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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lee on April 14, 1999, at 1:02:19
I am a 32 year old female who has suffered from depression almost all of my life. Seven years ago I was put on Prozac and Librium, and wow...I never felt better in my life. Obesity had always been a problem as well, and I lost a significant amount of weight and had enormous energy. But, my medication was stopped when I got pregnant, (though I had to return to taking prozac during the final phase of my pregnancy) and after I had my child, I developed hyperthyroidism. Medication didn't work, so I had to undergo radioactive iodine treatment to basically destroy the thyroid. Since then, I've been on synthroid, and the depression remains (though the thyroid is "supposedly" stable.) I've been on just about every type of antidepressant there is, all of the SSRIs, a few of the Tricylics, as well as Effexor (which I had a bad reaction to). I'm currently on Prozac and Xanax, and it's having no effect on me whatsoever. Obesity is once again a problem, even though I really don't eat much fat or high calorie foods. Migraine headaches, fatigue, agoraphobia and nonsocial behavior are also a problem. I don't understand why Prozac worked so well for me before, but now isn't working at all. I don't want to try any more tricylic drugs because of the weight gain side effect, and of course, I live in one of those parts of the country where there's neither a psychiatrist nor an endocrinologist to monitor my psychotropic drugs or thyroid disorder. So I've had to rely on the judgment of a nurse practitioner. I've heard that thyroid tests, although appearing normal, can still be abnormal. Could this be the reason for my constant depression, fatigue and inability to lose weight? Or could it have been the combination of Prozac and Librium that worked before? This has been going on for 5 years now, and it's sooo frustrating. Help?
Posted by Victoria on April 14, 1999, at 13:58:56
In reply to Depression and Thyroid, posted by Lee on April 14, 1999, at 1:02:19
Your symptoms sound like the same ones I had before I was first diagnoses as hypothyroid and given synthroid. I had had borderline low thyroid for some time, but it took a while to find someone who would treat it since my levels were within the "normal" range. The doctor I have now manages my thyroid level by using the TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) test, rather than just looking at the levels of thyroid itself. The treatment goal is to keep my TSH about 1.0. It's made a big difference (though I still also need ADs as well). Why not go back on the Prozac-Lithium combo if that worked before?
> I am a 32 year old female who has suffered from depression almost all of my life. Seven years ago I was put on Prozac and Librium, and wow...I never felt better in my life. Obesity had always been a problem as well, and I lost a significant amount of weight and had enormous energy. But, my medication was stopped when I got pregnant, (though I had to return to taking prozac during the final phase of my pregnancy) and after I had my child, I developed hyperthyroidism. Medication didn't work, so I had to undergo radioactive iodine treatment to basically destroy the thyroid. Since then, I've been on synthroid, and the depression remains (though the thyroid is "supposedly" stable.) I've been on just about every type of antidepressant there is, all of the SSRIs, a few of the Tricylics, as well as Effexor (which I had a bad reaction to). I'm currently on Prozac and Xanax, and it's having no effect on me whatsoever. Obesity is once again a problem, even though I really don't eat much fat or high calorie foods. Migraine headaches, fatigue, agoraphobia and nonsocial behavior are also a problem. I don't understand why Prozac worked so well for me before, but now isn't working at all. I don't want to try any more tricylic drugs because of the weight gain side effect, and of course, I live in one of those parts of the country where there's neither a psychiatrist nor an endocrinologist to monitor my psychotropic drugs or thyroid disorder. So I've had to rely on the judgment of a nurse practitioner. I've heard that thyroid tests, although appearing normal, can still be abnormal. Could this be the reason for my constant depression, fatigue and inability to lose weight? Or could it have been the combination of Prozac and Librium that worked before? This has been going on for 5 years now, and it's sooo frustrating. Help?
Posted by nancy on April 21, 1999, at 11:34:30
In reply to Depression and Thyroid, posted by Lee on April 14, 1999, at 1:02:19
Hi. Wow, destroyed the thyroid...drastic. My thyroid was augmented in the past with synthroid, too. But it did nothing at all to alleviate my treatment resistive depression.
Then, a brilliant pdoc told me that addind synthroid (T4) was NOT adequate thyroid augmentation. She said that BOTH T4 (synthroid AND T3 (Cytomel) MUST be taken concurrently. The thyroid does not live by T4 alone...LOL. T3 and T4 must be balanced for thyroid augmentation to be effective.
When I get my thyroid blood test at the lab now, I ALWAYS request a copy of the results for myself. In the past, I've had "doctors...LOL" tell me that my thyroid was normal without allowing me to see the test results for myself. When, in fact, the test had actually revealed that I was in the LOW NORMAL end of the spectrum for both T3 and T4.
BTW, my treatment resistivity ENDED when BOTH T3 and T4 were in the upper quartile of the normal range (as per the brilliant pdoc that I mentioned).
> I am a 32 year old female who has suffered from depression almost all of my life. Seven years ago I was put on Prozac and Librium, and wow...I never felt better in my life. Obesity had always been a problem as well, and I lost a significant amount of weight and had enormous energy. But, my medication was stopped when I got pregnant, (though I had to return to taking prozac during the final phase of my pregnancy) and after I had my child, I developed hyperthyroidism. Medication didn't work, so I had to undergo radioactive iodine treatment to basically destroy the thyroid. Since then, I've been on synthroid, and the depression remains (though the thyroid is "supposedly" stable.) I've been on just about every type of antidepressant there is, all of the SSRIs, a few of the Tricylics, as well as Effexor (which I had a bad reaction to). I'm currently on Prozac and Xanax, and it's having no effect on me whatsoever. Obesity is once again a problem, even though I really don't eat much fat or high calorie foods. Migraine headaches, fatigue, agoraphobia and nonsocial behavior are also a problem. I don't understand why Prozac worked so well for me before, but now isn't working at all. I don't want to try any more tricylic drugs because of the weight gain side effect, and of course, I live in one of those parts of the country where there's neither a psychiatrist nor an endocrinologist to monitor my psychotropic drugs or thyroid disorder. So I've had to rely on the judgment of a nurse practitioner. I've heard that thyroid tests, although appearing normal, can still be abnormal. Could this be the reason for my constant depression, fatigue and inability to lose weight? Or could it have been the combination of Prozac and Librium that worked before? This has been going on for 5 years now, and it's sooo frustrating. Help?
