Have just read the following article and thought that it might be of interest to those of you who frequent the Thyroid forum:



Natural remedies are not always the answer
by Jane Clarke, the Times nutritionist

The Times
London, UK
5 July, 2005



Many women suffer from an underactive thyroid; they should see their GP and not self-prescribe supplements


I have recently had an underactive thyroid disgnosed, which is the cause of my weight gain and tiredness apparently. My GP wants me to start taking thyroxine, but is there another food option that would stimulate my thyroid gland, so that I don’t have to take drugs?

Name and address supplied


I suspect that there are many people out there who’d never imagine their tiredness and weight gain had anything to do with their thyroid gland. But in the UK about 360,000 women (and just under than 23,000 men) have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism); another 5 per cent of women are prone to it.

Thryoxine plays a key role in your metabolic rate — ie, your ability to burn calories — and so unexplained weight gain is a common sign that things may not be right. The other main symptom is tiredness, although permanent loss or thinning of your eyebrows, dry skin and hair, drooping eyelids, slowed speech, hoarse voice, puffy face, slow heartbeat, constipation, and depression and confusion can also be signs (if you suspect that you have an underactive thyroid, ask your GP for a blood test).

I don’t understand why there is so much resistance to thyroxine among the alternative health advocates: by taking thyroxine you are just replacing what your body can’t produce by itself. You need regular blood tests to check that you are taking the right amount as your body makes its own adjustments. And there can be sideeffects if you take too much.

There are hundreds of websites that recommend a special diet and iodine supplements. It might seem logical to deduce that as the thyroid gland needs iodine to produce thyroxine, an iodine-rich diet could correct hypothyroidism: fish from the sea (especially haddock, smoked mackerel, cod), shellfish (especially lobster), and seaweeds such as kelp (so think of sushi), are good sources of iodine. There is nothing wrong with increasing intake of these foods to see if this makes a difference (especially if your thyroid gland is only slightly underactive and you may even feel well).

However, there is no science to back the other advice about avoiding iodine-suppressing foods such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower and soya beans, or to give up caffeine, smoking and alcohol. I would, of course, recommend to everyone that they keep their caffeine and alcohol intake down, and to give up smoking. Don’t avoid seeing a GP and taking thyroxine if you need it — there’s no reason why you can’t make these “feel-better” lifestyle changes, and also take thyroxine.

But don’t take iodine or kelp supplements, as these can make your hypothyroidism worse. Although it is true that the thyroid gland uses iodine to make the thyroid hormone, too much and the thyroid gland could shut down. Using excess iodine in drug form is often used to treat an overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyrodism), so don’t touch supplements unless under supervisioon.

To minimise the side-effects of taking thyroxine, ask if you can start with a small dose — your body has got used to being without enough thyroxine, so you may feel weird when you first take it — and build up gradually to what your body needs.

If it sounds as if I’m against all complementary therapies for hypo-thyroidism, it’s because I’ve seen people get in a mess physically and emotionally by taking iodine and kelp supplements instead of thyroxine. However, I must say that acupuncture seems to help many people, although the journals don’t back this up yet.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspa...1680403,00.html

I do understand why there is resistance to thyroxine, because it doesn't work for a lot of us. There's nothing better than having a thyroid gland that functions normally. If someone can manage to do that by taking supplements then I think they're better off than taking a drug that doesn't even work correctly in a lot of people.

A functioning thyroid gland produces much more than just T4, it creates T1-T7 (I think) and calcitonin, which is good for rebuilding bone mass. But all mainstream medicine is concerned with is T4 and they think supplementing it solves everything for everyone.

But hey, if it does work for you and restores you back to normality, I see nothing wrong with taking it.