Transitioning from Synthroid to Porcine Thyroid extract

[slimecity]

Has anyone had experience with this? I'm on a very low dose of Synthroid - 25mcg and me and my doctor agree it isn't doing much and I would need to up it to 50mcg.

Rather than do this (as I have some concerns I wont ever get off this stuff) I asked about extract. I advised I had stopped taking the synthroid briefly for a couple of days as I felt Hyperthyroid (bad move I know) and my body crashed wickedly after about 3 days - terrible breathing problems, etc.

She seems to think the transition would be easy but I know coming off Synthroid is not straightforward. I wanted to taper the Synthroid off first and build up the extract (I have, I think 60mg caps but will check this).

Anyone done this and how did they react? Am I over-worrying about this?

Thanks!

[shaws Administrator]

25mcg of T4 is such a small dose, I doubt you'd have felt much benefit. Usually the dose is 50mcg with blood test and 25mcg increase every six weeks or thereabouts until symptoms are relieved.

You state:

Rather than do this (as I have some concerns I wont ever get off this stuff) I asked about extract.

We cannot live without replacement thryoid hormones as they run our whole body's system without which we'd die.

it is easy to switchover if that's what you want to do. So if you take 1/4 or 1/2 grain of NDT (approx equal to around 25mcg/50mcg of levo) you take it on an empty stomach with one full glass of water and wait about an hour before eating. You can then increase every week or so by 1/4 taking note of your pulse/temp regularly. If either goes to high, drop to previous dose and that should be your daily dose.

You should also have B12, Vit D, iron, ferritin and folate checked as we can be deficient which can also cause symptoms.

When having a blood test you should allow a gap of 24 hours between last dose and the test and take afterwards.

Always get a print-out of your results with the ranges.

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/about_...

[Print1972]

Hi. Yes, I've been 8 weeks on NDT (porcine Thyroid extract). You have to start with a small amount, and work up. Maybe just quarter or half a grain first. This is because the sudden inclusion of T3 into the body, can make you feel a little unusual. Don't worry,it only lasts a few days. After 2 weeks, increase again. Each increase may make you feel a little unusual, but it recedes. I feel great now. I had terrible tendon and muscle pains on levothyroxine, and now they've gone.

[tinkerbell22]

I tried switching from 50mcg uk levothyroxine to a uk porcine desiccated thyroid (Metavive) but found I couldn't tolerate much desiccated thyroid as the T3 made my head too hyper. So I tried a very small amount of natural thyroid split across the day. But after 7 weeks on this regime I retested my thyroid levels and they were worse than ever before I was so shocked! I thought I'd been doing ok on it but clearly not.

So I went back to thyroxine but I changed to synthroid and I seem to tolerate that better than the uk levothyroxine or natural desiccated thyroid.

I think it's a case of trial and error but beware of any move that will worsen your thyroid like I did as it takes time to then recover from the damage...

Personally I'd say if you're not getting any adverse effects from the synthroid then increase the dose to a more reasonable level. 25mcg is extremely low dose. 50mcg is often a starting dose. There are possible pitfalls with switching so perhaps stick with what you've got but increase it.

And get vitamins checked

[Heloise]

First, thousands of people have done this and many have even gone from porcine to straight T3 as well. Coming off 25 mcgs. is very straightforward since if your body were still making thyroid hormone you would probably have from 200 to 300 mcgs., so that small amount is not having much effect.

This is no big deal as the body is very adaptable. There is no reason to wait three days in fact you probably need to keep your body supplying some hormone if you needed to start in the first place. Do you know what your TSH was before you began? If your TSH was over 4 you are going to feel the changes and possibly be uncomfortable at times but in the long run, very improved. You need thyroid hormone in every cell of your body.

You can try to figure out why this happened and make changes but in the meantime you need to keep your system supplied with hormone. I've posted Dr. David Clark's "20 Reasons for Low Thyroid" on You Tube since it gives you some clues to various causes for this condition.

[slimecity]

Thanks for the responses all. Yes is a very small dose and doctor knows this too - my thyroid readings weren't actually too bad initially however were on the low side. Im being given this as an adjunct to adrenal hormones. One reason I'd like to switch to glandular is so that it should be easier to stop taking it in theory compared to Synthroid.

Trial and error is all good. I have been feeling bad on and off for years.

Also FYI am taking a HOST of other vitamins etc, B12 levels are good. Am taking D, amino acids, NAC, B2, B3, B5 and B6 also. thanks!

[Heloise in reply to slimecity]

There are wonderful videos on You Tube by doctors who look at research. John Bergman is great at explaining how all the hormones work and many ideas are at odds with conventional medicine. For instance your adrenals need enough cholesterol to create corticosteroids, sex hormones and cortisol so lowering cholesterol is such a flaw in the medical system and shows the power of the pharmaceutical industry. As women we rely so much on our hormones and this area needs more attention. A functional medicine person may be a better qualified person to treat you.