Advice on T3 or Armour Thyroid Treatment

[Guest guest]

I last posted here some time back when I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism by Dr

Gordon Skinner who started me on Levothyroxine.

Since then the dosage has been steadily increasing, but I am sad to report that

I have felt no significant change. I am now on 225mcg a day with it set to

increase soon to 250.

As a result of this, Dr Skinner has suggested that I might wish to consider the

'T3 or Armour Thyroid option'.

I would just like to know if anyone can explain what this involves and whether

my situation is a common one. I had hoped after the diagnosis that I might have

turned a corner that would lead to me finally feeling better, but at this point

I feel extremely frustrated to not have improved in any noticeable way at all.

Many thanks,

Guy

[Guest guest]

Dear Guy, you

are not alone. The main problem with Levothyroxine (T4)-only is that T4 is a

prohormone. It has little to no action on its own until it has converted

(mainly through the liver and kidneys) into the ACTIVE thyroid hormone T3. It

is T3 that every cell in your body and brain need to make them function. For a large

minority of us however, we are unable to convert the T4 into T3. If this is the

case, and you have had some recent thyroid function blood tests done, check

them out to see whether your free T4 is high in the reference range, your free

T3 is low in the reference range, and your TSH is rising.  If you have not had

any recent TFT's done, ask your doctor to test these.

There are

MANY reasons and many medical conditions associated with thyroid disease that

stop thyroid hormone from getting into the cells, where it does its work. I

mention these over and over and over again - ad nauseum - people must be bored

with the same old, same old but as each new member joins us, they need to know.

The main

condition responsible for stopping thyroid hormone from working, is, quite simply,

a patients thyroxine dose is too low because the doctor or consultant refuses

to increase it, because the serum thyroid function test results appear OK.

Sometimes, the thyroxine dose is too high, yet patients still don't feel well.

They continue to suffer. Some reasons for this:

They may be

suffering with low adrenal reserve. The production of T4, its conversion to T3,

and the receptor uptake requires a normal amount of adrenal hormones, notably,

of course, cortisone. (Excess cortisone can shut production down, however.)

This is what happens if the adrenals are not responding properly, and provision

of cortisone usually switches it on again. But sometimes it

doesn’t. If the illness has been going on for a long time, the

enzyme seems to fail. This conversion failure (inexplicably denied by

many endocrinologists) means the thyroxine builds up, unconverted. So it

doesn’t work, and T4 toxicosis results. This makes the patient feel quite

unwell, toxic, often with palpitations and chest pain. If provision of adrenal

support doesn’t remedy the situation, the final solution is the use of

the active thyroid hormone, already converted, T3 - either synthetic or

natural.

Then, we

have systemic candidiasis. This is where candida albicans, a yeast, which

causes skin infections almost anywhere in the body, invades the lining of the

lower part of the small intestine and the large intestine. Here, the

candida sets up residence in the warmth and the dark, and demands to be

fed. Loving sugars and starches, candida can make you suffer terrible

sweet cravings. Candida can produce toxins which can cause very many

symptoms of exhaustion, headache, general illness, and which interfere with the

uptake of thyroid and adrenal treatment. Sometimes the levels - which we

usually test for - can be very high, and make successful treatment difficult to

achieve until adequately treated.

Then there

is receptor resistance which could be a culprit. Being hypothyroid for

some considerable time may mean the biochemical mechanisms which permit the

binding of T3 to the receptors, is downgraded - so the T3 won’t go

in. With slow build up of T3, with full adrenal support and adequate

vitamins and minerals, the receptors do come on line again. But this can

be quite a slow process, and care has to be taken to build the dose up

gradually.

And then

there are Food allergies. The most common food allergy is allergy to gluten,

the protein fraction of wheat. The antibody generated by the body, by a process

of molecular mimicry, cross reacts with the thyroperoxidase enzyme, (which

makes thyroxine) and shuts it down. So allergy to bread can make you

hypothyroid. There may be other food allergies with this kind of effect, but

information on these is scanty. Certainly allergic response to certain foods

can affect adrenal function and imperil thyroid production and uptake.

