MY DOCTOR TOLD ME TO STOP MY NATURAL THYROID MEDICATION
At NBH Lifetime Health we often hear the following:
“My TSH was .02 on my last blood test and my Dr. wants me to stop the thyroid supplementation. I am currently taking 2 pills of the thyroid booster. I feel great and do not appear to be having any side effects. What do you suggest I do and is the .02 TSH anything to be concerned about. I do not want to stop taking the Thyroid Booster.”
The conventional “assumption” and training is that if a person’s TSH is “suppressed” then they must be hyperthyroid regardless of the lack of symptoms (bouncing off walls, very skinny, etc.) or circumstances.
TSH is also typically low if a person has sufficient free T3 and T4 where the body does not have to signal (TSH) for more production. There are many studies on this and they are available in our office anytime (and some are shown below). The “lab results” approach to medicine does not take into account symptoms and seemingly ignores the science.
In defense of the family provider/endrocrinologist, he or she is trained to go by labs and is trained to base his or her diagnosis on lab results. They seldom, if ever test the free T3 and seldom go by your results or symptoms. The conventional/pharmaceutical approach is to prescribe a synthetic T4 (snythroid, levoxyl, levothyroxine, etc.). You may be told that if your TSH is suppressed, then you will lose bone and increase your risk of heart disease. However, as you can see below, the science is just the OPPOSITE except in cases of true hyperthyroidism.
The Science of Thyroid
Women with low normal thyroid levels had a 4-fold increase risk of heart disease. This increased risk was equal to the risk of smoking and high cholesterol. Low normal thyroid levels are a strong predictor for heart attacks.” Annals of Internal Medicine 2000; 132: 270-278.
“Low T3 levels are associated with increased heart disease and decreased cardiac function. Replacing T3 increases clinical performance and cardiac output. Adding T3 increases exercise tolerance and quality of life.” CVR & R 2002;23:20-26.
“Low levels of free T3 in patients resulted in increased disability, depression, decreased cognition, and energy and increased mortality.” JAMA Dec. 2004; Vol. 292(2c): 500-504.
“TSH is a good test to diagnose hypothyroidism. However TSH is a poor measure of symptoms of metabolic severity. It is, therefore, the biological effects of thyroid hormone on the peripheral tissue and not the TSH concentration, that reflects the clinical and metabolic effects.” British Medical Journal Feb 2003;Vol. 326:325-326.
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