From: Jennifer Eames

>I've recently had some testing done on my thyroid functioning and would

>appreciate help with the interpretation.



If you're looking at "natural" treatments, what are your sources of iodine. Correcting iodine deficiency is one obvious way to correct a low thyroid, if that's the reason for it. If you live on the ocean and eat a lot of local produce or sea food, you probably aren't iodine deficient But, if you live in deficient area like the Midwest and watch your salt intake, or don't eat iodized salt, then there's a much greater chance you are deficient.

The thyroid also needs protein. Vegetarians say they can get adequate protein from their diet, and maybe they can if they're careful. They can't get adequate B12 without supplementation.



Vitamin A is also necessary, and the kind that is found in meat is necessary for the thyroid. (Beta carotene is in plants, they don't contain pure Vitamin A and hypos have problems converting beta carotene to Vitamin A. Some will turn yellow if they eat too much plant food because of this.



Selenium is necessary to convert T4 to T3, and is deficient in some areas. I think the same areas that are iodine deficient are also selenium deficient.

Reducing calories can make you hypo by raising cortisol levels which will turn T4 into the inactive T3 called reverse T3 (rT3.) It's only lack of active T3 that really makes one hypo, and yours is low. The T3 test for labs is controversial, many know it's not a very accurate test, but some patients can really tell how their thyroid is performing from it.

Broda Barnes pushed Armour Thyroid (which comes from pigs and is "natural" in the way that it's a lot like food since it's mainly pork and sugar.) He said the best diet for hypos was a low carb diet (he was before Atkins became famous) and that if they wanted to fatten up livestock, they simply gave them grains because they were fattening. Anyways, he said when one was on a low carb diet, they needed to increase their Armour because it made them more hypo. I don't think that's unique to the low carb diet, but happens with any diet. The body thinks you're going through a famine so it tries to maintain your weight by turning your T4 into inactive rT3. I suspect it also causes an unnaturally low TSH too.



Why do you think L-Tyrosine is helpful? And why is that more natural than Armour?

http://www.vitacost.com/science/hn/Supp/Tyrosine.htm

"Where is it found?

Dairy products, meats, fish, wheat, oats, and most other protein-containing foods contain tyrosine."



Why are you likely to be deficient?

http://www.vitacost.com/science/hn/Supp/Tyrosine.htm



"Who is likely to be deficient?

Some people affected by PKU are deficient in tyrosine. Tyrosine levels are occasionally low in depressed people.11 Any person losing large amounts of protein, such as those with some kidney diseases, may be deficient in several amino acids, including tyrosine.12"

Does it even really work?



http://www.pdrhealth.com/drug_info/nmdrugprofiles/nutsupdrugs/lty_0256.shtml

"Results are mixed, but largely negative, with respect to claims that tyrosine is an effective antidepressant. Claims that it can alleviate some of the mental and physical symptoms of environmental stress are based on preliminary evidence. Further claims that tyrosine is useful in narcolepsy and attention deficit disorder have been refuted by some studies. Another study found that tyrosine supplementation did not improve neuropsychological performance in subjects with phenylketonuria. Claims that tyrosine is helpful in alleviating symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and drug withdrawal are largely anecdotal and unconfirmed. There is no evidence tyrosine has any effect on dementia, Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease."



None of what I quoted means you shouldn't be taking it. Lots of products establishment medicine finds unsuitable work for some. Anecdotal evidence is not a bad source in many cases.



Your pregnenolone was low? That's the starting point for progesterone, a hormone that helps to activate thyroid hormone. I'm not sure why one would test pregnenolone and not progesterone and the adrenal hormones.



I can see why you would avoid Synthroid, which is a synthetic product. (it is bio-identical to your own thyroid hormone, and many consider that to be "natural" in that sense.) But, Armour comes from a food source. The T4 and T3 are carefully measured, and the dosage is probably more consistent than Synthroid which has had many recalls, but doctors tend to think just the opposite.



Also, it might be helpful to measure your progesterone, cortisol, testosterone and estrogen as all these things have an effect on thyroid perfomance.



Skipper

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