Hypothyroidism Support Group
Hypothyroidism is the disease state caused by insufficient production of thyrohormone by the thyroid gland. There are several distinct causes for chronic hypothyroidism, the most common being Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism following radioiodine therapy for hyperthyroidism. Advanced hypothyroidism may cause severe complications, the most serious one of which is...
Source: http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jcem-41-2-229
I came across this Journal study this morning. Found the link on the Stop the Thyroid Madness "T3 facebook group" page.
This is interesting to consider. I remember back to last Summer and listening to the Thyroid Summit and Dr Jacob Teitelbaum mentioning something similar....he mentioned that not to be surprised if one is on a higher dose of NDT medication and one finds their T4 level to be low. He said something to the effect of be cautious about raising dose just to chase the T4 level, one may find they then become HYPERthyroid. And of course one needs to consider "how they feel" and not just go by a lab report sheet.
Thoughts on this theory? It must have to do with the feedback loop.
I came across this Journal study this morning. Found the link on the Stop the Thyroid Madness "T3 facebook group" page.
This is interesting to consider. I remember back to last Summer and listening to the Thyroid Summit and Dr Jacob Teitelbaum mentioning something similar....he mentioned that not to be surprised if one is on a higher dose of NDT medication and one finds their T4 level to be low. He said something to the effect of be cautious about raising dose just to chase the T4 level, one may find they then become HYPERthyroid. And of course one needs to consider "how they feel" and not just go by a lab report sheet.
Thoughts on this theory? It must have to do with the feedback loop.
What happens is this (and I'm summarizing, k?)
Free T3 is derived from Free T4 (for the most part) when it's processed by the liver. We produce a small amount in the thyroid, but most of it comes from Free T4, K?
So, what happens when we have a high Free T3 level? Free T4 production is slowed because the body senses that Free T3 level (high) and decides, "Hey, we don't need anymore Free T3 so slow down a bit on the Free T4 production." And, that's what happens.
That's not to say a Free T4 level can't be achieved that adequate - that's why we emphasize keeping a journal of symptoms along with a lab history. It keeps us from shooting in the dark (with no labs) and from misinterpreting symptoms (with no symptom journal) and from aiming too high or too low. We don't just chase numbers on this forum, we're looking for "symptoms free" and where that is for each of us. ;)
Thanks for posting that interesting article!