I'm currently taking 75mcg Levothryoxine and 25mcg Tiromel T3.
Ignoring the 'taking less pills' aspects, and the fact that NDT is natural rather than synthetic, from a medical perspective I'm wondering what the advantages are to NDT over a mixture of T3 and T4?
Or is it just horses for courses and NDT suits some people better than the synthetic stuff?
I have ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia (which has improved so much since adding T3) Hypothyroidism and have always done really well on animal thyroid supplements such as Nutri Advanced's Nutri Thyroid and the like.
Having plateaued on T4 & T3 in terms of symptom improvement, I wonder if a move to NDT might help me (that's if I can work out the 'mcg - grain' transfer dose!).
I'm also interested in scientific terms if there is an advantage of taking a T3 and T4 mix over NDT or vice-versa. I can't seem to find much clarity online.
Thanks
Abi.
Written by
Abi-Abster
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If you have fibromyalgia, one of our Advisers, (now deceased) ran the Fibromyalgia Research Foundation and he found that those people had thyroid hormone resistance and that only T3 alone would relieve all of the clinical symptoms.
He only took a blood test for the initial appointment. plus symptoms, and thereafter it was how the patient improved etc. I shall give you a few of his of links.
The ratio of T4:T3 you are taking at the moment is 3:1. NDT has a 4:1 ratio, so you would be getting more T3 on a straight swap. I think it probably is 'horses for courses'. Some people don't suit the fillers used in the synthetic hormones. With NDT you also get the benefit of the other hormones which seem to get forgotten - T1 and T2. You also get calcitonin, which reduces the risk of osteoporosis, by increasing bone mass. NDT is dearer than buying T3 and adding it to Levothyroxine and, because it comes from outside the EU, you are generally stung for an import tax and an £8 'handling fee' from the Royal Mail.
I have had a CFS diagnosis for years and have seen great improvements since taking NDT and following the Autoimmune Protocol. Levothyroxine never made me feel well. I have sent you a link re: where to get NDT. If you decide to change, put up a new post for advice on dosing, as I don't take T3.
Thank you so much. I'm so glad you've seen such noticeable improvement.
I have NDT in hand already - Thai Tiroyd (managed to get over myself in terms of spelling/ copywriting, haha). I bought it at the same time as the Tiromel as I wasn't sure which way to go to self-medicate. In the end the Tiromel arrived first! And of course I was stung for import tax on both, haha.
I thought if necessary I could add T3 to the NDT, since I know that works for many people.
The NDT just *feels* like it might be better for me. Although of course it might not!
Thanks so much for your thoughts. I'll look up the protocol you mentioned too.
I think it's just horses for courses. I did very badly on NDT. I'm only well on T3 only. But, we can't tell these things, in advance. It's all trial and error.
Some say NDT is more natural, others say it's not natural at all to humans as it contains pig thyroid...I personally don't think that NDT is superior to synthetic thyroid hormones in any way. Those of us who are poor converters may do well on NDT (I know I do) because it contains a generous portion of T3 along with T4...those who are better converters and therefore need less T3 from meds would logically do less well on NDT as NDT is approximately 20% T3.
After experimenting for almost 20 years since my diagnosis (Hashimoto's), I have come to believe there is no such thing as "best for everyone" when it comes to the treatment of thyroid hormone disease...I guess it's all about trial and error. But even though I seem to do best on NDT myself, I absolutely do not think that NDT is any way superior to other forms of thyroid hormone replacement. I have come to believe it's all about which T3:T4 ratio YOU need to rid you of all hypo symptoms...which may or may not be the T3:T4 ratio in NDT. For those who do not feel optimally treated on the T3:T4 ratio in NDT, it's great that it's also possible to combine synthetic T3 and T4 until you find what works best for you.
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