The difference between synthetic and natural thyroid medication, and how you can get totally messed up if you don't know the difference.

Currently, there are two types of thyroid medication available to those of us who are hypothyroid. These are the synthetic and natural forms of thyroid hormones

On the synthetic side there are:

Synthetic Thyroxine – (T4) – Levothyroxine –

T4 is the “storage,” and most abundant form of thyroid hormone in your body. Most conventional doctors prescribe only Levothyroxine to their patients.

They do this because they say T4 is more stable, lasts longer in the body and that the body is able to convert T4 to T3, the active form of thyroid hormone.

The only problem is that many people do not convert T4 to T3, and so people who only take T4 are under treated, and many of their symptoms do not diminish. As a matter of fact, for many people who take just T4, as they get older their symptoms often get worse.

And, because their doctor tells them they are being adequately treated for thyroid issues because their blood tests come back just fine (we’ll get into this in a later blog) these poor people head down that long, lonely, expensive and often futile highway of trying to figure out what the heck could be wrong with them.

2.     Synthetic Triiodothyronine (T3) – Liothyronine -  T3 is the “active” form of thyroid hormone. It is not stored in your cells, but is converted from T4 to T3 by your body. Depending on who you talk to, T3 is three to five times more powerful than T4. One of the reasons that some doctors don’t like to prescribe T3, is that unlike T4 that stays in your system for days, T3 clears your system within several hours, requiring patients to take a pill twice a day.

On the natural side of the thyroid hormone equation is Desiccated Natural Thyroid. There are different brands available such as, Nature-Throid, Wes-Throid, Armour Thyroid, and a Canadian brand from the manufacturer Erfa.

Desiccated Natural Thyroid is made from the thyroid gland of pigs. Yes, that's right, pigs. Unlike the synthetic form, Desiccated Natural Thyroid includes both T4 and T3, as well as the other less talked about thyroid hormones, T2,T1 and calcitonin.

Folks on the conventional side of medicine will tell you that you can’t trust the purity and consistency of Desiccated Natural Thyroid. However, that is a bunch of BS, because Desiccated Natural Thyroid is produced under very strict guidelines and is tested again and again for consistency and purity. In fact, before synthetic thyroid hormones were produced back in the 1950’s, patients were effectively treated for hypothyroid issues using Desiccated Natural Thyroid.

What happened? Big Pharma and money got involved! There was a lot of money to be made, billions and billions of dollars in fact, in the production and sale of synthetic thyroid hormone. So, a smear campaign ensued, and Desiccated Natural Thyroid fell out of favor. However, it is making a comeback, and more health professionals, particularly naturopath’s, and those physicians who practice integrative and functional medicine are prescribing Desiccated Natural Thyroid.

This is very important to those who suffer from thyroid issues. The body was never meant to function on only one type of thyroid storage hormone. The body needs the complete package, and Desiccated Natural Thyroid hormone is all that.

In my next blog I will discuss the different types of thyroid tests, and how the conventional medical guidelines for reading these tests leaving millions of people to fall through the cracks and never get the help they need.

Till then, don't just do what doctor's tell you! Read! Research! Ask Questions! It's your body! Own it!