About Your Thyroid Gland

Young Again.org

About Your Thyroid Gland

- Roger Mason

Thyroid problems in Americans over the age of 50 are all too common now. Unfortunately, very few people ever get their thyroid hormone levels tested. Most all of these problems have to do with underactive thyroids, or hypothyroidism, and usually with T4 rather than T3. Women (90%) are far more affected by this than men. Anyone over the age of 40 should have their thyroid checked. You can see your doctor, pay some extortionate fee to someone who has little idea what he is doing and leave there with your TSH, T3 Uptake and other useless information. Or you can get an inexpensive saliva test without a doctor for free T3 and free T4. You can also now get an inexpensive blood spot test without a doctor for your free T3 and free T4. Forget your T3 uptake and TSH. Also your undereducated doctor will most probably tell you that any results "in range" are just fine. This is not true. If you are, say, a 1.6 on a 1.5 to 2.5 scale (average of 2.0) for T3 you are low range and need to raise that level with bioidentical triiodothyronine. If you are, say, an 8 on a 7-25 scale (average of 16) for T4 you are low range and need to raise that level with bioidentical L-thyroxine.

Overactive thyroid is much harder to treat and one should never resort to allopathic medical procedures to poison (methimazone), destroy (radioactive iodine) or remove their thyroid gland to slow down hormone production. An American macrobiotic diet, lifestyle, proven supplements and balancing your other 10 hormones will eventually normalize your levels.

People think that Synthroid, which is simply T4, and Cytomel, which is simply T3, are somehow not natural. Both of these are bioidentical fortunately and very inexpensive. You can get these without a prescription from the Mexican online pharmacies legally and very inexpensively. Please do not think that Armour Thyroid (which is an animal extract of T4 and T3 in a 4 to 1 ratio) is somehow "natural" and "better" than Synthroid and Cytomel. You CANNOT take Armour Thyroid unless both your T3 and T4 are low. Any naturopath who offers you Armour Thryoid unless BOTH your T3 and T4 are low is a quack and this will cause excessive levels of the hormone you are not deficient in.

If you find you have a low free T3 level you can consider a basic dose of 25 mcg of Cytomel (triiodothyronine) as a starting point. If you find you have a low free T4 level you can consider a basic dose of 100 mcg of Synthroid (L-thyroxine) as a starting point. It is always a 4 to 1 ratio of T4 to T3 in mammals. If you are low in both you can consider a basic dose of Armour Thyroid containing 25 mcg of T3 and 100 mcg of T4. Everyone is different and only saliva or blood monitoring over time will tell you which dose you personally need. Be careful here.

The only two things you need to consider are T3 and T4 if you prove you need one or both. Please read "Zen Macrobiotics for Americans" and eat a whole grain based diet, take the 20 plus supplements and balance your other basic 10 hormones. All our hormones work together and your thyroid will work infinitely better if your other basic hormones are all in normal ranges.

What are the symptoms of an underactive thyroid? Fatigue, weight gain, excessive appetite, depression, a general tired feeling, irritability, feeling cold inappropriately, thinning hair, difficulty in concentration, infertility, and high blood fats are some of the common symptoms. If you are low in T3 and/or T4 you may be overweight and eat too much. Normalizing your levels will change this, but you CANNOT take thyroid hormones to lose weight unless you prove your levels to be too low. Symptoms of overactive thyroid are high pulse, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, vision problems, restlessness, a feeling of being nervous, and even bulging eyes in extreme cases.

If you prove one or both thyroid hormones to be low and supplement them you MUST monitor this after 90 days to see if you are taking the correct dose. Then you must monitor yourself yearly to maintain this dose. Again, please remember that you have 12 basic hormones and all of these should be balanced for your thyroid to operate well.