Confused?

[Lisa-1967]

My doctor reassured me that there is only levothyroxine and you don't gain wait taking this. Any views since I'm confused.

[Clutter]

Lisa-1967,

Liothyronine and NDT are alternatives. What your GP is saying is that s/he will only prescribe Levothyroxine.

Liothyronine can be prescribed by GPs if recommended by a NHS endocrinologist. Unfortunately the company producing UK T3 has ratcheted the price up so high that many health authorities have banned the prescribing of it.

NDT isn't licensed for UK use so most members using it have private prescriptions or buy online and self medicated.

Do you have recent thyroid results and ranges you can post. If you are undermedicated you will continue to gain weight.

[Lisa-1967 in reply to Clutter]

I will have a blood test on the 19th May and will ask to get a print out of them so I can let everyone know.

[Clutter in reply to Lisa-1967]

Lisa-1967,

Write a new post with them because updates get over looked.

Arrange an early morning blood test when TSH is highest and fast (water only) as TSH drops after eating and drinking. Take Levothyroxine after the blood test.

[Hidden]

It depends. T4 is an inactive storage hormone that needs to be converted to the active hormone, T3 (this is done by removing one iodine atom from T4, hence the names T4 and T3). What you should be measuring is actually the free T4 and free T3 levels as those show the amounts of thyroid hormones readily available to the body.

A person with a healthy thyroid gland produces ca 90% T4 and 10% T3. This means that a healthy thyroid gland produces mainly T4, which is then converted to T3 at various places in the body (liver, lungs, kidneys...). In healthy individuals, this leads to the right amount of FT4 and FT3 at all times, as the body converts enough T4 to T3 to make sure the levels are sufficient.

Most of us, when initially diagnosed, are told that we need to take T4 drugs only, and the body will then convert it to T3 as needed. Since T3 is the truly active thyroid hormone; yet, the thyroid gland only produces about 10% of the T3 we need, while the rest comes from the conversion of T4 to T3, it's easy to conclude that we need T4 only drugs, and the body can then take it from there.

However, in quite a few hypothyroid patients, this conversion process does not work the way it's supposed to. If such patients take T4 only, and it's not properly converted to T3, they remain hypothyroid, regardless of their TSH and FT4 levels. This means their TSH can be low-normal or even suppressed, and their FT4 levels high in range or even above range; yet, they can have low-normal or even below range FT3 levels. Since FT3 is the truly active thyroid hormone, you are hypothyroid with suboptimal FT3 levels, no matter what your TSH and FT4 levels look like. Optimal FT3 levels are often said to be in the upper third of lab range, and if it's midrange or lower, that seems to indicate a conversion problem (if on T4 only) or being under medicated (if on drugs containing T3, either synthetic T3 or NDT).

I never cease to amaze at the ignorance of most mainstream doctors when it comes to the treatment of hypothyroidism....it seems some don't even know that there are alternatives to conventional T4 only drugs.