> From:   Pam Beckman <[log in to unmask]>
>
> Recently, I changed
> from oral hormone replacement therapy to an externally applied cream.  The
> new Dr. I've been seeing said that would free up some thyroid receptors and
> to cut back from 18 grains of Armour to 12.

Very few doctors would give more than 3 grains of Armour, you know.  18
grains is a huge dosage.  Dr. David Derry has mentioned that on the old BMR test
which actually measured metabolism, or thyroid efficiency, that the lowest dose
that had any effect was 3 grains of Armour.  Most people's symptoms resolved
of hypothyroidism resolved around that dosage, but there were a few odd people
who would be good for a while on a dosage, and then it appeared the benefit
was lost and they had to increase their dosage of Armour.  Some people could
take huge doses of Armour and this cycle would keep repeating itself.

My wife had high blood pressure and a pulse rate over 100 when she went on
Armour, and she had to keep going up in this manner.  Instead of escalating her
pulse rate like it would have for most, at 18 grains her pulse was only 70 and
her Blood pressure normalized.

We didn't like her needing that large a dosage so looked for another option
and it turned out to be a treatment for Wilson's Thyroid Syndrome, not quite
his treatment but a modified version.

Anyway, I think the reason she had this problem is that she had high cortisol
levels.  Wilson said one thing that causes the Syndrome named after him is
high cortisol, but it's not the only thing.  In my wife's case, I think it was.
I've heard the reason many with low thyroid or overweight is because their
cortisol production kicks up and cortisol causes weight gain (which it seems
marketing people now know because I saw part of an infomercial today about a
product called cortislim, which might make sense but I don't know what it is yet.)
 There are 3 things I know of that can cause high cortisol levels.  They
include low thyroid, low estrogen and low progesterone.

So, thyroid therapy is all some people need and their cortisol levels will
normalize.

Most HRT treatment uses patented medications that are not natural and are bad
for you, and Dr. Atkins of the diet says his diet may not overcome that kind
of HRT, so you know it's stubborn.  So, patented estrogen is a bad thing, it
doesn't have the exact effects of human estrogen or it couldn't be patented.
The only "natural" kind I know of taken orally has to be compounded at the
pharmacy and is called Triest.  By natural, I don't mean you can find naturally,
it doesn't come from other humans, and not from pregnant mares like some
patented estrogens either.  By natural I mean it has the exact same chemical
composition as human estrogen.  Which means it can't be patented.

So, estrogen is one thing that lowers cortisol.  However, estrogen is not
perfect and the whole answer for HRT.  Estrogen typically makes it hard to lose
weight and does deactivate thyroid hormone by doing something to the thyroid
hormone receptors as your doctor said.

Dr. John Lee said that estrogen should NEVER be unopposed.  That is, you need
progesterone.  Progesterone makes the thyroid hormone more active, builds new
bone (estrogen can help maintain it but isn't really what's responsible for
strong bone) and mimimizes the effects of what's known as estrogen dominance.
It is usually found in a cream, which you can buy over the counter.  In his
books, Lee lists the over the counter creams that use the amount of progesterone
he recommends.

If you switched to a cream, it's likely you switched from unnatural HRT to
natural.  Have you ever noticed most doctors and drug companies don't like
anything that's natural?  It can't be patented, not much money in it.  The cream
could be a mixture of the estrogen and progesterone you need, or it could be
progesterone alone.  Supposedly, the estrogen levels in America are much higher
than elsewhere in the world, so many American females don't need any
supplemental estrogen, only progesterone.

Skipper




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