Has anyone /does anyone use Dr Blanchards method of treatment..using 98%t4 with 2% t3 ?
I’d be very interested to know your experience of this…I’ve just embarked SORT OF….BUT she I can obtain the slow release t3 I shall do it properly…
Please do message me on how you got on with this approach.
THANKYOU.🌝🧓🏻
As it is difficult to obtain slow release t3 I think the message that we have to take from his work is that not all of us need to take a full tablet when dosing T3. Some of us just need small amounts either to replace the T3 our missing thyroid would have made or to bolster poor conversion.
A very sensible reply ! As it is I have found a compounding pharmacy able to make ANYTHING At a reasonable price so I will give it a go . 😊
Is there a difference between slow release and timed release? Blanchard speaks of timed release.
As I cannot seem to send you a private message, could you please send one to me, letting me know details of the compounding pharmacy you have found. I am having awful problems with excipients and have been looking in vain for a compounding pharmacy. A couple I phoned could not help.
I should think the majority of people follow this when starting out on T3. Not deliberately but because that's how you start out taking T3: start low and increase slowly. But, not all of us do well on it and soon have the urge - necessity - to increase. You need what you need, and never mind doctors' theories.
greygoose you are the antithesis of Blanchard's theory! He stated that overtime someone on a high dose of T3 would deplete their cellular t4 and that this depletion would lead them to become unwell again. He would only prescribe combo and a combo based on T4 with very little t3. As you rightly say, we need what we need and one size does not fit all.
Exactly. For me, it was taking T4 that made me ill. So, whatever this theory of Dr Blanchard's is, I don't doubt it works for some people, but it certainly won't work for everyone.
With total respect ..really ! …I urge you to read his little book as that would explain what you can’t possibly know…his method is very different…he was and endo who clearly had much success..And he is indeed logical…I UrGE you to buy his little book..£9 Amazon…and worth every penny ..it sheds whole new light into taking t4
I don't take T4, I take T3 only.
Did he explain how T3 would deplete cellular T4? This sounds strange to me as T4 has a much longer half-life than T3...if he were indeed right about that, people on T3 only would feel horrible but we know that is not the case. I know he said that NDT contains too much T3, but that just goes to prove that there is no right or wrong where thyroid hormone replacement is concerned...some do very well on the T3/T4 ratio in NDT, just as some do well on T3 only. I think Dr. B´s theories are very helpful for patients who need only small amounts of T3 along with mostly T4, but they cannot be said to be valid for all thyroid patients. His method requires good conversion and we know not everyone achieves that.
Will look to see if he says why.He does think that T3 depends on T4 to be effective.
The effect of a given dose of T3 depends on the T4 saturation level of the tissue that it is going into.
I agree...
He stated that overtime someone on a high dose of T3 would deplete their cellular t4 and that this depletion would lead them to become unwell again.
Well if that were the case I'd probably be dead by now!!
Fundamentally, unless someone has a clinical need for high dose T3 it would be unwise /unsafe to use this treatment.
Horses for courses!
We know a high dose of T3 will cause T4 to fall...and TSH.
But T3 is the active thyroid hormone....and vital to life.
Unless adequate T3 reaches the nuclei of the cells where it becomes active the patient will become ill.
Did Blanchard consider this!
Instead Jollypolly suggests that...
Dr Blanchards method of treatment..using 98%t4 with 2% t3
Is this actually what he meant?
I have a form of RTH which caused cellular hypothyroidism and very poor health. Consequently, I need high dose T3 ( 100mcg) to function!
Described in my profile.
It took me decades to discover this!
Doctors were unable to help....that is, they hadn't a clue!
Latterly, after 20 years levo left me very "unwell"
I did briefly try adding T4 to my T3 dose just in case it was needed somewhere in my body...
It made me "unwell again"
This flies in the face of Blanchard's theory that
a high dose of T3 would deplete their cellular t4 and that this depletion would lead them to become unwell again.
Dr Blanchard appears to have made the same old mistake of trying to fit patients into a box that is entirely the wrong size for them....and can causes excruciating pain!
It is a convenient protocol but a disaster for the patient whose thyroid function is in any way complicated!
I'm clearly not a medic so can only share my experience based on what I've learned over many years.
Jollypolly These are just my own rambling thoughts for what they are worth...but this may be of interest
Dr Lowe's work helped me a great deal.
pdfmedarticles.com/d/drlowe...
Thyroid Science 3(1):C1-2, 2008 ThyroidScience.com Editorial Dr. Kenneth Blanchard’s
False Beliefs About T Therapy
Dr. John C. Lowe*
I tend to agree with you!I have no doubt Dr. Blanchard helped many patients feel better. There is an interview with him in Mary Shomon´s book "Living well with hypothyroidism" where he describes his approach in more detail. This is followed by an interview with Dr. Lowe who took the opposite view and would prescribe NDT or T3 only in patients with thyroid hormone resistance. Mary S writes that she interviewed them as patients kept telling her that, after years of failing to get better, they finally found someone who could help them. But thanks to two fundamentally different approaches!
This goes to prove that we are all different, and that there really is no one size fits all approach to the management of hypothyroidism! While many patients will feel well on low doses of T3 and mostly T4, as advocated by Dr. B, others will need NDT or T3 only. As you say, T3 is the active hormone and we need enough of it on cellular level to restore normal metabolism.
Yes I agree .. another sensible reply .. thanks for this 😊
When I was given a trial of combo the endo looked at their protocol and followed it to the letter. My levo was reduced by 50mcg and lio introduced at 20mcg. She thought I'd sitch overnight but of course I took advice from here and altered things slowly. I got to the prescribed dose and felt awful. It took nearly 2 years of adjusting individual doses to get to a combo that I have been on for a year now. My dose of the increased by 50mcg back to what it was originally and my lio dose reduced to 7.5mcg.
google.com/amp/s/power-surg... gives anyone a link to an outline of Blanchard's treatment.
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Switching from T3 only (high doses) to Dr. Ken Blanchard's micro dose method advisable? (I'm new here)
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