Thyroid not working - Low sodium and chlorine in blood?
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I am a low weight person, 68 years old, BMI 15.5 and low temperatures, cholesterol over 400. Tried to raise my temperature with thyroid (Armour, low dose) and currently supplementing with Pyrucet. If I raise my thyroid dose to more than 1/10th of a single armour pill, I get palpitations and adrenaline, and high BP, hyperthyroid symptoms, probably due to lack of energy. My blood is consistently low in sodium and chlorine, which I think might be related to low metabolic state. Does someone have any idea of how to help with this? Has anyone tried Cardenosine from Idealabs to find alternative paths to thyroid, or high-dose vit D?
Much appreciated
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@pabloag10
You may want to look into taking serious amounts of dextrose throughout the day to fuel the non-adrenergic energy supply.
With such a low body weight, maybe sufficient glucose could even put any supplemental thyroid hormone needs aside.
Low serum sodium and serume chloride is a bit odd. Raises questions about kidney functions or abuse of laxatives.
You may also want to totally abstain from the vit D mania. -
@pabloag10 How much salt and sugar do you eat daily
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@Serotoninskeptic @CrumblingCookie thanks for the feedback.
I take salt to taste, and sugar is mostly orange juice, probably quite down the line in terms of total calorie intake. Regarding kidney function, blood tests show normal function, but urine is a bit dark some days (which might come from calcium supplementation). I thought low chlorine and sodium could be from metabolic disfunction at the cellular level and desregulation of levels.
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Hi @pabloag10, maybe try splitting up your Armour pills into doses containing no more than 4 mcg of T3 and have each dose with meals that contain plenty of carbs and salt to slow its absorption and prevent an adrenaline response? Ray said:
“During the first week or two of supplementing thyroid, there is usually an intensification of the effect of adrenaline. It’s necessary to watch a variety of signs, especially the temperature of hands and feet and the amount of water evaporated, to judge the actual effect of thyroid. The effect of thyroid after the level of adrenaline has normalized is to increase the depth of relaxation.”
And:
“If too much thyroid is taken suddenly, a person who has been deficient in thyroid is likely to experience an excess of adrenaline. Since the body normally produces about 4 mcg of T3 in an hour, taking 10 or 20 mcg at once is unphysiological.”
https://raypeatforum.com/wiki/index.php/Ray_Peat_Email_Exchanges#Thyroid_Hormones
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You have to eat enough consistently. The body doesn’t want to increase metabolism without the proper fuel
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@pabloag10 I would suggest you look into TRIORAL Rehydration Electrolyte Powder if its ok with your health professionals that you consume it in one quart of water.
It's essentially the same as pedialyte though way cheaper and using the pure water you can find. -
@pabloag10 Try taking some magnesium (I like magnesium glycinate) and a B complex (I use Thorne's basic complex.)
I would get adrenaline rushes when taking T3 to start, but I've read that it means you may be low in either of the above.
From Danny Roddy's article on supplementing thyroid:
“That sort of sudden adrenaline effect can happen when there’s something essential missing in the diet, while the requirements are increased by using thyroid. Deficiencies of protein, magnesium, calcium, and the B vitamins are most likely. Too much phosphate and too little carbohydrate are other possibilities.” … “When you first start taking thyroid again, your tissues will need some extra magnesium...” — Ray Peat -
This recent podcast talks about the issue you have.
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Thanks. Will post back after adding transdermal magnesium and electrolytes. Then maybe trying to start slow with a T4-T3 combination low dose.
