Thyroid

If you have symptoms like always cold, tired, moody, depressed then one of the many potential causes for this is you might need thyroid medicine like I did starting in 2006. Strangely enough tied in with this (CAN BE) having had giardia from traveling to third world countries (or from drinking water from a well or pipes or rivers or streams or springs contaminated by animals or birds) here in the U.S. or Canada or Mexico.

1. Giardia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardia

   Giardia (/ dʒ iː ˈ ɑːr d i ə / or / ˈ dʒ ɑːr d i ə /) is a genus of anaerobic flagellated protozoan parasites of the phylum Sarcomastigophora that colonise ... 

   
   

   Within 10 to 20 years from exposure to giardia (whether you had an extreme reaction or not) (in other words you could have had no outward symptoms) one of the reactions of the body is to develop a hypothyroid condition which is a long term eventuality for some people after exposure to giardia somewhere on earth during some time during their lives. Since most people who have passports are exposed to giardia at one point or another checking by having a t3 and then a t4 blood test might be useful to see if you are hypothyroid (your thyroid glands are not making enough thyroid for your body systems to stay in balance). Though this condition is not usually fatal like diabetes might be if not diagnosed in time, still it greatly can reduce your quality of life. 

   
   

   I figure I would have died within the last 8 years sometime, for example, had I not been diagnosed in 2006 and started taking Armour Thyroid.

   
   

   Though synthetic Thyroid is available there are side effects to it. But Armour thyroid has no side effects at all (IF) you can handle it. So, when I first took it and we finally figured out the right dose for me I felt like I was 20 years old again instead of feeling old like I was going to die soon. So, having your thyroid levels in balance is in some ways amazing if you have lost that like I did in my early 40s I believe. In 2006 I was 58 years old when it was finally diagnosed correctly. So, not having this diagnosed might result (with other complications) in an earlier death than you need to experience. So, if you have symptoms like always cold and hard to get warm, depressed and/or getting bronchitis all the time you likely should try to get a t3 and then a t4 blood test to see if you need thyroid medicine. Once diagnosed you then need to figure out the correct dose for yourself. Once you do that you will feel amazingly better likely like I did if that was the cause.

   
   

   I hope this helps some of you diagnose what you are dealing with in your lives like it has helped me and given me a whole new life I never expected.
   
   However, for some reason here in the U.S. this is an expensive medicine. So, it is cheaper if you get it through Canada which I used to do but don't anymore:
   Here is one location in Canada you can get it by mail. The problem with this is it takes time to get through customs here to the U.S. so you have to order ahead.
   Here is a phone number and a url:
   

   Call 1-800-CAN-DRUG (226-3784)
   
   https://www.canadadrugs.com/products/thyroid-1-2-grain/30mg/170
   
   They are charging about .40 U.S. cents a tablet there (shipping I believe is on top of this).
   In the U.S. I think it's around $1.21 per tablet if you don't have insurance. Even with Medicare I still pay over $60 per 99 tablets now here in the U.S. (30 mg.) So, when I bought from Canada I often bought 2 or 3 months worth of tablets. However, you also have to remember to order ahead.  For a time you could not get Armour thyroid here in the U.S. at all.
   
   However, I think possibly it might have to do with synthetic thyroid people trying to corner the market because since Armour thyroid is organic it cannot be patented like synthetic chemicals can even though they are not as good for your body as organic substances in the form of medicines. But now, for some reason it is now available in the U.S. once again. Likely because many of us just went to Canada when they stopped making it available here in the U.S. for a couple of years.
   
   So, I prefer now to pay $60 plus a month at a pharmacy to ordering from Canada because it is easier for me. However, if money per tablet is a problem for you you might want to buy it through Canada like I did for a few years.
   
   So, I'm presently paying around .60 U.S. cents per tablet here in the U.S. and if I bought through Canada I would be paying .40 cents a tablet. However, likely I would have to wait 6 weeks to get them through customs before receiving them and likely have to pay shipping costs too. So, I find getting them for around .60 cents easier to deal with than all that. Also, getting fresher doses is helpful too since this is organic rather than synthetic.
   
   As time has gone by I have had to increase my dose slower than when I was younger. So, often I haven't had to increase my dose for a year or 2 at a time now. However, I had a problem starting in December and I didn't think to increase my dose until this week. It was a problem because I thought I might be dying which I guess is possible in my late 60s from not being on the right dose of Thyroid. However, finally I got on the right dose the last few days and I'm feeling much better now and realize I wasn't dying the last 3 or 4 months I just needed a higher dose of thyroid. Being on the right level of thyroid greatly affects all your bodily functions so though not being on the right dose when younger might not kill you as you move above about 65 it might. So, I need to experiment sooner next time now I realize this sort of thing can happen at this age. It's all about what works for you in your life. Doctors are not going to know or find out unless you tell them something is wrong. So, in some ways we are our own best doctors. Because by the time doctors find out what's wrong with us we might be already dead.
   
   So, be aware what is going on in your body and do your own research to stay alive longer. Luckily, this was a simple fix I should have thought of and would have if so much hadn't been going on in my life since December.