Then we

have hormone imbalances. The whole of the endocrine system is linked; each part

of it needs the other parts to be operating normally to work properly. An

example of this we have seen already, with cortisone. But another example

is the operation of sex hormones. The imbalance that occurs at the

menopause with progesterone running down, and a relative dominance of oestrogen

is a further case in point – oestrogen dominance downgrades production,

transportation and uptake of thyroid hormones. This is why hypothyroidism

may first appear at the menopause; the symptoms ascribed to this alone, which

is then treated – often with extra oestrogen, making the whole thing worse.

Deficiency in progesterone most especially needs to be dealt with, since it

reverses oestrogen dominance, improves many menopausal symptoms like sweats and

mood swings, and reverses osteoporosis. Happily natural progesterone

cream is easily obtained: when used it has the added benefit of helping to

stabilise adrenal function.

Then, we

must never forget the possibility of mercury poisoning (through amalgam

fillings) - low levels of ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, magnesium, folate,

copper and zinc - all of which, if low, stop the thyroid hormone from being

utilised by the cells - these have to be treated. Please ask your GP to check

these levels - IT IS VERY IMPORTANT. If your GP doesn't believe there is a

connection between these low levels and low thyroid, then copy out the list of

just some of the references to the scientific research/studies carried out that

does show the connection. Again, if any were found to be low, these would have

to be supplemented to build up their level before the thyroid hormone can get

into the cells. Please see below ***

As Dr

Peatfield says " When you have been quite unwell for a long time, all these

problems have to be dealt with; and since each may affect the other, it all has

to be done rather carefully.

Contrary to

cherished beliefs by much of the medical establishment, the correction of a

thyroid deficiency state has a number of complexities and variables, which make

the treatment usually quite specific for each person. The balancing of

these variables is as much up to you as to me – which is why a check of

morning, day and evening temperatures and pulse rates, together with symptoms,

good and bad, can be so helpful.

Many of you

have been ill for a long time, either because you have not been diagnosed, or

the treatment leaves you still quite unwell. Those of you who have

relatively mild hypothyroidism, and have been diagnosed relatively quickly, may

well respond to synthetic thyroxine, the standard treatment. I am therefore

unlikely to see you; since if the thyroxine proves satisfactory in use, it is

merely a question of dosage.

For many of

you, the outstanding problem is not that the diagnosis has not been made

– although, extraordinarily, this is disgracefully common – but

that is has, and the thyroxine treatment doesn’t work. The dose has

been altered up and down, and clinical improvement is variable and

doesn’t last, in spite of blood tests, which say you are perfectly all

right (and therefore you are actually depressed and need this fine

antidepressant).

The above

problems must be eliminated if thyroid hormone isn't working for you.

References to

show your GP why you need these specific minerals and vitamins tested.

*** Low

iron/ferritin: Iron deficiency is shown to significantly reduce T4 to T3

conversion, increase reverse T3 levels, and block the thermogenic (metabolism

boosting) properties of thyroid hormone (1-4). Thus, iron deficiency, as

indicated by an iron saturation below 25 or a ferritin below 70, will result in

diminished intracellular T3 levels. Additionally, T4 should not be considered

adequate thyroid replacement if iron deficiency is present (1-4)).

1. Dillman E, Gale C, Green W, et al.

Hypothermia in iron deficiency due to altered triiodithyroidine metabolism.

Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 1980;239(5):377-R381.

2. SM, PE, Lukaski HC. In

vitro hepatic thyroid hormone deiodination in iron-deficient rats: effect of

dietary fat. Life Sci 1993;53(8):603-9.

3. Zimmermann MB, Köhrle J. The Impact

of Iron and Selenium Deficiencies on Iodine and Thyroid Metabolism:

Biochemistry and Relevance to Public Health. Thyroid 2002;12(10): 867-78.

