Posted by Ritch on October 3, 2002, at 22:13:03
In reply to Re: CHLOE-Thyroid... » Ritch, posted by Chloe on October 3, 2002, at 19:12:48
> > > > Chloe, I was reading some abstract a couple of days ago that discussed lithium and possible aggravation of rapid-cycling because of lithium induced *hypothyroidism*. Get your TSH and free T4 checked. You may only need a *little* thyroid hormone to balance things out. I don't think you ever gave that a try. I wonder what your pdoc(s) think about it.
> > >
> > > Hi Mitch,
> > > It might be a good idea to get the thyroid levels checked. But I doubt I have lithium induced hypothyroidism, because I am taking the tiniest of doses. I just take 300 mgs of lithium. And frankly, I don't think that is enough. But my pdoc doesn't want to increase the dose because I have such "idiosyncratic" responses to meds. She wants to meet with me to discuss it more. But it's so hard to get to her office, because I can't drive! Some how I willl have to find a way into town, and then I can talk to her about TSH and T4...But I am a little scared to mess around with my thyroid. I'm so worried that I will get revved or hyper or even short fused. Finally with ECT I have become much more calm and patient. It's such a relief not to always be on edge and ready to snap. Can thyroid supplementation cause a person to feel revved up? What are the typical side effects? Have you ever taken thyroid meds for cycling? What is the mechanism that makes it so it decreases cycling?
> > > Thanks,
> > > Chloe
> >
> >
> > Chloe, check out this abstract http://www-east.elsevier.com/bps/abstracts/26588abs.htm
> >
> > I would LIKE to try T4 augmentation to my meds. I have got a theory that I can try just low-dose Depakote+T4+bupropion and that would be all I need to take for BP-II/ADHD/panic. But my pdoc doesn't want the conflict with my "t"doc about bone-density issues. If you *aren't* a post-menopausal woman, then normal "replacement" thyroid hormone isn't supposed to be any problem.
> >
>
> Mitch,
> What is a "t" doc? Do you have bone density issues? I didn't think that was common in males...No, I am not post menopausal *yet*. So it's perhaps something I should investigate...Thanks for the link.
> Be well,
> ChloeHi Chloe, I was just using that term to indicate my endocrinologist (a "thyroid-doc"), who I see once a year for an exam and to do some blood tests. I got a thyroid tumor three years ago and half of my thyroid gland was surgically removed. My Mom had the same thing happen at the same age, but she got another tumor in what remained of her thyroid gland (about 10 years later) which was cancerous, and resulted in the remainder of her thyroid gland being removed. That is why they immediately took out half of my thyroid instead of trying to shrink the tumor. I just have a theory that my Mom (with her thyroid problems and grand mal nocturnal epilepsy), and her MOM (my grandma-who was hospitalized for psychotic mania and given ECT), are the main genetic biological links to my bipolar disorder, thyroid problems, and possible epilepsy. Whew!, anyhow I really wonder if the thyroid connection with rapid-cycling (which is the variant of BP that I have), would indicate a possible treatment with T4 as a solution to some of my troubles.
Oh, the "bone-density issues". There is a risk of reduced bone-density with *hypermetabolic* doses of T4. That is doses of thryoid hormone that result in a TSH which is "clinicaly *hyper*thyroid". My endocrinologist brought that up as a concern as a general CYA statement that let me know that he wasn't going to give his approval to that form of therapy (pdoc-wise). From what I understand, if your TSH stays *above* 0.6, then there *shouldn't be any bone-loss issues to worry about. There are supposed to be tests that can check for that periodically. I don't know what they are though.
>
>
poster:Ritch
thread:121500
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020930/msgs/122226.html