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vitamin or food to help low thyroid
what vitamins will help support a low thyroid? or what foods are good to each to stimulate my low thyroid":
Your endo is a quack! Find another Dr.
Free T3 is the ONLY, repeat ONLY thing your body uses at the cellular level.
Just like a car won't run with no gas. If there is not enough Free T3 then your body's engine won't run well either!
Have you checked B-12 levels? As that can cause severe fatigue and also cause numbness and tingling in the extremities like your hands and feet.
Understand the ranges for B-12 are huge and wide. And many people do not feel well unless they are in the very upper part of the range. There is a condition called pernicious anemia which for lack of a better term "eats" B-12 and people having this condition need B-12 injections often times weekly. Not saying you have this but it is a condition that can occur.
Thyroid 101.
T4 is a storage hormone. It is not used directly by the body. Instead it remains in the blood and when the body senses the need for more thyroid the T4 in the blood is converted into T3 (mostly in the liver but also other places).
Both the T4 and the T3 can be in one of two states. The first is all alone or "free". The other is when the thyroid hormone becomes attached of stuck to a protein molecule. ONLY the "free" isolated Hormones are used by the body.
That is to say that ONLY the Free T4 hormones are converted into T3. And ONLY the Free T3 is used by the body's cells. Once a hormone molecule becomes attached to a protein it is useless.
For a final bit if knowledge. During conversion the T4 becomes either T3 which some will become attached to a protein and some remain free. The other possibility is that the conversion makes "reverse T3" or RT3. This is a mirror image of the Free T3 molecule. The problem is that RT3 is also inactive. However one worse situation is that it is theorized that the RT3 "looks" so similar to the true free T3 (FT3) that it can be accepted by the cells in your body. Thus the cell receptors can become filled with the inactive RT3 instead of the Free T3 it needs. This is a more rare situation.
However it is not particularly rare that a person does not convert well. In that case even though there is plenty of FT4 available to convert, for whatever reason the conversion rate is poor and thus not enough FT3 is produced. This is the case you alluded to in your post where the FT4 can be sufficient but you'll still be Hypo. Simply because there is not enough FT3 for the cell receptors.
This is why it is so important to be tested for FT3.
Many people have found they need to be WELL up into the range of thyroid in order to feel well. In fact the consensus seems to be or the rule of thumb if you will to be BOTH of the following;
1) FT4 to be in the MIDDLE of the range (50%) or slightly higher
AND- that means in addition
2) FT3 to be in the UPPER 1/3 of the range (66.7%)
Notice these levels are WELL higher than simply being somewhere in the range.
Understand this is a rule of thumb and every one is different. The trick is to start out low on medicine and slowly work up until you feel well.
Again your Endo is clueless. As are many Dr's and even endo's. Endo's these days almost exclusively deal with diabetes and not other endocrine problems.
My recommendation is to find another Dr. A good thyroid Dr does NOT need to be an endo. A good thyroid Dr will treat based upon symptoms backed up with the FT4 and FT3 labs.
If you find a Dr who only uses TSH run, not walk away. Run away fast. He/she will only keep you feeling like crap.
To save time call ahead to the Dr's office and try to talk eith the Dr or at least the nurse who works with him. Ask him/her the following questions;
1) Does the Dr primarily treat Diabetes or Thyroid issues?
2) Does the Dr test for Free T4 and Free T3? or does he use TSH only
3) Does the Dr primarily use the patients symptoms?
4) Does the Dr prescribe T3 medication or natural Dissected thyroid medications.
You also may be able to ask your local pharmacist what Dr's prescribe T3 medications or Natural dissected thyroid medications.
As Drs who use T3 meds or natural dissected thyroid tend to be Dr's who are not pigeon holed into TSH only or reference range treatment and are truly out to work with the patient and make them feel well.
Good luck!
Free T3 is the ONLY, repeat ONLY thing your body uses at the cellular level.
Just like a car won't run with no gas. If there is not enough Free T3 then your body's engine won't run well either!
Have you checked B-12 levels? As that can cause severe fatigue and also cause numbness and tingling in the extremities like your hands and feet.
Understand the ranges for B-12 are huge and wide. And many people do not feel well unless they are in the very upper part of the range. There is a condition called pernicious anemia which for lack of a better term "eats" B-12 and people having this condition need B-12 injections often times weekly. Not saying you have this but it is a condition that can occur.
Thyroid 101.
T4 is a storage hormone. It is not used directly by the body. Instead it remains in the blood and when the body senses the need for more thyroid the T4 in the blood is converted into T3 (mostly in the liver but also other places).
Both the T4 and the T3 can be in one of two states. The first is all alone or "free". The other is when the thyroid hormone becomes attached of stuck to a protein molecule. ONLY the "free" isolated Hormones are used by the body.
