Sunday, November 28, 2010

Allergen Reaction vs. T4 Overdose??

This morning I realized I have consumed cane sugar (one of my diagnosed allergens) every other day for the past 4-5 weeks. I put almond butter in my cooked breakfast cereal. The manufacturer changed the ingredients of my regular almond butter brand to now include evaporated cane juice. We neglected to read the label when we bought that jar. This morning I also noticed my usual cane sugar reactions of tachycardia and slight nausea (which typically last 24-36 hours). Yesterday, I did not eat cooked cereal. I did not experience obvious tachycardia, despite taking my first 2 liothyronine (T3 supplement).

I checked my calendar and noticed that I began to experience severe tachycardia about 5 weeks ago, which was about when I opened that jar of almond butter. At that time I believed the increased (75 mcg) dose of Levoxyl caused my tachycardia. However, I usually react very strongly to an allergen after abstaining from that for a long while. So I could have also reacted to the cane sugar. The severe tachycardia did subside after reducing the Levoxyl dose. As I continued to consume cane sugar in the almond butter every other day for the past 5 weeks, during the time I thought I was reacting to Levoxyl, I also noticed more intermittent gut cramps, my usual reaction to my other allergens.

When I saw my T4 levels on my last blood tests, I wondered how I could have experienced overdose symptoms without increasing my T4 levels very much. When I saw my low total and free T3 levels, I realized I wasn't converting T4 to T3. So I wondered how enough of the supplemental (Levoxyl) T4 was converted to cause overdose symptoms. After realizing that I consumed cane sugar, to which I react with tachycardia and slight nausea, at the same time I took the increased (75mcg) dose of Levoxyl, I wondered whether how much of my tachycardia was caused by cane sugar and how much was caused by Levoxyl.

After reading more about T4 to T3 conversion problems, I now wonder: if my body doesn't easily convert T4 to T3, do I need the same (50mcg) dose of T4 (Levoxyl) while I take a T3 (liothyronine) supplement?

I experienced some nausea after taking each of 2 Liothyronine tablets yesterday. However, I won't know whether the T3 causes tachycardia until I stop reacting to the cane sugar. Since I found the source of the allergen reaction and can now abstain from cane sugar, the reaction symptoms should subside after a few more days. Then I can assess whether the T3 supplement has more benefits than side effects.

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