[Andrea57]

#1060695

If Levothyroxine (T4 only) is the “gold” standard to thyroid treatment and care, why is Hillary Clinton on NDT? She should be prescribed the gold stuff, shouldn’t she?

[Kimberly]

#1184188

Copying and pasting from my other response to you today…

We actually hear mixed reviews of T3/T4 combination therapy from Graves’ patients. Some patients report that combination therapy makes a positive difference in their quality of life. However, we also hear from other patients who felt it brought back a return of their hyper symptoms – tremors, insomnia, rapid heart rate, etc..

Following is a link to research that proposes a theory that patients with a specific genetic type might be predisposed to feeling better on combination therapy. Clearly, this is an area that needs more research.

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following link, you will need to use your browser’s “back” button to return to the boards after viewing, or you will have to log back in to the forum. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window).

http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2008-1301 [press.endocrine.org]

[Andrea57]

#1184189

Thank you for your referenced link, however my question was directed more about the issue of treating thyroid disorders with synthetics vs the natural alternative. The naturals offer and provide all the necessary thyroid hormones.

T4 only relies on optimal conversion to T3. I agree that supplementing with T3 would offer those of us not converting optimally anymore (due to 30 years+ of synthetics), a better chance of living life like those with an optimal thyroid. But still, we’re missing 3 other hormones with our therapy. How is that considered even close to optimal?

Kimberley, ask yourself, does an engine run well and/or optimally if using only 2 out of 5 sparkplugs?

Again, my question was directed about using the naturals over the synthetics. As you may already have deduced, I feel my synthetics are failing me and setting me up for future disease involving other and more pharmaceuticals. Seems like a big win for big pharma, keeping or pushing us into more diseased states.

And I use Hillary Clinton as my source for questioning. Why are naturals prescribed for her use when the rest of us are given a basic death sentence with synthetics?

Let’s be fair and have an honest discussion.

[Kimberly]

#1184190

The majority of patients do well on T4 monotherapy. Levothyroxine preparations mimic exactly what the body itself produces – with the exception of binders, fillers, and dyes.

Concerns from the medical community about dessicated products include an altered T4/T3 ratio than what is normally present in the human body and possible lack of consistency from batch to batch. Because dessicated products have been around since before the FDA was formed, these meds have not gone through the formal new drug approval process.

On the patient side, we hear from patients who tried Armour or Cytomel and felt it brought back a return of their hyper symptoms – tremors, insomnia, rapid heart rate, etc..

I believe the link that I provided is really key to determining how patients should be treated in the future. The challenge now is to figure out an inexpensive way to determine which patients have that specific genetic type (around 16% of the study population) that predisposes them to doing better on T3/T4 combination therapy and monitor them closely.

If you feel that you are part of that population that feels better on T3/T4 combination therapy, then I believe that you should be persistent until you find an endocrinologist who will work with you. You deserve to get your quality of life back. But that doesn’t mean that this is the right approach for all patients.

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