That is to say that ONLY the Free T4 hormones are converted into T3. And ONLY the Free T3 is used by the body's cells. Once a hormone molecule becomes attached to a protein it is useless.
For a final bit if knowledge. During conversion the T4 becomes either T3 which some will become attached to a protein and some remain free. The other possibility is that the conversion makes "reverse T3" or RT3. This is a mirror image of the Free T3 molecule. The problem is that RT3 is also inactive. However one worse situation is that it is theorized that the RT3 "looks" so similar to the true free T3 (FT3) that it can be accepted by the cells in your body. Thus the cell receptors can become filled with the inactive RT3 instead of the Free T3 it needs. This is a more rare situation.
However it is not particularly rare that a person does not convert well. In that case even though there is plenty of FT4 available to convert, for whatever reason the conversion rate is poor and thus not enough FT3 is produced. This is the case you alluded to in your post where the FT4 can be sufficient but you'll still be Hypo. Simply because there is not enough FT3 for the cell receptors.
This is why it is so important to be tested for FT3.
Many people have found they need to be WELL up into the range of thyroid in order to feel well. In fact the consensus seems to be or the rule of thumb if you will to be BOTH of the following;
1) FT4 to be in the MIDDLE of the range (50%) or slightly higher
AND- that means in addition
2) FT3 to be in the UPPER 1/3 of the range (66.7%)
Notice these levels are WELL higher than simply being somewhere in the range.
Understand this is a rule of thumb and every one is different. The trick is to start out low on medicine and slowly work up until you feel well.
Again your Endo is clueless. As are many Dr's and even endo's. Endo's these days almost exclusively deal with diabetes and not other endocrine problems.
My recommendation is to find another Dr. A good thyroid Dr does NOT need to be an endo. A good thyroid Dr will treat based upon symptoms backed up with the FT4 and FT3 labs.
If you find a Dr who only uses TSH run, not walk away. Run away fast. He/she will only keep you feeling like crap.
To save time call ahead to the Dr's office and try to talk eith the Dr or at least the nurse who works with him. Ask him/her the following questions;
1) Does the Dr primarily treat Diabetes or Thyroid issues?
2) Does the Dr test for Free T4 and Free T3? or does he use TSH only
3) Does the Dr primarily use the patients symptoms?
4) Does the Dr prescribe T3 medication or natural Dissected thyroid medications.
You also may be able to ask your local pharmacist what Dr's prescribe T3 medications or Natural dissected thyroid medications.
As Drs who use T3 meds or natural dissected thyroid tend to be Dr's who are not pigeon holed into TSH only or reference range treatment and are truly out to work with the patient and make them feel well.
Good luck!
ty for your response...my t3, vit d are low...my tsh & t4 are normal...my LDL recently went hi & pre diabetes...i have nodules on my thyroid for ten years with no symptoms...recently i sleep 18 out of 24 hrs and my feet are numb...i read that you can have normal tsh levels with only t3 low and have hypothyroid...i went to endocrinologist today and he said i didnt look tired and my t3 didnt mean anything so i dont have a thyroid problem
Food nor vitamins contain hormone. So there really isn't a food or vitamin that helps or can stimulate thyroid.
However vitamin deficiency can cause similar symptoms as low thyroid such as fatigue. The vitamins here that need to be checked are:
Vitamin D3
Vit B-12
Iron
Ferritin
In addition Selenium is known to help with the conversion of the Thyroid hormone T4 convert into T3. But you can get too much Selenium but generally most people have no problem taking the over the counter Selenium I think in 200 mg or mcg. A high source of Selenium can be found in Brazil nuts.
Goiter gens foods are generally raw cabbage type foods such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower. Again from my understanding which is not extensive this is from the raw source not so much from the cooked forms of the same foods.
If you are low on thyroid hormone the only real way to replace it is through prescribed medication. The FDA in the USA prohibits any supplement from containing any measurable amount of hormone. So all those website etc that discuss increasing hormone are BS.
However vitamin deficiency can cause similar symptoms as low thyroid such as fatigue. The vitamins here that need to be checked are:
Vitamin D3
Vit B-12
Iron
Ferritin
In addition Selenium is known to help with the conversion of the Thyroid hormone T4 convert into T3. But you can get too much Selenium but generally most people have no problem taking the over the counter Selenium I think in 200 mg or mcg. A high source of Selenium can be found in Brazil nuts.
Goiter gens foods are generally raw cabbage type foods such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower. Again from my understanding which is not extensive this is from the raw source not so much from the cooked forms of the same foods.
If you are low on thyroid hormone the only real way to replace it is through prescribed medication. The FDA in the USA prohibits any supplement from containing any measurable amount of hormone. So all those website etc that discuss increasing hormone are BS.
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