Friday, April 29, 2011

Short Health Update

I've taken 50 mcg of T4 and 10 mcg of T3 (divided dose) for 8 days now. During the previous week I took 25 mcg of T4 and 12 mcg of T3 for 7 days. However, I got tired of splitting pills. So I tried whole tablets of both drugs. I notice a little more palpitation after exercise, but my husband assures me that's normal. I'm warmer, more energetic and absolutely 'regular' (no more bleeding hemorrhoids YAAAYY!!!). I still notice slight energy deficit before and after I take my afternoon T3 dose. I can't call that an energy 'crash' now. I can push through the urge to veg, while my T3 takes effect.

I'll continue to monitor side effects of the T4, because I'm also taking full dose (3 mg) of LDN. I may need to reduce the T4 back to 25 mcg after it reaches full potential in my body. That usually takes 1-4 weeks. Above all, I haven't experienced cold symptoms for over a week. So I'm gradually reducing the Arabinogalactin. I also resumed taking vitamin D (because I no longer have constipation problems), but I only take 1000 IU of D3 daily. I eat enough vitamin D rich foods. So I don't want to OD on vitamin D3 again. Perhaps my body can finally fight off viral infections before they develop into full blown 'colds'. Only time will tell, but I feel well now.

Decreased Internet Activity

For some time I've realized that I spend waaaaay too much time online. I regret the time I waste reading other people's blogs, checking online support groups, and even shopping at sites of stores which I can visit locally. I've tried to limit my time to once a day. However, I noticed that when I'm too tired to do anything else, need a break or want to procrastinate doing something which I fear failing or not doing perfectly, I wander into my office and turn on my computer. An hour later I realized I could have finished whatever I procrastinated, that I didn't need such a long 'break', or that I didn't get any more energy from sitting and staring at this screen.

Luckily, when my husband tried to install a security software update, my computer crashed. Nothing worked! He felt very guilty. I was relieved. I had a great way to prevent myself from wasting online time.

My husband took my computer to work and asked a techie friend to repair my computer, which involved deleting and reloading everything except, of course, my 'favorites'. Those 'favorites' included other people's blogs, shopping sites and information about medical treatments. He brought my computer home after a few days and told me it was much faster. However, I did not want him to reconnect my computer on my office desk. I wanted an enforced computer vacation.

So during the past 9 days I was online for about an hour. I observed that I can clear my emails and junk mail in about 5 minutes, answer 1-2 emails and even post on a blog within 30 minutes once every few days. During the past week I've spent much more time sewing (my true passion). I've also gotten much more rest.

When my computer first crashed, my husband and I discussed a replacement. He offered to buy me a new computer many previous times. So I took him up on his offer. I want a laptop with a docking station in my office. However, I have yet to shop for a laptop. I just don't want to spend more time either shopping for or working on a computer. So I still have my old computer, which works a little faster now.

I now realize I can ignore my computer for days and spent more time on other things. Right now I'm soaking my toenails in Listerine (a toenail fungus treatment) while I'm online. However, I just noticed I've spent 30 minutes, which is all I need for my toenails.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

FT3 Result

I never did see my Free T3 test result posted on my HMO website. So I didn't think they ran that test. However, I received in the mail today the paper copy printout of all my recent blood test results, which included the free T3 result. I have mixed emotions about that result. I'm glad I finally got the result. However, my recent FT3of 2.3 (normal 2.4-4.4) was even lower than my last result of 2.7. (Before I began taking supplemental T3 last November my FT3 was 2.0.) So how did my FT3 levels DECREASE while I wsa taking 10-12 mcg of Liothyronine (T3) daily???

Perhaps I do need the T4 (Levoxyl) supplement to get enough T3, even though I don't easily convert T4 to T3. At least taking Levoxyl could prevent the afternoon energy drain, because T4 rises slowly ans decreases slowly. (The half-life for T4 is 8 days vs. the half-life of T3, which is 8 hours.)

I also suspect I haven't been as careful as I should be with my dose schedule. I'm supposed to take my thyroid supps 1 hour before food and 3-4 hours before taking magnesium supplements. However, I take Mg supps with breakfast lunch and dinner so that I don't get a big dose of Mg all at once. Large amounts of Mg can cause gas and bloating, which I don't like. I used to get up and take my thyroid supps and then go back to bed for another hour or so. Then by the time I had breakfast 3 hours later, 4hours would have passed between my thyroid supps and my Mg dose. However, I've gotten a little careless with my morning dose. Sometimes I eat, rather than just drink juice less than an hour after I take my T3 dose. Sometimes I eat breakfast and take Mg less than 3 hours after my T3 dose. Both food and Mg interfere with thyroid supplement absorption. So I get some of the thyroid, but not all.

Whatever ... my low T3 level explains why I've had more regularity problems lately despite taking thyroid supps. So I'll resume my earlier habit of getting up when I first wake up in the am, rather than rolling over and going back to sleep. I can take my thyroid supps with arabinogalactan and THEN go back to bed for an hour or so. LOL

I took my first LDN (full 3 mg dose) last night. I noticed the difference immediately. I slept well, but I woke up remembering vivid dreams. I missed those during the week I was off LDN. I only had one scary dream previously while on LDN, but that was after watching a disturbing movie. Also I noticed that I didn't feel the pain from my current cold (sore throat and chest pain), maybe because LDN stimulates endorphin production. More endorphins means less pain sensation. This cold seems to have progressed to my chest. So I cough (both productive and nonproductive) continually. Hopefully resuming LDN and vitamin D3 supplements (which I began to today at 1000mg) will help me recover more quickly from this cold.

