Help with Thyrogold or other NDT swith from Levothyroxine

[Boon79]

Please Help!

I've been on 100mcg of levothyroxine for around 5 years.

I felt well generally other than bloating and an inability to lose weight (despite eating 1400 calories a day). I decided to give Thyro gold a try.

I took 50mcg of levothyroxine with 150mcg of Thyro gold for 2 weeks then dropped the levothyroxine and took 300mcg of Thyro gold.

I'm feeling hypo and have bloating and dizziness plus breathlessness and my hair is turning white 😯.

Should I stick with it assuming that my body is getting used to the T3, or should I increase to 450mcg in the 4th week?

So depressed as I had high hopes 😔

[marsaday]

What amount of T4 and T3 is in the thyroid gold 150mcg tablet ?

[Boon79 in reply to marsaday]

Bovine thyroid powder 300mcg. Doesn't give a breakdown. Contacted Tammy Lowe whose late husband formulated them an aparently 100mcg of levothyroxine is 300mcg of Thyro gold so I should be on the right dose??!!

[marsaday in reply to Boon79]

It is sold as a diet supplement I think so you need to find out if there is any t4 and /or t3 in it.

Why didn’t you try raising the t4 if you were doing well on it. A little more may have really helped.

[Boon79 in reply to marsaday]

I think you may be right. I'll give it another 7 days to see the 'full effect' and I'll be changing back to T4 only if it doesn't work. I could take the thyro gold twice a week as a supplement.

[UmmAmeera]

Have you had a total thyroidectomy? I tried an over the counter bovine raw thyroid supplement. I thought I was doing fine on it but had my bloodwork done after a month and my TSH was over 100. Then the symptoms really hit. I went back to my 100mcg of levothyroxine. A naturopath doctor I saw said that although raw thyroid will work for people with at least some thyroid gland left it probably wouldn't work for someone like me with no remaining thyroid tissue. He suggested I get back on the levothyroxine and use the raw thyroid as a supplement so that I could get some of the T3 out if it since I haven't been able to find a doctor who would prescribe T3 for me.

[Boon79 in reply to UmmAmeera]

No. I had severe hypothyroidism 5 years ago and 100mcg seemed the correct level. I think if thyro gold doesn't work in the next 10 days, I too will go back to levothyroxine and supplement with thyro gold x

[UmmAmeera in reply to Boon79]

Just be careful. Your symptoms seem pretty significant already. The longer you are off of levothyroxine the longer it might take to dig yourself back out of the hole. At least that's what it felt like for me. Best of health to you.

[shaws]

This is from the doctor who invented Thyrogold, for the specific reason that it didn't need a prescripition:

Dr. Lowe: Judging from your description, you’re not using Thyro-Gold™ properly. My impression is that you think the product is a fast-acting stimulant, such as caffeine tablets. This is definitely not the case.

Most people should start with 1 capsule initially, and take that dose—without changing it up or down—for up to two weeks. Jumping back and forth on your daily dose won’t allow enough time for you to see what any particular dose does for you, good or bad. The only result will be utter confusion.

At the end of the two weeks, after starting the initial dose, the person should evaluate any benefits of the initial daily dose. If there are no benefits, or the benefits aren’t satisfying, the person should increase his or her dose by one more capsule. Another waiting period of two weeks is then essential. It is essential to see whether that daily dose provides satisfactory benefits. Throughout the two-week time, the person should keep the dosage the same—no increases, no decreases.

In addition, you said you started with 10 capsules per day. That is far too many capsules for most people to start with. For most people, it’s appropriate to start with 1-2 capsules. And again, for emphasis, the person should stay on exactly that dose for the two-weeks.

naturalthyroidsolutions.com...

There are also other questions/answers on the above link as well as 3 chapters from his book which are helpful.

[Boon79 in reply to shaws]

Thanks for this. I've been taking Tammy Lowe's advise on how to increase dose and have been sensible starting on one capsule for 2 weeks then increasing by another (been on 2 for 5 days now) Fingers crossed, I split my dose in the last 24 hours and things have improved.

[shaws in reply to Boon79]

It is always more beneficial if we introduce small increases gradually always taking note of symptoms are relieved. Also keep an eye on pulse/temp and if either went too h igh, reduce to previous dose and that may be your optimum.

[CheshireCat56]

I was on 75mcg of levo when I decided to change over to Thyro-Gold - dropping the levo completely. I started by splitting the contents of one 150mcg capsule into six portions and took just one sixth each day for a week. Then I upped it to two sixths for the next week, etc., until I had worked up to one 150mcg capsule over a period of weeks. This way I could monitor the effects it was having on me without bombarding my system. I have now been on one capsule a day for over a year and am doing very well on it. In the autumn/winter months I up the dosage with an extra quarter capsule a day plus take Solgar vitamin D and Iron if I get a bit low.

[Naomi8]

The alternative is to use an NDT which DOES have specified amounts of T4 & T3,unless you are unable to use porcine NDT.There is plenty of choice without an Rx.

At present I am using NDT with thyroxine

This way I get some T3,T2 etc but the mix is closer to human thyroid hormone production.

[SlowDragon Administrator in reply to Naomi8]

Please do NOT list websites

[Boon79]

Thank you for all the advice. Funnily enough, I've turned a bit of a corner today. I'd started on one 150mcg with half my levothyroxine, as instructed by Tammy from Thyro gold, and did that for 12 days, then I dropped the levothyroxine 5 days ago and took 300mcg of Thyro gold only, but in one go. Last night I had 150mcg and this morning the other 150mcg. Wow do I feel better! Im hoping that this is my optimum way of dosing. Did circuit's tonight and cleaned the house, plus I'm having regular bowel movements ( sorry if TMI 😂). Fingers crossed......will keep you updated as it may help others. Tammy advised that 150mcg is similar to 50 mcg of levothyroxine, so 300mcg is 100mcg. Paul Jones' blog claims 150mcg of Thyro gold is roughly 100mcg of levothyroxine but I disagree! We'll see.

[helvella]

Your posts here could be very confusing for anyone trying to follow!

Desiccated thyroid products (such as Thyro Gold) are most often measured in milligrams (mg) or grains. (One grain could be from 60 to 65 milligrams depending on manufacturer.)

Synthetic thyroid hormone products, levothyroxine and liothyronine, are most often measured in micrograms (mcg).

The hormone content of desiccated thyroid products is most often measured in micrograms (mcg).