Technical question-is there a difference between making your own T3 or taking synthetic T3 physically?

[ockerdoc]

Could you feel a difference between the 2? I wondered whether making your own might reach other places the synthetic stuff might not be able to reach? Or are they both exactly the same? Thanks.

[FallingInReverse]

Not a comprehensive answer - but one of the biggest differences between exogenous thyroid hormones taken as a pill/liquid (whether t4 or t3) and what our bodies make is the feedback loop of our body’s complex and multi-layered system.

When working properly - the body is constantly gauging and responding to our need for the right hormones (thyroid or otherwise) continuously and gradually. When working well, TSH is sent out when we are low, T4 and bits of others are sent in response, the conversion process begins and RT3 kicks in if too high. Our iron responds and facilitates along the way. Vitamins and cofactors are there to unlock. Over and over.

I’d say the other thing is that for most of us, over years as our thyroid failed, our adrenal system compensated. And so taking a pill then has to combat the way our bodies got used to that. And over time, in the long chain reaction, needs to course correct back.

When things are working correctly, all those things happen in our glands, then in our blood, then in the transporters to our cells, which then get saturated as they need to be used at the cellular level.

So it’s not that the hormones themselves work differently, but they exist in a complex ecosystem that does absolutely make them work or not work differently.

Someone else might come along and say the actual formulation works differently independent of the system they are a part of.

But the above is definitely in play no matter what.

In my opinion!

[ockerdoc in reply to FallingInReverse]

Thank you 🙏

[Zephyrbear in reply to FallingInReverse]

I would add to that, that one of the main differences between our own thyroids producing the necessaries and having to take a pill to compensate for when it doesn’t is that the thyroid hormones produced by our own thyroids does not have to pass through our digestive systems to be absorbed…

[FallingInReverse in reply to Zephyrbear]

Love that idea!

I’ve also read enough about the role of stomach acid in breaking down Levo, just enough to confuse myself : )

Knowing “what” happens to the hormone along its journey is one thing, but “where” all those things happen is another level of education!

[jimh111]

There is a difference, especially if you are taking a higher proportion of T3 than the thyroid secretes.Some T3 comes from the thyroid, about 20%.

Type-2 deiodinase (D1) which occurs mainly in the liver and kidneys converts T4 to T3 and T4 to rT3. This T3 is produced at the cell membrane and exits the cell quickly to enter circulation

Most T3 comes from Type-2 deiodinase (D2) which takes place in tissues such as the pituitary, brain, brown fat and muscles. This occurs in the endoplasmic reticulum which is close to the cell nucleus and this T3 hangs around in the cell for some time. D2 along with D3 (T3 -> T2) regulates local T3 levels. Thus, for example, the brain can have different concentrations of T3 to blood levels.

I like to say "where the T3 comes from matters" and refer to "D2T3" as this has a different role to T3 coming from the thyroid, D1 or tablets.