4. Beard J, tobin B, Green W. Evidence

for Thyroid Hormone Deficiency in Iron-Deficient Anemic Rats. J. Nutr.

1989;119:772-778.

Low

vitamin B12: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18655403

Low

vitamin D3: http://www.eje-online.org/cgi/content/abstract/113/3/329

and http://www.goodhormonehealth.com/VitaminD.pdf

Low

magnesium: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC292768/pdf/jcinvest00264-0105.pdf

Low

folate: http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/full/47/9/1738

and http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/thy.1999.9.1163

Low 

copper http://www.ithyroid.com/copper.htm

http://www.drlwilson.com/articles/copper_toxicity_syndrome.htm

http://www.ithyroid.com/copper.htm

http://www.rjpbcs.com/pdf/2011_2(2)/68.pdf

http://ajplegacy.physiology.org/content/171/3/652.extract

Low zinc:http://www.istanbul.edu.tr/ffdbiyo/current4/07%20Iham%20AM%C4%B0R.pdf

and http://articles.webraydian.com/article1648-Role_of_Zinc_and_Copper_in_Effective_Thyroid_Function.html

Good luck,

and if we can help with anything, please let us know and once you have got all

of your blood results back from your doctor, please post them on the forum

together with the reference range and we will help with any interpretation that

is needed.

There is

light at the end of the tunnel Guy, your therapy just needs a bit of tweaking

to ensure all of the above has been taken care of before trying any further

increases in thyroid hormone replacement.

Luv -

Sheila

 

I last posted here some time back when I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism by

Dr Gordon Skinner who started me on Levothyroxine.

Since then the dosage has been steadily increasing, but I am sad to report that

I have felt no significant change. I am now on 225mcg a day with it set to

increase soon to 250.

As a result of this, Dr Skinner has suggested that I might wish to consider the

'T3 or Armour Thyroid option'.

I would just like to know if anyone can explain what this involves and whether

my situation is a common one. I had hoped after the diagnosis that I might have

turned a corner that would lead to me finally feeling better, but at this point

I feel extremely frustrated to not have improved in any noticeable way at all.

Many thanks,

Guy

[Guest guest]

Hi Sheila, and thanks for your reply. All the information you gave is certainly

useful.

I will talk to my GP about further blood tests and the possibility of treatment

with T3.

I'm just wondering, with all these variables, whether it will ever be possible

to feel 'normal'.

Many thanks,

Guy

>

> Dear Guy, you are not alone. The main problem with Levothyroxine (T4)-only is

that T4 is a prohormone. It has little to no action on its own until it has

converted (mainly through the liver and kidneys) into the ACTIVE thyroid hormone

T3. It is T3 that every cell in your body and brain need to make them function.

[Ed]

[Guest guest]

Oh yes Guy - but you have to take care of the 'basics' and

ensure that there is not another condition or you are low in specific nutrients

before worrying about what actual treatment regime is going to be the one that

will work for you best. So many people become too impatient to go through

whatever is necessary and to go through the process of elimination to find the

cause, and this is so sad, because practically all those who are still

suffering have almost certainly got other issues going on somewhere. Stay

focussed Guy - take baby steps, one at a time, and you will get there - so many

of us have.

Luv - Sheila

Hi Sheila, and thanks for your reply. All the information you gave is certainly

useful.

I will talk to my GP about further blood tests and the possibility of treatment

with T3.

I'm just wondering, with all these variables, whether it will ever be possible

to feel 'normal'.

Many thanks,

Guy

" Sheila " <sheila@...> wrote:

>

> Dear Guy, you are not alone. The main problem with Levothyroxine (T4)-only

is that T4 is a prohormone. It has little to no action on its own until it has

converted (mainly through the liver and kidneys) into the ACTIVE thyroid

hormone T3. It is T3 that every cell in your body and brain need to make them

function.

[Ed]