Thyroid Drugs

Our thyroid glands make two main hormones, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxin (T4). T4 is often called a storage hormone. It has four iodine atoms and loses one of them to make the more active, shorter-lived T3. Sometimes it loses the wrong iodine atom and makes a mirror image of T3 called reverse T3. Reverse T3 ties up the receptors for T3 on cells, so the normal T3 molecules cannot exert their effect. This basically neutralizes the normal T3 that is present. Individuals on too high a dosage of synthetic T4 may convert some of it to reverse T3, thus making them more tired, etc.

The most commonly prescribed drug for hypothyrodism is Synthroid,^TM a synthetic form of T4. It is the fourth most commonly prescribed drug in the United States at more than 70 million prescriptions annually. [1] Its sales come to over one billion dollars annually. [2] Some hypothyroid patients can adequately convert this to T3, but many cannot. Those who can't never get adequate relief from their symptoms, yet their TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) blood test returns to normal, so they are told that they are fine, and just have to remain tired, cold, depressed, and having weight or cardiac problems. [3]

Why is thyroid disease so often mismanaged? Dr. Jeffrey Dach says, "Follow the money trail." The pharmaceutical companies which have made Synthroid^TM over the years pay for meetings, research, speakers, etc. to support their position, and most doctors are influenced by the companies' advertising. [4]

If you are taking synthetic T4 and not experiencing relief from your symptoms of hypothyroidism, try to find a holistic doctor who will prescribe natural desiccated thyroid, such as Armour^TM thyroid. If a person is allergic to pork or if the ratio of T4 to T3 in natural thyroid is not correct for that individual, he or she will need a combination of synthetic T4 and synthetic T3 (Cytomel^TM) in the correct ratio. To find such a doctor, consider members of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) who have taken courses in thyroid disease at AAEM meetings. These doctors will do testing that is more helpful than the TSH test, and which may show that a patient has a high amount of reverse T3, anti-thyroid antibodies, etc.

Footnotes

[1]	Bowthorpe, Janie A, M.Ed. Stop the Thyroid Madness II: How Thyroid Experts are Challenging Ineffective Treatments and Improving the Lives of Patients. (Dolores, CO, Laughing Grape Publishing, 2014),103.
[2]	Pulse of Nat Health Newsletter, "Natural Thyroid Medications at Risk," March 22, 2016. http://www.anh-usa.org/natural-thyroid-medications-at-risk/
[3]	Bowthorpe, Janie A, M.Ed. Stop the Thyroid Madness: A Patient Revolution Against Decades of Inferior Thyroid Treatment. (Dolores, CO, Laughing Grape Publishing, 2012),168-169.
[4]	Bowthorpe, Janie A, M.Ed. Stop the Thyroid Madness II, 103.