Does anyone know which Thyroid medication is the gentlest/weakest one to buy, ?

[Kitten-whiskers]

Thank you everyone

[shaws Administrator]

The weakest, would be a very low dose but it may not be enough to make you feel better.

The only two I know that are hypoallergenic are Naturethroid and WP Thyroid both by RLC labs.

rlclabs.com/about.php

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Thank you Shaws, are you supposed to take one dose in the morning like with Levo or do you divide it up through the day like you do with T3?

[Clutter in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Either, Kitten-whiskers. Some tolerate one daily dose while others don't and need to split dose. NDT contains levothyroxine and T3. If you are sensitive to T3 or have had difficulty tolerating it you will probably need to split dose initially.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to Clutter]

Hello Clutter,

I have had difficulty tolerating either, that's why I thought natural might be better and the more gentle the better. The place were I was going to order from are now saying you need a prescription to order from them, If I had a prescription then I wouldn't need to order it. Such a ridiculous situation - all I want to do is get well.

[Clutter in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Yes, I thought you'd struggled with T3 too. PM on it's way to you.

[shaws Administrator in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

I took my NDT once per day and I also take T3 once per day. It works well and my day is free without bothering about timing etc.

Dr Lowe also said:-

Hopefully the endocrinologist won’t keep your Armour dose too low. He most likely will, however, if he adjusts your dose according to your TSH and thyroid hormone levels while ignoring your clinical response to a particular dose. To get well, some patients must use Armour doses that are high enough to produce TSH and thyroid hormone levels that upset endocrinologists. But the lab values are meaningless in themselves, as long as a patient isn’t overstimulated and has gotten well from her hypothyroid symptoms. What's truly harmful is for a doctor to keep a hypothyroid patient’s dose too low strictly for the sake of predetermined lab values.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

This is another excerpt re NDT:-

Dr. Lowe: As a rule, our patients take thyroid hormone only once per day. An advantage of this one-per-day schedule is that it’s easier to find a window for good intestinal absorption—when the stomach or small intestine doesn’t contain food.

Most of our patients wait at least one hour after taking thyroid hormone before they eat. Or they wait at least two hours after eating before they take thyroid hormone. The two hour wait is a rough estimate of the time it takes for food to pass through the stomach and small intestine. It’s worth noting, however, that several factors can increase the time a patient should wait before taking thyroid hormone.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Hello Shaws,

Thank you very much for this - very helpful.

I have seen a nutritionist who is saying he thinks that my immune system is flaring up and attacking the medication - Do you think that is possible?

[shaws Administrator in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Hi Kitten-whiskers, I couldn't say for sure as I am not qualified but I do know that sometimes we can be sensitive to fillers/binders. Again from Dr Lowe:-

Dr. Lowe: Your wife may be having an allergic reaction to some constituent of the thyroxine tablets she is taking. It is extremely unlikely that thyroxine molecules themselves are causing the reaction. Thyroxine is what we call an "orthomolecular" substance. This means that thyroxine is natural to the human body and necessary for health. Allergic reactions to orthomolecular substances are incompatible with health and extremely rare.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Thank you Shaws, I have just ordered some WP Thyroid - so if i still get Trouble i will know it isn't the fillers, I am praying it will work. I will cut the tablet in to four and just have a quarter every morning and see how that goes, maybe I should take my vitamins an hour or so after the dose.

Best wishes

[shaws Administrator in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

If you take supplements they should be taken 4 hours after your thyroid meds.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to shaws]

Oh really, I didn't realise that. I will change my regime.

Thank you