Now that I have been off of it my normally greasy hair and skin is extremely dry.
Should I go back on the thyroid stuff?Do you think these new symptoms are because I went off the thyroid stuff?

[This message has been edited by trecetetodromonmetabia (edited 26 September 2004).]

If you were having heart problems while on the thyroid meds, I wouldn't go back on without talking to your doctor. Sometimes people do better on a different brand or type of thyroid med.

The dose you were taking sounds like a dose for Armour or one of the other natural thyroid meds. It's possible the T3 in that dose is too much for you. T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone. Some people can't tolerate the percentage in the ones made from pig thyroid. Maybe you need to take a T4 only med, like synthroid or levoxyl.

Measuring Free T4 and Free T3 levels may give some insight into what is happening. If your doctor doesn't know what those are, you may need someone else to supervise your thyroid meds. Thyroid is as commonly mistreated as Lyme disease, so you need to find a doctor who knows what they are doing.

Irritatingly dry skin is certainly one hypothyroid symptom. If yours is due to that, one reason you may notice it more since going off the Armour than before you took it is that your thyroid's self-activity decreases when you take supplements. If you stop them cold, it takes some time for your thyroid to get back up to speed (especially if it was already compromised) - so your symptoms will actually be worse for a while.

It's always best to taper with thyroid medication, not start or stop cold. I know many women who even split one Armour pill (1 grain) into 1/16ths or so because of initial sensitivity, & work up slowly and as needed.

And yes, do find yourself a thyroid literate doctor who can run a detailed thyroid panel & recommend the correct supplement. An excellent source of doctor references and information is Mary Shomon's about.com thyroid site:
http://thyroid.about.com/

Tincup posted something a couple days ago titled 'cranial nerves', which really gave great info on swallowing problems.

Off and on I've had swelling on the left side of my neck, trouble breathing, swallowing,(have to crush meds)trouble singing,(that could be a good thing though!) and the feeling of something closing my throat.

I have no thyroid problems but thanks to Tincup what was posted helped me to realize this is a part of Lyme.

Please note that you can get information on this website but I would be VERY reluctant to get medical advise about changing dosages and modification of ongoing treatment.

On the thyroid meds. I would really suggest to check with your Dr as he/she knows why you where put on them. You really don't want to mess with these in an abrupt fashion.

In general, from what I know about hypothyrodism ( a close relative has it) the dry hair is one indicator of low thyroid (as everyone else has said!). Other things are also fairly common, like weight gain and course hair growth. Going off the meds abruptly like that will affect your thyroid levels + you where put on them originally for a reason which presumably will add to the negative effect.

There is also a hypothyroid related disease call hashimoto's thyroiditis. This disease presents with neurological defects, much like neuro lyme does. I would assume that it has been looked at fairly early on but if not, you should check it out.
You can get some pretty good info on this at www.emedicine.com and look for hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Again sorry for the previous post.

If you don't mind, could you list some of the symptoms that you have had and which are getting worse?

This information might jog someone's memory and maybe point to some co-existing conditions that other may be familiar with.

Also did you have any positive blood tests for Lyme and the associated diseases?

Did they test for any other non tick bourne diseases, like brucellosis?

The throat thing certainly could be yeast. If it turns into thrush, then you could really be in BIG trouble.

I agree, we are not doctors and some of your questions are those that should be poised to your doc.

If you are on any antibiotic, you should be taking mesures to counteract yeast. Yeast can and does mimic LD symptoms.

Please see a specialist, or call the doc who prescribed the Armour in the first place. Don't wait!

You indicated - "It feels like my throat is very tight and I have to strech it but I can't.It is also hard to swallow and it feels like something is in my throat.My throat feels very narrow."

I have had this sensation throughout my treatment and have noticed it does become worse if yeast gets bad; however, since taking the synthroid the endo prescribed, I haven't noticed it at all.

I too had heart beat problems but, they seem to have improved following treatment for Bartonella and also 3 months of Mepron/Zith. I haven't noticed a worsening of them w/ synthroid.

Also, the endo did an ultrasound of my thyroid and found "nodules" which will be evaluated annually. The medication was given to control them.

I have also noticed slight improvement in my HORRIBLE fatigue!!! Not a lot, but some!!

The endo also diagnosed polycystic ovarian disease and I am taking a med for that!

The greatest benefit of both was an immediate loss of about 20 pounds!! I loved that side effect!! Only 150 more to go!!

Good luck and I would recommend as have others talking w/ your doc and possible seeing an endocrinologist.

Sherry

Rosesisland2000 mentioned thrush. What exactly is that? What is yeast? How do I get rid of yeast?

Yes, get to a LLMD for all of your above. I've been misdx for 34 years w/fibro, chronic fatigue, & 25+ other illnesses/symptoms.

Have a A1C done for blood sugar which is a 3 month testing of how your daily blood sugars run. That's how I was diagnosed w/my type 2 diabetes. Many children get type 1 diabetes.

Go to: www.marshallprotocol.com to general questions...OFF TOPIC, and look for a Betty G. post about extreme hearing & eye sensitivity of lights/glare/reflections. They gave me some excellent advice there. Check it out.

Swallowing problem I've had for 10-15 yrs..."motility"...can't get my pills started in the throat. Later I learned that's symptom also of lyme.