Three Medicine Options for Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism Medicine Overview

Three medicine options for hypothyroidism treatment include T4 medicine, Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine, and T3 medicine. All three are prescribed by a doctor. Each medicine option for hypothyroidism has its pros and cons. Thyroid medicine can be complex to understand because each medicine works differently in the body.

T4 Medicine

Hypothyroidism medicine in the form of prescription T4 is called Synthroid, or generically known as Levothyroxine. T4 medicine contains only the inactive T4 thyroid hormone. Therefore T4 medicine relies upon the body’s ability to convert T4 to T3. Though T4 medicine has been considered the standard treatment for hypothyroidism by Endocronogists 1., there are many patients who report that T4 medicine does not work for them, only partly works, or makes their condition worse. 2.

Pros and Cons

The pros of T4 medicine is that it is taken once a day which makes this hypothyroidism medicine very simple. For patients who feel T4 works for them, then this is an easy option for treatment.

However, many patients taking T4 medicine report on-going hypothyroid symptoms. Consequently, these patients believe they are getting the right treatment for hypothyroidism but are actually not. In some cases, patients find their hypothyroid symptoms remain or get worse on T4 including hair loss, weight gain, depression, anxiety, cortisol issues, and more. 3. Each person is different.

Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine

Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine (NDT) is a hypothyroidism medicine that has been successfully used to treat patients for over 100 years. 4 The medicine is natural, not synthetic like T4, which means it comes from powdered pig thyroid gland. It is a prescription medication under the name Armour, WP Thyroid, NP Thyroid and others.

Patients like Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine because it provides all the thyroid hormones naturally created in the body. These include T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin.

Pros and Cons

There are many pros to taking Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine. Many patients report hypothyroid symptoms improve including weight loss, hair growth, depression lifting, warm hands and feet, and many more. The cons to Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine is that it needs to be taken several times a day, it can reveal issues with low or high cortisol which need treatment. In addition, on NDT patients sometimes report pooling or Reverse T3 which causes hypothyroid symptoms to return.

Patients report taking Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine anywhere from one to several times a day. Spreading the medicine out through the day seems to help patients with maintaining energy levels.

Typically patients start at one 60/65mg pill (also called grain) and increased up to two or even three pills a day. This medicine increase is reported to take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. Patients increase their medicine based on the elimination of hypothyroid symptoms, and increased body temperature.

In terms of how to take Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine, foods and supplements can interfere with the medicine. As a result, patients prefer to let the pill dissolve under the tongue, called sublingually. Taking the thyroid medicine sublingually allows the medicine to go directly into the blood stream (not through the stomach. This means patients can eat and take supplements immediately before and after taking the medicine. 5. A terrific resource for patient to patent experience is the Stop the Thyroid Madness book.

Support Groups

For Natural Desiccated Thyroid medicine support join this group on Facebook, based on the book Stop the Thyroid Madness. Make sure to read their rules for posting.

T3 medicine

T3 medicine is the active thyroid hormone at the cellular level in the body, known by the name Cytomel, Cynomel and generic Liothyronine. If patients are on T4 medicine but not feeling well, they might benefit from adding T3 medicine or switching to a T3 6

After years of trying Synthyroid and NDT, Paul Robinson discovered that he had issues converting T4 medicine. As a result he switched to T3 medicine and wrote Recovering with T3, a through resource for patients with similar T4 conversion issues.

Pros and Cons

Both a pros and con of T3 medicine is that it is fast acting. T3 medicine lasts about 4-6 hours in the body consequently T3 doses need to be taken through the day. In addition, patients need to be very careful to monitor their body symptoms to find the right T3 dose.

Patients who don’t convert T4 medicines (including converting T4 in NDT) report success on T3 once they find the right dose. Through his research, Paul Robinson discovered T3 medicine helped strengthen the adrenals in patients who have low cortisol. His treatment solution is called Circadian T3 method which uses T3 medicine to support the body’s natural cortisol cycle.

Support Groups

For T3 medicine support join these T3 groups on Facebook. Make sure to read their rules for posting.

 

Notes:

  1. https://www.endocrineweb.com/conditions/hypothyroidism/synthetic-t4-supplements-hypothyroidism
  2. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work/
  3. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/t4-only-meds-dont-work/
  4. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101/
  5. https://stopthethyroidmadness.com/natural-thyroid-101/
  6. https://www.verywell.com/t3-natural-desiccated-thyroid-treatments-3233007
Miss LizzyThree Medicine Options for Hypothyroidism

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