T3 Therapy: An Option When T4 Isn’t Working for You
I’m writing this article so that you can have information which might be of
benefit to you. I was going to wait until I had been on the protocol for a
year, but, what the heck, I thought I’d get the information out there so that
others might read it and evaluate it for themselves.
A brief history about me: I’m a clinical laboratory scientist. I had been taking
T4 medication for 6 years and just got worse, tried Armour and couldn’t
tolerate it (side effects of jitteriness, high BP, clamminess). I fired my MD and
endocrinologist and hired an ND. He started my on time-release T3 and, after
two weeks, my symptoms of fatigue, constipation, inability to concentrate,
weight gain, coldness, peeling nails, thinning hair, etc., started to improve
tremendously. Now I can concentrate again, have energy to do things, have
normal digestion, and have hope that SOMETHING is working! It’s been two
months now, not a long time I know.
The way this method works is that I started on a low dose of 7.5 mcg and
increased until I felt better. I am now slowly reducing the dose and weaning
off of the medicine. The theory is that one’s own thyroid can begin producing
and using its own thyroid hormone.
As I understand it, the rationale for this treatment is that, for some people,
stress such as childbirth, loss of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job, etc., can
cause them to produce an excess of reverse T3, a molecule similar to the
active form of the hormone, T3. This reverse T3 blocks cell receptors and
prevents active T3 from entering cells and functioning normally. The result is
a generalized slowdown of metabolism and the accompanying hypothyroid
symptoms so familiar to us all.
Some people are able to reset their thyroid hormone balance without
medication; others can’t and so get locked into the vicious cycle of producing
more and more reverse T3 and shutting down their rate of metabolism even
more.
On this protocol you may have noticed that T4 is taken out of the equation.
This is because T4 is used by the body to make T3; but it is also used to
make reverse T3. In order to reduce the amount of reverse T3 being made, it
is necessary to stop taking T4. The idea is that the reverse T3 which is
blocking cell receptor sites will be cleared so that active T3 can enter the
cells.
There is a bit of controversy about this method. What protocol which
deviates from the one-pill-for-all philosophy of mainstream medicine hasn’t
caused a bit of controversy? Most mainstream doctors either aren’t aware of
this protocol or don’t want to take the risk of going against the status quo of
prescribing T4 and doing annual TSH tests. The controversy stems from the
fact that the doctor who developed this protocol, Dr. E. Denis Wilson, named
it after himself. Yet, how many doctors and researchers name syndromes and
protocols after themselves? Think Heimlich maneuver for one. (Sorry, but I
felt we needed a little chuckle here.)
If you have been reading the scientific literature and the forums, you will have
probably noticed that no one protocol works for everybody. Some find success
with T4-only therapy, some with Armour, some with T3 added to T4, some
with T3 only. I fall into this last group. It wasn’t until I stopped my T4 (which
was a bit scary because I had been on it for six years) and started the T3.
Time-release T3 works for me, releasing T3 into the bloodstream at a slow,
steady, constant rate. Other T3 meds, such as Cytomel, often cause side
effects, probably because they release T3 all at once. T3 is a very powerful
hormone. It directs the complex machinery of cell metabolism, signaling every
organ system and cell to function: brain, bowels, muscle, sugar and fat
metabolism, skin, hair, nails. No wonder the symptoms of hypometabolism and
hypothyroidism are so varied and complex. And, if left untreated,
hypothyroidism can cause such severe problems as infertility, heavy menstrual
bleeding, atherosclerosis and high cholesterol levels, depression, skin problems
and arthritis, to name a few. Every body system is affected by the
malfunctioning of the thyroid system. No wonder we feel as if we are dead,
have no energy, can’t think straight, gain weight and feel sluggish and achy
and overweight and cold.
I hope this information helps those of you for whom T4-only therapy or Armour
have not worked.
Judy
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