posted
I just read an article quoting an LLMD that the way to take your temperature to determine if Lyme disease has effected the thyroid is to take it 3 times during the day for 7 days starting 3 hours after waking.
I've also read that you're supposed to take it first thing upon waking instead of 3 hours after waking.
Can someone please shed some light on the correct way in which to take ones temperature?
My daughter's thyroid tests come back normal but the "duck" had her take her temp every morning on waking up.
That was before we knew she had Lyme. Even though the temps came back low the doctor never did anything because her tests were normal.
Has anyone had any improvement in symptoms once they added T3? Could this be causing her horrible insomnia and head pressure?
She has been diagnosed with Lyme and Babesia.
She has been on a number of oral and IV abx including Rocephin.
She has also been on Mepron and Aremisinin for Babesia.
I would appreciate info about T3 replacement and how it helped Lyme patients.
Thanks very much, Paul.
Posts: 80 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Feb 2008
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linky123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 19974
posted
We just visited the llmd last week and he is having my son take his temp. 3, 6, and 9 hours after awakening.
Linky
Posts: 2607 | From Hooterville | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
Hi, I have hashimotos, this a auto-immune Thyroid disease "low thyroid" . I had suffered years with it and the doc's kept saying my numbers were normal and ignoring my symptoms.
When I finally got copies of my tests... they were not all normal. Most MD's don't know enough. It is much like Lyme in that they look for the simplest testing and don't look at the symptoms.
I had the symptoms for ten years before I had my antibodies tested. I have terrible insomina and constant headaches but like your daughter when you have many things at once its difficult to point to what is causing what.
I highly recommend reading a bit about it... go to About thyroid .com ..great resource. Mary Shomon is a author and is very very smart about thyroid and very helpful. You can call her and discuss your health issues she was really helpful for me. You could google her.
I have always read and heard that you do the test first thing in the morning.
Don't move don't do anything...just have thermometer (glass mercury kind) ready by your bed and do it just after you wake.
Place under your armpit next to the skin and lay still for ten minutes.
Record the temps for 3 to 5 days to get an average. Women who are menstrating should not test the first five days of cycle.
I am on synthroid. This is addding T4 which converts to T3. This is the common approach. I tried Armour (Natural treatment from pigs thyroid) and had a bad reaction to it.But, many people do well with it. I have tried adding small amounts of T3 but it speeded my heart out.
Be careful of doing "natural" treatments that use kelp or natural Iodine. Its very possible to make your thyroid worse with it.
Most doc's use a cookie cutter approach and no ones hormones work that way. You have to be educated and play with it until you find something that works and then things will still change. I am having to adjust my dose at least a few times a year.
It has helped a bit with my brain fog and for awhile helped some with my energy. while it looks like I have lyme I have not treated the Lyme the way your daughter is doing, so hopefully others will chime in.
I also recommend if you do take a drug like synthroid DO NOT take any generic substitutes. Unlike other meds thyroid drugs fillers or variations can really affect your thyroid function. So, once you have made a choice have doc say no generics. The cost is not that much more. Is been on the market a long time so its pretty cheap.
Good luck. I hope she feels better
Posts: 161 | From sonoma county | Registered: May 2009
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seekhelp
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 15067
posted
I took my temps 3 times several hours apart for 7 days. The numbers were flawed as I was on Doxy and it artificially raised my temp 1-2 deg. I couldn't get my LLMD to recognize this though.
Posts: 7545 | From The 5th Dimension - The Twilight Zone | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
Google "Broda Barnes thyroid" and you will get a lot of info on this.
I always heard upon waking .... your LLMD must be looking for other info as well.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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Cass A
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posted
Hi!
I recently re-studied the Wilson Thyroid Syndrome book, which goes into great detail about the tests and temperature and thyroid (on the web, it's called the Wilson Temperature Syndroms).
He says that, for THYROID, you test 3 hours after getting up and every 3 hours after. You are looking for how much CHANGE there is, as well as if the temperature is sub-normal.
