> From:   Christine Grogan <[log in to unmask]>
>
>  my
> blood pressure started to creep up.

Your not on a high dose.  My conservative doc says historically it has taken
2 to 4 grains of Armour to resolve symptoms.

My not-so-conservative doctor monitored my wife closely as he put her on
thyroid medication and due to her reaction, slowly raised her all the way to 18
grains of Armour.  At that level, she felt better but not well.  The point is
before treatment, her BP was such that the family doc was starting to insist
that she start taking blood pressure meds.  (Why was it going up?   Maybe because
my wife had normal labs and after 5 doctors not treating her thyroid we had
persuaded our family doc to treat her.  She gave her a small dosage of
Synthroid.  IN the Synthroid lit, it says it can cause thyroid symptoms if the dose is
inadequate.  In other words, undertreatment can make hypothyroidism worse
than no treatment but the doc can say, "see I treated your thyroid with this
miniscule dose and there was no improvement, in fact things got worse so it's not
your thyroid and I can continue to bill your for all these treatments you need
for the symptoms which will cost you thousands and thosands of dollars
between my fees and the drug costs.")  Anyways, her BP was high and her pulse rate
had always been 100+.

As the Armour increased, her BP and pulse went down to normal.  On 18 grains
of Armour, her blood presure was 120/80 or lower, and her pulse rate was
around 70.  It's unbelievable.   Anyway, she didn't feel well on 18 grains,
probably because she produced too much reverse T3, and I have a suspicion that's a
cause of some problems in people.  Even if you produce adequate T3, too much rT3
may not be good.

Dr. David Derry in his book "Breast Cancer and Iodine" recounted the fact
that under the old BMR test, where they put a person in a tent and monitored
their metabolism (thyroid controls metabolism and to me that means, metabolism =
thyroid, and obviously to the doctors of the day due to how they diagnosed it)
there were some people who would improve with each dose of Armour.  But, then
they would lose the improvement until they increased dosage.  This cycle
continued through huge doses of Armour.

My wife was that way, but she has stabilized well on timed release T3 under
the treatment of Doc Don who posts here on occassion.  If you don't get T4, you
have nothing to turn into rT3 and I think that's why it's her solution.  Why
the high rT3?  Probably due to strong adrenals which produce too much
cortisol.  Cortisol levels in excess, as well as corticosteroids like Prednisone in
doses beyond 5 mg per day will cause a conversion problem.  This is stated
vaguely in the Prednisone literature.  It also affects TSH readings.

So, in your case, you may be permanently hypertensive, or you may simply need
adequate thyroid treatment for all, and one size doesn't work for everyone.

Also be aware, if you are taking other medications, some of those may
interfere with thyroid function and your doctor may not tell you or even be aware.


Skipper




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