I'm new!!
Help!!! 😋
Has anybody found any decent/herbal alternatives to Levothyroxine? I read that serious detoxification of the body can help kickstart the thyroid function again...?
I don't understand the difference between T3 and T4 ....
Thank you 😊
Welcome to the forum, JanieL.
The thyroid gland produces thyroxine (T4) a storage hormone which converts to triiodothyronine (T3), the active hormone, and rT3 which is inactive. It is low T3 which causes hypothyroid symptoms.
Levothyroxine is often referred to as T4 and Liothyronine as T3.
There is no herbal alternative to Levothyroxine. Natural dessicated thyroid (NDT) is an alternative thyroid replacement which contains a combination of T4+T3 which is derived from pig thyroid glands. NDT isn't licensed for UK use so it's rarely prescribed on the NHS. Most members using NDT have private prescriptions or buy on the internet and self-medicate.
Once the thyroid gland starts to fail it can't be recharged or kickstarted. You'll need to take some form of thyroid replacement for life.
Hi JanieL.
Hypothroidism is a massive subject and it really helps to do a bit of groundwork on what it's all about and how to help yourself as much as you can. As they say "knowledge is power" 
For a start there is a good book called ......"Your Thyroid and How to Keep it Healthy": by Barry Durrant-Peatfield. It's informative and not a boring read.
Sometimes you might need a bit of moral support and this is where you can get bags of it on here. Whilst the majority of us are not medics there is a wealth of advice in how to deal with this disease from those who have been there and got the postcard! Have a browse through the posts.
Lastly, it's helpful to collect all the results of any blood tests (including the ranges in parenthesis) that you have had done from your GP (or endo). You are legally allowed this information though some practises may make a very small charge to print out the results to cover paper, ink costs etc..
P.S. Beautiful flowers. Are they peonies? I have some just like that called "Sarah Bernhardt". 
Thank you spongecat!
I shall go back to docs and get my records and definitely buy the book you recommended!
I'm so glad I joined Thyroid UK...so much to learn!
I'm nearly four years into the menopause too so when I get the sweats, can't tell if it's the menopause or too much Levo (heard too much can make you sweat) and bad/lack of sleep compounds it all....uuurgh!!
How are you? What's your situation? Beautiful cat you have!
Yes, peonies are my fave flower ! 😋 X
Well my situation is rather similar to yours. Four years into meno as well and I get hot flushes but to be honest I'm pretty sure they are slacking off a little bit and they mostly wake me up on occasion at night, which I hate!
I'm on 100mcg of Levo and recently did a Blue Horizon blood test because I was curious to see if my GP's "prescription" of sunbathing as much as possible to get my slightly deficient vitamin D levels up had worked....it hadn't 
He also told me to stick with a low dose of vitamin D3 for the winter months, a dose that I have susequently found out is more a maintenance dose for children, not for a deficient adult.
Oh dear.
I have also found out that I should be taking vitamin K2 with my D3 as this will transport the vitamin to my bones where it's needed and not just get deposited in tissue and my arteries. These are things that I have learnt from this site which has supplied links to research papers. Unfortunately there are many things that GP's don't fully understand or know about and get very uppity if the patient tries to learn things for themselves. Fortunately my GP is quite understanding and he knows that I'm really inquisitive so he says just stick to the "learned" papers and take with a pinch of salt the websites that are a little too fancy looking as when you get to the end of the article you discover they are just trying to sell you something!
So in a couple of weeks I see my GP and I'm curious to see if he flags me for my high T4 (but not over range) and almost completely suppressed TSH. My T3 levels could be better and they are the important ones. Unfortunately the blood test didn't include reverse T3 (rT3) as that is important as well; it can get high if there is too much T4 kicking about and not getting converted to T3 and the snag is that it stops the cell receptors collecting T3 so you end up back where you started in hypothyroidism. It normally acts as a brake if you like to stop you going hyperthyroid.
Hopefully he will just say keep an eye on it and then I can grill him about a proper regimen for my D3/K2 and get me onto a proper therapeutic dose this time. 
I also have shocking bone loss in my jaw which has made my teeth loose and periodontal disease. I now wear a full upper denture as I had to have the whole top arch removed and dentist battling to save my lower ones, two extractions so far. They got so loose I could have pulled them myself I squarely blame my autoimmune thyroiditis as I had symptoms for a long time but nobody thought to do a THT panel, always only checking blood sugar levels blah blah blah! It was only when I got a gouty toe that the practice nurse suggested a TFT and Hey Presto I had T4 down in the cellar and TSH of nearly 27.
It also important that you are tested for some other things because some mineral / vitamin deficiencies have similar symptoms to thyroid problems and there are some minerals and vitamins that need to be optimal for the thyroid to wotk properly or in our case the Levothroxine (or other hormones) to do their job.
The ones that your GP should check are:
Folate
Ferritin
Vitamin D (25-OH)
Vitamin B12
All levels should be on the optimal side. Dont accept "it's normal" (you will hear this a lot!) that is why we suggest you get your results in your own hand because if the doctor refuses to believe there is a problem you can self medicate yourself with good quality OTC products.
It's also a good idea to get the antibodies tested to see if they are present and this is:
Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies (TPO Ab)
Thyroglobulin Antibodies (TG Ab)
The NHS (if you are in the UK) will often only test one of these but it's important to know because a positive may indicate that you have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, the most common form of Hypothyroidism. Sometimes Ab's are both elevated sometimes only one so if they only do the one test your proper full diagnosis could be missed. I only have elevated TG Ab but normal TPO Ab for example. This will give an indication how to proceed on your path to making yourself feel better.
Blimey I have really rambled on......sorry. It will start to make a bit of sense when you read the book. I really enjoyed it and confess to getting a bit emotional when Peatfield explained how intricate and precise our endocrine systems are. How living things "work" is truly a marvel and miracle in the universe.
Sponge the cat says thank you for the compliment and gives you a slow blink back!
Ooh I love blinking cats!! When they blink, it means a 'kiss' I think...?! Their way of showing affection 😊
Wow, you have been through a lot...😔 So your jaw bone was affected because docs failed to diagnose you? Could you sue...? That's bad...
So vitamins D and K and B12 play a big part, thank you for the list of checks you sent me. I will show my Doc the list when I go back lol!
So much to learn, I have ordered the book.
Yeah I find the menopause sweats and hot flushes are mostly at night now, I remember they used to be all day as well, absolute nightmare! So hopefully the worst is over for us ...
🤗
You learn something new every day
Have to laugh and trying to learn
Wanting to know
Asking to learn
Newby wanting advice!
