NOTE TO THYROID: It appears I managed to distribute the previous message 
twice. I'm sorry. I'm experimenting with two different methods to handle these 
moderation duties - and I did it wrong. My mistake. I'll try to do better. <sigh>

Dear Dave,

>*	
>	Why would I need to understand my T3 and T4 levels?  would this 
>in any way change the treatment?

Try to think about thyroid issues in terms of symptoms,
feeling better, and improving your health, rather than 
"powerlessly" becoming focused on blood tests and
dosages of pills.

For instance

You might want to study up further on symptoms. You 
didn't mention your temperature, or whether you ever
feel warm or cold in your hands and/or feet.

Lethargy and "brain-fog" are two more to consider. If
that strong coffee makes you feel good, I'm thinking
you *might* have lower-than-optimal thyroid hormone
(T3 and T4) levels - and NOT necessarily just in the
morning.

Many thyroid patients (we here) have been taking
daily thyroid hormone pills since we were half your
age. These pills are our way of living better lives, of
feeling better - feeling more like we should. Your
doctor wanted you to try it - right? If it doesn't help,
then change directions, of course.

In the past 3 decades doctors have shifted to a VERY
lock-step treatment of thyroid conditions - especially
hypothyroid conditions. They test primarily TSH, every
3 months until they are satisfied your TSH is "right."
The run-of-the-mill doctor gives only T4, the inactive
form of thyroid hormone. Your body must then convert
the T4 to T3 to use the hormone. They re-test maybe
once a year, after they have your TSH "right."

However, this kind of one-size-fits-all treatment primarily 
minimizes costs to the drug companies and insurance 
companies - "corporations" I should say. This kind of
treatment does not optimize health of individual people.

Why? Because it ignores the very real symptoms that
people experience - it only looks at TSH. There are many
ways this blinders-on approach helps the doctors and
corporations, unfortunately. [Note: TSH is not even
produced by your thyroid gland. I call this a
drive-by-rearview-mirror method of treatment because
it does not even look directly at the gland in question.]

Why is it short-sighted to use T4 only? One big
drawback of this simplistic solution is that there is a
minority of people whose bodies do not convert T4 to
T3 "properly." This fact has been known for a hundred
years - but it is convenient to ignore, for simplicity
and profit.

As you explore the Thyroid Archives created by this
group over the last ten years, you'll see that each of
us has found a personal set of symptoms, and a
personal pathway to improved health. There are many
barriers we encounter, and reading the Thyroid
Archives may help you overcome those barriers as
you find your own way.

Keep asking questions - of us and of your health
care providers.

I hope this helps.

 Pax,
Ballew Kinnaman <[log in to unmask]> +1 425 788 5337
LISTSERV Discussion list owner: Allergy, Rubber, Thyroid

Thyroid
Discussion Group http://www.Emissary.Net/thyroid/index.html




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