Q: When is a low TSH not hyperthyroidism? The answer is huge — in central hypothyroidism, in low T3 syndrome, in the first trimester of pregnancy… AND in cases where thyroid therapy achieves euthyroid status without causing tissue thyrotoxicosis. In many posts on this blog, we’ve detailed the reasons why TSH is a poor indicator of thyroid hormone excess, deficiency or balance. We’ve also explained why it’s not a sole judge of adequate dosing in thyroid therapy. This post has been edited in July 2019 to tie many of these insights together. TSH alone can’t define hyper- or hypothyroid status …
Month: July 2018
TSH untrustworthy in thyroid therapy
The current model of long term thyroid therapy reduces it to two simple buttons or levers on a machine: Test TSH Dose L-T4 to fix the TSH Wow, the power of science! We’ve got hypothyroidism fixed! Cured! It appears that doctors enjoy the satisfaction of “normalizing” the TSH hormone secretion by the L-T4 dose. It’s like driving between the lines. Like kicking a football between the goalposts. Job done! The TSH numbers can give medical professionals a superficial illusion of control. Looking at TSH and T4 alone blinds a doctor to the state of the end-product hormone, T3. What does the …
Deiodinase type 3 and Reverse T3
The Three Deiodinases Every person has three deiodinases responsible for thyroid hormone conversion. Dear thyroid patients: if you’ve never heard about the deiodinases, your life and future health may depend on you learning. They can either work with your thyroid meds or against them. It’s a lifelong condition, being on thyroid therapy, so there’s time for it to sink in. I don’t have a bioscience degree and I eventually got this. Don’t be intimidated. There are only some new words and concepts to learn. Read about Deiodinase type 1 and Type 2 in the PART 1 blog post: How the …
How the three deiodinases regulate T3
Dear thyroid patients: If you’ve never heard about the deiodinases, your life and future health may depend on you learning about them. The deiodinases can either work with your thyroid meds or against them. It’s a lifelong condition, being on thyroid therapy, so there’s time for thyroid knowledge to sink in. I don’t have a bioscience degree and I eventually got this. I’ll try to make it as simple as possible. Try not to be intimidated if it’s new to you. There are only some new words and concepts to learn, and learning them will help you defend your T3 hormone …
Recovery from T3 depletion
This post is a continuation of these posts GRAPHIC and discussion: T3 Depletion Do you have a Reverse T3 problem? In this post, I explain how to recover (or help a patient recover) from T3 depletion. Part 1: When illness is the trigger Part 2: When L-T4 dose is the trigger Part 3: Oversenstivity to T4 medication after recovery Part 1: When illness is the trigger a) If you have a healthy thyroid gland If critical illness and Low T3 do not conspire to kill a patient (and they can and do), they can recover naturally — IF they have …