I long for the day when my WBCs are high enough that no longer get every cold that comes along. Actually I suspect my husband brought me this cold from his office, where a coworker has the same symptoms as I have. Oh well, another 3 months on LDN should improve my immunity even more.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

TPOab Result and No Charge Visit

I received another blood test result today. My TPOab (Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies or Hashimoto's antibodies) was 37. Last November that number was 53. After 6 weeks on LDN (low dose naltrexone) that number was 47. My lastest TPOab result of 37 was after 4-1/2 months on LDN. That and my improved WBC (white blood cell) result convinced me to resume taking LDN. If I still get colds easily, I can certainly improve my immunity even more. I'll resume LDN after I get my prescription tomorrow.

Today I saw my doc. She had not received all my blood test results, because my HMO only sends those to my 'outside provider' (doc unaffiliated with my HMO) AFTER all the results are in. However, I can access my results as they appear on my HMO's website. So I just printed out everything I received (CBCs, TSH, FT4, TPOab and Vitamin D3 levels) and took those to my appointment with my doc. While she was looking at the results I asked her if I could resume LDN, Levoxyl (my T4 supplement) and vitamin D3 at 1000IU daily. She concurred with all those ideas. She was also very pleased to see my WBC levels were finally in the midnormal range and my TPOab had decreased even more. So we're both excited to see how much more improvement I'll experience by continuing the LDN another 3 months or so.

My doc was so impressed by my questions and understanding of my blood test results that she didn't charge me for an appointment. She said she couldn't offer me anything, because I figured it out myself. So we just talked about gardening and fashion for the rest of my appointment time. I promised to bring my old Oprah, Bazaar, Living Without and Lucky magazines for their clinic waiting room the next time I needed to buy more arabinogalactan from their clinic.

Maybe I should have just booked a phone consult, but I like to get regular blood pressure, weight, pulse and body temperature assessment. As usual my weight was exactly the same as it was for the previous 5 visits, but my core body temp was low, probably because I'm fighting yet another cold. Oh well, all the more reason to resume taking LDN.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Post LDN Symptoms and Blood Tests

I took my last LDN (low dose naltrexone) capsule 6 days ago. After 36 hours I awoke with what felt like a hangover, but I haven't consumed alcohol for at least 2 years. I was nauseas and had a headache, but no respiratory symptoms (which could indicate another cold). The next day I felt less nausea and no headache. So I suspect I was 'withdrawing' from LDN.

However 3 days after finishing LDN I developed slight cold (respiratory infection) symptoms. The next day I definitely had another bad cold, which I'm still fighting 2 days later. I had a brief (2 week) break from cold symptoms after my 3 week battle with a sinus infection during March, while I took my initially prescribed dose (3 mg daily) of LDN. However, 4 days after I stopped taking LDN I developed another bad cold.

Nevertheless, I did a blood draw on Monday (the day I woke up with severe cold symptoms). I suspected the cold would lower my white blood cell count, even if that had increased. So I was pleasantly surprised by my CBC results, which I received the same day:

WBC (total white blood cell count) 6.2 (normal range 4.0-10.7) vs. 3.4 on January 28;

Absolute Neutrophils were 4.49 (normal range 2.0-7.3) vs. 1.93 (below normal) on 1/28;

Absolute Lymphocytes were 1.01 (normal range 1.0-3.4), which is consistent with active viral infections (another cold), vs. 1.06 on 1/28;

MCHC was 33 (normal range 33-37) vs. 32 on 1/28.

The WBC and Neutrophil level improvements tell me that the LDN worked!

I also received 2 of the 4 thyroid hormone tests:

TSH was 1.69 vs. 1.72 on 1/13/11 (normal range 0.3-3.0);

Free T4 was 0.52 vs. 0.67 on 1/13 (normal range ).9-1.8), which were low because I didn't take a T4 supplement while taking LDN to avoid hyperthyroid sympoms.

My vitamin D3 level was 40 (normal range 30-80) vs. 93 (higher than normal) on 1/13. So I finally got that down to normal level. I had severe constipation while I had the higher level. So I abstained from vitamin D for 3 months. I may resume taking a lower daily dose (1000 IU) of D3. My doc originally prescribed D3 to help fight respiratory infections. However, my infections were just as frequent and severe when I had high vitamin D levels as when I had low vitamin D levels. So I'm not convinced that vitamin D fights viral infections. I also learned that I consume many high vitamin D containing foods, while I tried to abstain from vitamin D. 2 of the highest vitamin D sources are canned salmon and sesame seeds. I eat a salad with canned salmon and sesame seeds at least 2x a week. I also frequently eat many other high Vitamin D foods.

I'm still awaiting my free T3 and TPOab (Hashimoto's antibodies) blood test results. Hopefully I'll get those before my appointment with my doctor tomorrow. I will ask her whether I should: (1) resume taking LDN (because I didn't get colds when I took the recommended dose) and (2) resume taking a T4 supplement (maybe 25 mcg daily of Levoxyl?) in addition to my T3 supplement (11-12 mcg of liothyronine). I stopped taking T4 because the LDN exacerbated the effect of that hormone and caused hyperthyroid symptoms (palpitations). However, I experience daily a daily low energy (crash) between T3 doses. So maybe a T4 supplement (which has a longer half-life than T3) will keep my energy levels higher. Nevertheless, if I resume taking LDN, I'll have to keep the T4 dose low enough to prevent hyper symptoms and high enough to prevent the pm energy crash. Oh well, I'm used to juggling my thyroid hormone doses. SIGH