Switching from NDT to T4/T3 combined therapy

[Kwizzbit]

So today I was fortunate to see an endocrinologist who had been recommended on another forum ... on the nhs out of my pct! I’ve been on NDT from greater pharmaceuticals in Thailand for the past month and it’s bern life changing. Having been so wonderful since starting it I am feeling incredibly apprehensive about moving to the synthetic T4/T3 therapy however feel obliged to try it out. The endo said she can monitor me properly on this . And that with NDT the T4/T3 year may be inaccurate as it’s porcine molecules not human...?? I’ve done my research and certainly have not heard this before.. she also did a random cortisol blood test as my previous 24 hour saliva one indicates incredibly low basal levels... I’m apprehensive to leave my cherished NDT and the lifestyle it’s given me back but she said T3 should work just as well. She dismissed T1,T2 and calcitonin saying it wasn’t necessarily there except in trace amounts...any thoughts please? Xx

[Hidden]

Not many endos prescribe NDT and there is an idea amoung them that NDT is not regulated and is not a precise dose. It is regulated and widley used in America where its consistancy has been very reliable. Although it comes from pigs I would consider it closer to human thyroid hormones than synthetic hormones. Not much is known about T1, T2 and calcitron and I doubt that the endo you saw has any reasurch to back up its lack of use or the correct amounts needed in us humans.

However lots of people do very well on a T4 and T3 combination, you might never be offerred it again on the NHS.It will be free treatment and you could always go back to the NDT if the change does not suit.

Maybe think about why you went to see the endo in the first place if you were doing well and what you wanted and whether she can provide.

[Kwizzbit in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your reply mandyjane, I’m on day 3 of the T4/T3 combo and the dreaded tinnitus has returned already ... I’ll see how I feel in a week xx

[Hidden in reply to Kwizzbit]

Oh dear. See how it goes.

[greygoose]

I would be very wary, if I were you. If she thinks she can't monitor you on NDT, then how is she going to monitor you on T4+T3? It's basically the same thing. She won't be able to use TSH, if that's what she's thinking of doing. The important number is the FT3. She may have just been making excuses because she is anti-NDT, but maybe she wasn't!

She's wrong about the T4 and T3 being inaccurate - all NDT is carefully controlled But they seem to have this crazy idea that you take a pig, cut out it's thyroid, make a tablet, and then go onto the next pig. lol Not true, of course. And, it really doesn't matter that it's 'porcine molecules and not human' (heaven forbid it should be human!), people have been doing very well on NDT for over a hundred years, and they haven't developed trotters or a snout. However, I do think she's right about the T2 and T1. The thyroid only makes miniscule amounts of these, if any. Most T2 and T1 comes from conversion.

[Kwizzbit]

Hi guys I thought posting an update would be polite. I’ve changed back to my ndt today. I’m gobsmacked at how quickly the negative effects of levothyroxine returned and I can’t believe I lived with such misery for so many years. NDT and self monitoring all the way .