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Post by crazycatlady on Nov 28, 2012 9:05:57 GMT -5
So, when I started taking Armour thyroid, all my endo pain, menstrual pain, etc stopped for much longer than the pain relief from my lap.
I went back to my thyroid doctor yesterday and I let her know that all my endo pain came back. I told her that I had mirena to help with the pain but it wasn't helping so I was thinking about adding aromatase inhibitors.
She said that before I try Lupron or aromatase inhibitors lets up my thyroid dosage to eliminate the pain. According to her, thyroid hormones "eat" estrogen. So it's not necessary to add aromatase inhibitors if I get the Armour thyroid at the right dose.
Thoughts? I'm going to try this before I add anything else and I'm happy to update everyone on my progress!
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Post by Karen on Nov 28, 2012 22:50:44 GMT -5
I don't necessarily agree with thyroid hormones 'eating' endo, but there is a correlation between proper thyroid levels and proper hormone balance, which in turn produces fewer issues and symptoms. The thyroid hormones are incredibly powerful and are needed everywhere in the body. If the thyroid isn't producing enough hormone, the body attacks it (as in hashimotos, which is linked to a gluten intolerance) or the body isn't converting it correctly, it can affect every other aspect in the body, including sex hormones. And if you think of endo as a hormonal imbalance, getting your thyroid levels at the sweet spot will in turn help balance out estronge/progesterone, and getting those to balance out properly can significantly diminish endo and it's symptoms! That's why I recommend women get their thyroid tested (TSH, free T3, and free T4 instead of just the standard TSH), because it can have such an impact on how you feel.
Correcting even a small thyroid deficiency can help with infertility, maintaining pregnancy, heaviness and length of periods, etc. For me, it's the only thing that got me to ovulate again after 1.5+ years of no ovulation, and my cycles are less heavy and a day shorter. So, yes, I absolutely agree that getting your thyroid treated properly can absolutely help with your symptoms AND even helping the root cause of them. I hope your doc is open to testing your T4 and T3 levels, too, to get you to the sweet spot with your dose - if your doc just tests your TSH and adjusts meds based on that alone, you might not find it. And you never want to take more than you need - you could get symptoms of feeling hyper - racing heart, feeling anxious, etc. Please note, though, that hormonal BC can affect your thyroid levels, so if you ever decide to go off Mirena, you may need to drop your thyroid levels a bit.
Make sense? Good luck with your adjustments!
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Post by crazycatlady on Nov 29, 2012 16:21:09 GMT -5
Thanks Karen!
This doctor runs all the required tests TSH, free T3, free T4, etc. but what I love about her is that she bases dosage on how you feel. So if your numbers are great but you still have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism, she will still increase your dose.
I wasn't too sure about the "thyroid hormone eats estrogen" either but if a higher dose gets rid of my pain without hyperthyroid symptoms then its fine with me!
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Post by Karen on Nov 29, 2012 16:37:45 GMT -5
Sounds like a great doc in terms of thyroid knowledge!!!
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