Posted by Craig on August 13, 1999, at 2:02:41
In reply to Re: Depression and Thyroid, posted by nancy on April 21, 1999, at 11:34:30
After reading about your experience of adding T3 (Cytomel) to T4 (Synthroid), I discussed it with my doctor and he was willing to try this augmentation strategy. I've been taking Cytomel for nearly 3 months now and just had a blood test to check my TSH. I think I may have jeopardized the results of that test, so I'd like your opinion. When I began taking Cytomel, my doctor asked me to reduce Synthroid to just 5 days per week. When I went for my blood test, I hadn't had a dose of Synthroid for 40 hours. Could this have affected the test? Should I have had my blood drawn instead on a day when I'd taken both T3 and T4? The results came back abnormal with a level of Hi. Wow, destroyed the thyroid...drastic. My thyroid was augmented in the past with synthroid, too. But it did nothing at all to alleviate my treatment resistive depression.
>
> Then, a brilliant pdoc told me that addind synthroid (T4) was NOT adequate thyroid augmentation. She said that BOTH T4 (synthroid AND T3 (Cytomel) MUST be taken concurrently. The thyroid does not live by T4 alone...LOL. T3 and T4 must be balanced for thyroid augmentation to be effective.
>
> When I get my thyroid blood test at the lab now, I ALWAYS request a copy of the results for myself. In the past, I've had "doctors...LOL" tell me that my thyroid was normal without allowing me to see the test results for myself. When, in fact, the test had actually revealed that I was in the LOW NORMAL end of the spectrum for both T3 and T4.
>
> BTW, my treatment resistivity ENDED when BOTH T3 and T4 were in the upper quartile of the normal range (as per the brilliant pdoc that I mentioned).
Posted by Craig (again) on August 13, 1999, at 2:17:20
In reply to To Nancy the Mad Scientist re: T3 & T4, posted by Craig on August 13, 1999, at 2:02:41
The ending of my post somehow disappeared so here goes again:
After reading about your experience of adding T3 (Cytomel) to T4 (Synthroid), I discussed it with my doctor and he was willing to try this augmentation strategy. I've been taking Cytomel for nearly 3 months now and just had a blood test to check my TSH. I think I may have jeopardized the results of that test, so I'd like your opinion. When I began taking Cytomel, my doctor asked me to reduce Synthroid to just 5 days per week. When I went for my blood test, I hadn't had a dose of Synthroid for 40 hours. Could this have affected the test? Should I have had my blood drawn instead on a day when I'd taken both T3 and T4? The results came back abnormal with a level of >Hi. Wow, destroyed the thyroid...drastic. My thyroid was augmented in the past with synthroid, too. But it did nothing at all to alleviate my treatment resistive depression.
> >
> > Then, a brilliant pdoc told me that addind synthroid (T4) was NOT adequate thyroid augmentation. She said that BOTH T4 (synthroid AND T3 (Cytomel) MUST be taken concurrently. The thyroid does not live by T4 alone...LOL. T3 and T4 must be balanced for thyroid augmentation to be effective.
> >
> > When I get my thyroid blood test at the lab now, I ALWAYS request a copy of the results for myself. In the past, I've had "doctors...LOL" tell me that my thyroid was normal without allowing me to see the test results for myself. When, in fact, the test had actually revealed that I was in the LOW NORMAL end of the spectrum for both T3 and T4.
> >
> > BTW, my treatment resistivity ENDED when BOTH T3 and T4 were in the upper quartile of the normal range (as per the brilliant pdoc that I mentioned).
Posted by Frustrated Craig (I know this is getting annoying) on August 13, 1999, at 2:30:43
In reply to Correction To Nancy the Mad Scientist re: T3 & T4, posted by Craig (again) on August 13, 1999, at 2:17:20
The ending of my post somehow disappeared a 2ND time so here goes again:
After reading about your experience of adding T3 (Cytomel) to T4 (Synthroid), I discussed it with my doctor and he was willing to try this augmentation strategy. I've been taking Cytomel for nearly 3 months now and just had a blood test to check my TSH. I think I may have jeopardized the results of that test, so I'd like your opinion. When I began taking Cytomel, my doctor asked me to reduce Synthroid to just 5 days per week. When I went for my blood test, I hadn't had a dose of Synthroid for 40 hours. Could this have affected the test? Should I have had my blood drawn instead on a day when I'd taken both T3 and T4? The results came back abnormal with a level of <0.03
mcU/mL while the "normal" range is 0.29-5.11 (and I only know this because I had the lab send me a copy as you suggested). Please enlighten me with your wisdom and interpret this since it will be awhile before I see my doctor due to his vacation.
Posted by Craig on August 13, 1999, at 2:54:52
In reply to Last Try:To Nancy the Mad Scientist re: T3 & T4, posted by Frustrated Craig (I know this is getting annoying) on August 13, 1999, at 2:30:43
What keeps disappearing in my posts is that my TSH is less than 0.03 mcU/mL. Sorry for all the incomplete duplicates. Most likely by now everyone has gotten irritated with me and I won't get a reply. (Honest, I've never had any problems posting before tonight.... could it be because it's Friday the 13th???)
This is the end of the thread.
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