NDT

[foxglove]

How do you know if you are on too high a dose of NDT?....e.g. symptoms. It is costly to have to keep getting bloods done. Doc. doesn't know I'm taking NDT so I wouldn't think would authorise tests

[pennyannie]

Hello Foxglove

I am self medicating with NDT and arrange a yearly private blood test to include the vitamins and minerals for my reference and mainly because I supplement several vits. and minerals.

NDT was the successful treatment for over a 100 years for hypothyroidism prior to the 1960s when Big Pharma came onto the scene bringing with it, blood tests, the guidelines and new revolutionary thyroid hormone replacement - Levothyroxine.

With NDT you dose to the relief of symptoms going up weekly in 1/4 sectors of a 1 grain tablet.

I took a blood test to have a bench mark from where I was starting from :

I stopped Levothyroxine 125mcg one day and started NDT the following, working up to 1 + 3/4 tablets and felt a little uncomfortable and agitated, so I dropped back down a 1/4 and have stayed on 1 + 1/2 grain/tablets for coming up to 2 years.

I used to monitor my temperature and blood pressure every afternoon, and my pulse never moved much but my temperature rose from 35.8 to 36.6 :

I also took adrenal glandular as I've read both the adrenal and thyroid glands work and support each other, and since I had had RAI thyroid ablation thought I should try repairing as much of the internal damage as I could, and I still do supplement with adrenal glandular.

If you reach 2 grains it's advised you then wait 6 weeks to allow it to fully " bed in " and have a blood test to see where you are, as it's presumed you would be feeling some relief of symptoms by this time. After 6 weeks slowly up again and generally I think most people end up at around 2 /5 :

It might all come down to being able to convert the T4 in the NDT into T3 and your ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D all need to be maintained at optimal levels to assist your body in this process.

Some people split their dose of NDT - I don't :

What were your symptoms ? Has anything improved ? What dose are you now on ?

Do you have any results to share ?

What are your levels of Ferritin, folate, B12 and vitamin D like ?

P.S. I too am on Thyroid S and do think it is a slow release NDT though I have never tried anything else so can't compare :

[silverfox7]

I started on NDT when first diagnosed around 1986. Surprised it was on the NHS and I was given 1 grain. I was told I didn’t need to be tested as my body would take what it needed.

Things went well but a few years down the line I started getting symptoms again so told my doctor and I was given another grain. No issues after that but my doctor had moved on and was changed to Levo.

To be fair I got one well with that but I’m now back on NDT again as those periods I used to be taking it I was very stable.

So I bought some Thyroid S. Been on that over 5 years now and no issues until I was asked to have my bloods done which showed I was slightly under medicated. I was confused though having thought my body would take what I needed-it obviously hadn’t! All I can conclude is that I’ve heard the S in Thyroid S stands for Slow release so may be why this particular brand isn’t working as I would have expected. I very rarely need to tweek my dose though so thankful for that but still don’t know if it’s just Thyroid S which is different from what I was used to or not. The hospital I now use are aware of what I am taking and test as they would any thyroid med and no issues there. I take 1.75 grains two days and 1.5 on the third and yes I know when taking T3 in any form I should be taking the same amount each day. Splitting tablets to get 1.75 dose is difficult to do but it does mean able me to get nearer to the same dose daily so I’m happily about that. Hospital are happy though I’m no longer sure they are experts! But I feel good so it’s working well for me.

The last report the expert sent to my GP that they must get my TSH higher-that will never happen taking any form of T3! In fact they have even questioned why I keep coming as I’m very stable, well we don’t know that for certain without getting bloods done!