B99 said...
Pursiankitty, if your Free T3 is 4.1, range (2.7 - 4.31), I see why your doctor got scared and wanted to reduce. I don’t agree with this or disagree, but this is where many doctors balk, a FT3 approaching the high end. It can be dangerous with people with heart disease, high blood pressure.
Astroman, yes, everything you said is consistent with I know too. Like you I've been at this a long time, on my own until I searched for myself for facts and good treatment. Luckily I found a doctor willing to try different doses and approaches with me. I have Hashimoto's. One of the experiments she and I did was my eliminating gluten form my diet completely. My thyroid antibody count went down by almost half when I did this -- she was willing to test regularly -- but didn't go to near normal.
The only thing I have to add to this discussion is the repeated internet "wisdom" that FT4 and FT3 have to be in the upper 2/3 of the range for people to feel good. Not the case for me. When my FT4 is in the upper 2/3, my FT3 stays in the lower 1/3 of the range. I feel very good here. I've tried raising the FT3 because of what I thought I should be shooting for, and I get hart palpitations, brain fog, exhaustion, irritability, etc. I feel awful.
Porcine thyroid does not work for me for this reason: too much T3 -- it's 80% T4 and 20% T3.. It is case for for others too. So we work around this by combining natural thyroid with a straight T4 medication, in order to mimic what the human thyroid produces - around 95% T4 and 5% T3. By taking porcine thyroid though, we benefit from its natural structure, and it's minute quantities of T2 and T1 it has. The medical community gas barely researched the functions of T2 and T1 (I think there is also a T0!), which is made by the thyroid in all mammals.
Thyroid balancing really is very individualistic. I have friends who take synthetic T4 only and seem healthy and vital and happy. Everyone has to find their "sweet spot". It seems confusing at first, really the key is -- in my opinion -- getting T4 in the upper quadrant of normal first. If you don't feel like yourself, and the FT3 is too low, then work to get that up in the range . But first comes the T4 adjustment.
"But first comes the T4 adjustment" - That is the best and simplest first option, and what most Drs try first. If it works (does for many) then its almost a cake walk. Unfortunately, if they still dont feel well, most Drs wont offer other options. It is odd how so many LLMD do start on natural first. I ended up there, but didnt start on pig thyroid (it was my last option).
Were opposites as far as hypo thyroid treatment goes. Just goes to show some of us need to try different meds and levels. I'm not promoting pig thyroid, I only use it because none of the synthetic combos worked for me. There are two brands of pig thyroid I mentioned (Erfa and NP) that, in most people, will result in slightly higher T4 than Armour and Nature Thyroid brands - which I've taken two versions of each of these in the past. Pre '09 and post '09 FDA forced filler change. The post '09's resulted in higher T3 than pre '09's, because after the filler change, their T4 does not absorb as well as it used to. So it made the pig t3 to t4 pig thyroid ratio even worse than it already naturally is. There were two other US pig thyroid brands before 2009! They are smaller companies, but their pig thyroid worked great.!
Synthetic T4, regardless of level, unfortunately does not work for some people, myself included. Despite the claim that synthetic thyroid "looks" just like human thyroid in a lab, some peoples cells just dont use it correctly. Ive tried all brands of synthetics avail in the US and Canada the last decade, the T4 did not do the job. Looked good on labs, but not for my symptoms. And parried it with synthetic T3 too, which I find too strong despite splitting doses.
Here is the kicker. There is currently NO TEST that shows what you cells are actually using. The free T3 and free T4 are just available levels in your blood. It would be great if they could separate the t3 and t4 in pig thyroid.
Note: when anyone is starting or raising T3, you need to ramp up very slowly over weeks. It takes the body a while to adjust to T3. Palps, sweats ect can result if not ramped up. Drs dont mention this to often.
Post Edited (astroman) : 3/26/2017 11:15:03 PM (GMT-6)