Natural Thyroid
Hormones
Hashimoto's Thyroiditis is an autoimmune-induced thyroid inflammation, meaning the body's own antibodies attack the thyroid tissue, leading to chronic inflammation and, over time, to hypothyroidism – a sufficient amount of thyroid hormones is no longer produced.
Typically, the standard treatment for Hashimoto's patients with hypothyroid involves the prescription for synthetic thyroid hormone T4. This T4 must then be converted to the metabolically active T3 by the body. Many patients benefit from T4 monotherapy, but some, even with high doses of T4 and “well-adjusted” TSH levels, continue to experience symptoms of hypothyroidism (e.g. cold sensation, fatigue, exhaustion, hair loss and weight gain) despite unchanged eating habits.
One potential cause is a T4/T3 conversion deficiency, which affects about one in six thyroid patients. This can be triggered or exacerbated by emotional or physical stress, deficiency of micronutrients or food intolerance, limiting the conversion of T4 to T3. Because of this T4/T3 conversion deficiency, insufficient levels of the active T3 thyroid hormone are the result, even with therapies involving T4 tablets (e.g. L-Thyroxine, Euthyrox, etc.). Some patients may even react adversely to or show intolerance towards the fillers in synthetic T4 tablets (e.g. lactose, corn starch, etc.), experiencing nausea or discomfort.
For these patients, switching to or supplementing with natural thyroid hormones (NDT = natural desiccated thyroid or DTE = desiccated thyroid extract) might be taken into consideration. Natural thyroid hormones consist of hormonally effective components T1, T2, T3, T4 and calcitonin. Natural thyroid hormones are, similar to natural physiology, usually taken several times a day (typically in the morning and in the afternoon).
Natural thyroid hormones are equivalent in dosage to synthetic thyroid preparations, but they are better tolerated. A possible cause is that natural thyroid hormones contain not only T4, but also other thyroid components that the Hashimoto's patient can no longer produce due to chronic inflammation.
Hashimoto's patients often respond remarkably well to natural thyroid hormones, feeling more energetic and better compared to exclusive T4 monotherapy.