Hi! Is anyone on natural dessicated porcine thyroid hormone or some type of natural thyroid hormone? How did this work for you? I hear that this is very similar to Armour. Also, do you know if this contains throxine? What is thyroxine? MY TSH levels are above 2.5, but my doctor won't perscribe thyroid meds b/c she doesn't think that it is too high, so I'm going to try the natural route.
Thanks!
Tori

Dessicated thyroid tablets are only available by prescription. As far as I know, Armour thyroid granules are similarly only available through a health practitioner or by prescription.

Any thyroid "glandular" extract that you may find at a health food store for sale over the counter has had all of the active thyroid hormone removed. This is required by law.

Natural thyroid remedies generally contain kelp or other iodine-rich herb ... iodine-deficiency can be responsible for sluggish thyroid function. However .. table salt has iodine added, and seafoods which are good sources of natural iodine, are available inland year-round, so iodine-deficiency isn't as common as it was 75 yrs ago.

Some other thyroid "boosters" sold in health food stores may actually be thermogenic stimulants, designed for fat-burning and weight loss. These may contain ephedra, guarana, caffeine, citrus aurantium and/or other compounds which are NOT recommended if you have thyroid disease.

There is some evidence that for women a TSH below 2 is best for proper thyroid function. If you are having hypothyroid symptoms such as low body temp, dry skin, thinning hair, fatigue, menstrual irregularities, high cholesterol, difficulty losing weight, depression etc, etc .. and your TSH is "normal" .. it would be a good idea to have the actual levels of the thyroid hormones measured .. free T4 and T3 as well.

Check out this article at About.com's Thyroid site HELP! My TSH Is "Normal" But I Think I'm Hypothyroid.

Doreen

Nope, I definately got raw dessicated thyroid hormone. You can order it on line at www.nutri-meds.com, and they also had it in the health food store I go to. The only ingrediant listed is raw dessicated thyroid hormone. Check out the website! They also sell the adrnal tablets. They are the same things as the prescription stuff.
Tori

For the sake of precision...

So they are still very useful.

Patrick

Huh! I'll be damned! Interesting stuff.

Look up Ann Louise Gittleman's blog from 8/24 on Sluggish Thyroid. It's all about the importance of iodine intake, absorption. I think you might be able to bypass any supplemental hormones.....

Not if you don't have a functional thyroid.

I took kelp for 6 months with no results. In my case, I really needed desiccated thyroid. Which is probably the case for anyone who was or still is severely overweight.

Patrick

It looks like taking Kelp is useless. We need something like Iodoral.

Patrick

No I never meant that iodine would help someone with a non functioning or absent (surgically) gland. But before taking a glandular supplement, I think iodine may help. Also, I am not sure that kelp works. There are different forms of iodine and not all are equally absorbed. I have tried kelp also, and it hasn't made a difference. I am trying a low dose (12.5mg) of Iodoral to see if it will. If the problem is an iodine deficiency or inability to absorb it from food, this might help. Interestingly, celiac, or gluten problems can cause one to be low in iodine also.

I'm reading the Eades latest book and they mention that plain old kelp won't help. It might be that potassium iodide is a good thing. Haven't read their recommendation yet.

Besides, a lot of those kelp supplements have lead in them.

I just received my Iodoral today. It's the lowest formula, 12.5mgs. I took it and I am actually feeling quite good. Seems kind of fast for it to have an effect though. I will see how it goes and take 1 a day. I guess also Jacob Teitlebaum of Fatigued to Fantastic likes iodine supplementation. Just for the record, I had RAI for a hot nodule in around '97. Since then I have been taking .88mg of synthroid. I have pretty dry skin, and what seems to be fibroids....so I was reading about iodine when researching fibroids. Meanwhile I had thyroid abnormalities also. We'll see how it goes, but I will try to keep posting if it helps....I am about 15-20lbs overweight and I love low carb....

My thyroid dr recommended 25mgs Ioderal/day. I felt good before but I seemed to feel a little better in 2 days.

pmezak your fibroids might be helped by progesterone, you can get it at the healthfood store also. I didn't realize you can have hormonal imbalances in your 20s, although a gynecologist told once that having a high estrogen to progesterone balance was probably causing my problem. The doctor in the book I'm reading says that he shrunk fibroids with progesterone. Do you have good T3 levels?

Yes, my t4, t3 levels are normal as of the last panel I had....I have read alot about progesterone also. Apparently in some people it can work the opposite and make fibroids grow. I have tried it in the past, with a functional md, but I didn't see any change. Now I am trying the iodine....

The Eades recommend Ioderol in their new book. It's just awfully expensive for iodine.