Glad to hear that panic feeling has gone Mrs J. That's so much nicer to live without it isn't it!

It sure is Mrs T...it still comes and goes...but when it goes...god its nice!

More of the same please!!

Still on for tomorrow?

Absolutely!

What time suits you?

about 10ish any good for you?

Absolutely. I'm up at 6am these days anyway, so 10 is positively luxurious.

Need me to bring anything?