Switching from Nature Thyroid to synthetic T3 + T4?

[Nina222]

Did anybody switched from Nature Thyroid to synthetic T4 + T3?

I'm on NT for more than a year and no matter the adjusting the dose it just doesn't feel right.

I'm thinking to start with synthetic T4 and add T3. It also came to my mind to try Liotrix or whatever brand is available. I would really like to hear your experience and difference in managing symptoms.

[Clutter]

Nina222,

If you post your recent TSH,FT4 and FT3 results and ranges members will advise if you are optimally dosed. If you say what dose NatureThroid you are taking we can advise on the equivalent T4 and T3 doses.

[Nina222 in reply to Clutter]

It's not about optimal dosage with me, it's about sore muscles, fatigue and memory problem, but most of all fingers of my hands started to get swollen. It started when I started with ndt but I was also taking more hormones so I thought it's because my body needs to adapt to new dosages. I was on the right dosage for some time, but a couple of months ago I started to wake up around 4 am and was unable to sleep until 7 am. I was talking 1 grain in the morning and half in the evening. Now I'm taking a half grain afternoon instead evening dosage and finally can sleep.

I tested for arthritis, but results are negative. When I saw talking synthetic T4 I didn't had partially swollen fingers, but I think adding T3 to mix could work for me.

[Clutter in reply to Nina222]

Nina222,

1.5 grains NDT has 47mcg T4 and 13.5mcg T3 in it.

[Nina222 in reply to Clutter]

Thank you Clutter

[shaws Administrator]

I have read that when we start taking NDT, we start on a dose and then every one or two weeks add a 1/4 tablet and so on until your symptoms resolve. You should also have taken your pulse and temp before beginning. Our vitamins/minerals should also be optimum.

This is a link which might be helpful and this is an extract:-

Deciding if a Patient is Resistant to Thyroid Hormone.

Resistance to thyroid hormone is a relatively new but well-researched field.[1,pp.295-338]

Researchers first documented a family whose cells

are partly resistant to thyroid hormone in 1967.

[221]

In 1990, other researchers found one cause of the resistance: a mutation in a gene on chromosome 3.

[220]

More than a hundred mutations have now been found in this gene in different patients who are resistant to thyroid hormone.

Mutations in the gene, however, aren’t always the cause of thyroid hormone resistance. Some of our patients who clearly had

resistance and fully recovered by using T3 (within the context of

metabolic rehab) were free from mutations in the gene.[1,p.277]

Resistance may result from several possible mechanisms (for a full

description, see Chapter 2.6,

The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia, pages 303-313, 319-321, 323-329

[1]

). Regardless of the cause of a patient’s resistance, our current statistics suggest that 34% of our patients with a diagnosis of fibromyalgia have resistance.

[161]

Unfortunately, we can’t determine when we first evaluate a pa-

tient whether she has thyroid hormone resistance.

drlowe.com/educational.info... Chapter 7.Thyroid.pdf

[Nina222]

I know about vitamins and minerals. Thank you for info Shaws

[Gates]

My optimal dosing regimen turned out to be 50 mcg, of levothyroxine and 32 mcg, of Naturethroid, all taken in the a.m. I skip both meds one day per week to keep my TSH from getting too low.

This is the only thing that has worked for me long term after the first year, when I kept adjusting doses. I also tried taking each medication by itself.

I felt good at first taking only Naturethroid or Armour in smaller doses twice per day but eventually, after about a year, this did not work for me. Splitting up my doses first caused peaks and valleys, and then just kept me tired as my body adjusted to the medication.

[Wolfiesmom08]

Yes I used to be on Naturethroid but it did not suit me.I tried for 9months on NDT only and then another sic on NDT plus T4. I have Hashimoto's and some people think you should not use an animal glad product because it can increase your antibodies. I just found that my body does better on larger amounts of T4 and less T3. At first I tried adding some T4 to my naturethroid but then eventually I went back to synthetics. I'm not at my optimal does yet. This seems like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. . . you increase your does in hopes of having more energy but you never quite get there. .. I hope I find it soon. I'm not at 112 of Levoxyl and 7.5mcg of compounded T3.