He also recommends taking your temperature when you feel poorly, when you feel good, when you feel fatigued, etc., to see if there is any pattern to what your temperature is at these times.
Hope this helps!
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
The thing is that lyme can affect the thyroid, but many people are hypothyroid without lyme, so the picture is a bit confusing. This is why there may be different ideas about when and how to take temps.
For strictly thyroid issues (without lyme), the truly educated experts (not common, most just use TSH testing, which isn't adequate) temp testing is as described above, under the armpit when waking, using glass thermometer. The reason for armpit instead of mouth is that infection can raise the temp, including sinusitis.
Treating hypothyroidism and hashimotos is an art, requires time and experimenting with different meds and doses. The cautions about iodine need to be considered in the light of what else you are taking in the way of supplements. Thyroid hormones require iodine and many diets are iodine deficient now (see Brownstein book).
There are several good books on treating hypothyroidism. If your lyme doc is doing this, fine. Another source is the Broda Barnes Foundation, which provides lists of doctors in your area that are thyroid specialists. Unfortunately, most of them do not take insurance either.
I don't think the headaches, etc, that you describe are thyroid related, sounds more like babesia.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
I think the answer to your temperature question is that both methods are correct.
Thyroid function is dependent upon adrenal function to deliver the thyroid hormone to the tissues.
The temp in the armpit upon awakening will give you a very good idea if you are hypothyroid. I was told not even to sit up in bed first, and to take the temp for 14 days, then average it. If it's below 97.8 you have a problem.
The temps taken throughout the day are to see if you also have an adrenal problem. They should not vary more than .2 degrees. The wider the range of variation, the more likely your adrenals need treatment before and concurrently with thyroid treatment.
IMO, people's temps usually will be highest in late afternoon, so I would not worry about having more than a .2 variation in that one time slot. It's normal. Any other wide variation is suspect for subclinical hypoadrenalism.
However, A nurse recently told me that she thinks the "normal" temp range is wrong. She says at least 95% of patients are always below 98.6. Of course, many of those people are sick...that's why they are at the doctor's office! But, some are just there for annual physicals, etc. It's something to think about.
Try www.drrind.com and see their "Metabolic Scorecard" to get an accurate idea of how much of your problem is thyroid, adrenal, or both.
klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
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posted
Thanks everyone for all the info. I will be picking up a glass mercury thermometer today and have my daughter start testing tomorrow.
I'm hoping this will help with her insomnia.
With a miracle it will help her head pressure also but I'm not so sure.
The head pressure is her worst symptom and caused her to quit work and college 2 years ago.
One can only hope with this disease that something helps.
Thanks again everyone.
Posts: 80 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Feb 2008
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massman
Unregistered
posted
Paul there are some supplements that are specifically designed to bring thyroid back to health,. Same thing taken if thyroid high or low, No pushing high down or low up.
Cass A
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11134
posted
Dear Paul M,
Good luck on finding a glass mercury thermometer now!!
I had to get the digital ones, and the immediate readout is always incorrect--too low. I have to take my temp 3-5 times with one before it settles out.
Don't know about the armpit testing--that temp is always below 98.6 anyway. I never felt comfortable with taking it that way.
Just as a side comment, one of the first things to change on the Marshall Protocol, according to people who post there, is thyroid function.
This would make the report that so many people have a "sub-normal" temperature--but that they are actually ill to some degree--quite creditable.
Best,
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
The people who are writing good thyroid books now suggest that the reason more people are coming up on low side of temp testing is that there is more untreated or undertreated hypothyroidism. That makes sense at a time when so many docs rely solely on TSH as a marker for thyroid function.
You can buy glass thermometers, but they come now in a non-mercury forumulation. Whether that works as well, I don't know. My experience with digital thermometers was not good either, cass.
Armpit testing is normally lower than mouth, so the determination of what is abnormally low will be different too. The thyroid books explain this. Probably Mary Shomon's website too.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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