Posted by Larry Hoover on December 27, 2005, at 23:11:57
In reply to Re: thyroid, posted by overtheedge on December 27, 2005, at 16:24:04
> what do you mean by this?That would lead to a very significant adverse reaction? so far this person has had no reaction at all.... so which would make one believe it is safe for at least a litle while? And yes you are correct in your assumtion... thanks for the reply.
It will lead to a serious adverse reaction. There are too many variables to say how long that will be, before it happens. Thyroid hormone is highly protein-bound, which is to say that special carrier proteins in the bloodstream soak it up. Something like a sponge. It's when those sponges get saturated that the real trouble begins. By real trouble, I mean the possibility of a thyroid storm, a true life-threatening reaction.
Before those sponge-like proteins are saturated, though, the body is ramping up. Heart-rate and basal temperature become elevated, and yes, metabolism increases. Tendencies toward anxious reactions increase. Shortness of breath, palpitations, even heart arrhythmia, under stress. Headache, nausea, sweating. The longer the overdosing continues, the stronger the symptoms become.
The thing is, those sponge-like proteins that get saturated stay that way for an extended period. That is their function, to provide a stable reserve of thyroid hormone, to level out the effect of it (a protection against the body's own ability to disturb the concentration). So, if this person who is abusing the hormone pushes the blood levels towards that point of saturation, whatever unpleasant things start happening stay that way for many days straight, because those little protein sponges have soaked up a lot of thyroid hormone, and keep it available. It's not a pleasant experience.
I was once prescribed 10 mcg/day levothyroxine. The pharmacist thought the prescribing doctor really meant 100 mcg/day, and supplied the higher dose without checking back with the doctor. And, the only time in my life I didn't double check a prescription, it mattered. I didn't check that I'd been supplied with 10 mcg tablets, and blindly started taking the 100 mcg ones. Thirteen days later, I was in the emergency room, having suffered a collapse. Good thing I wasn't driving. Just got out of my car, walked in a store, and was down. I was vomiting non-stop for a week. Nausea, twitching, headache, couldn't sleep, cramps, sweating, hypertension. Worse than any flu I've ever had, ten times over.
And that was on a dose of 100 mcg/day, much smaller than the 300 to 375 mcg daily you're describing.
To suggest it is safe for a little while is foolhardy. It is not safe, period. Not having symptoms is just not having symptoms *yet*. Not only that, when you finally do stop, because you feel so horrible, your body will by then have shut down your natural thyroid hormone production. You will go into hypothyroid before you stabilize again.
If you stop now, maybe you'll get away with it. But don't ever think it was safe. It was luck. Blind luck.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:592298
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/health/20051214/msgs/592645.html