How to Have A Healthy Thyroid!

The thyroid gland creates T4 which is the major thyroid hormone.  T4 is fairly inactive until the body converts it into T3 which is activated  thyroid hormone.
If your problem is only with the thyroid gland, prescribing Synthroid (T4)
would work for you.  HOWEVER, if your body has trouble turning inactive T4
into active T3, Synthroid will not work and can make the problem worse. You need T3.
Armor Thyroid is bio-identical and a mix of T4 and T3.  Most bio-identical thyroid doctors start with 1/4 grain of Armour a day (15 mg) and increase it to 1/2 grain
(30 mg) after 1 week.  Then they will increase it by 1/4 to 1/2 grain a
month until they find the dose that feels best for the patient.  Blood tests
will tell how you are doing.  

Synthroid is a synthetic drug. If you want to ask your doctor about Armour thyroid and are currently on Synthroid:  Synthroid 100 mcg equals 1 grain of Armour.
Holistic physicians, integrative medicine physicians, and bio-identical
hormone doctors  are more likely to be familiar with using the T3 treatment.

Many people  have symptoms even when taking Synthroid, that will resolve when they use Armour.

According to David Brownstein, M.D., one of the premier thyroid doctors in
the U.S., changing patients from Synthroid to the desiccated versions with T3 made
a dramatic improvement in their symptoms.  Many people are placed on Synthroid
and keep telling their doctors that they do not feel better, but the doctors
do not attribute it to a lack of T3.  However, when the patients are put
on T3 they will actually feel and look better in a very short period of
time.

HYPOTHYROID:  an under active thyroid state
HYPERTHYROID:  the thyroid gland is releasing excess amounts of thyroid
hormone that results in an elevated metabolic rate  We will address this in a future article
T4:  The main hormone - is supposed to convert to T3 inside the cells of the
body
T3:  much more active than T4.  T3 increases metabolism
TSH:  A pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to release
thyroid hormone.
SYNTHETIC T4:  Synthroid (levothyroxine), Levothroid, Unithroid
T3 PRODUCTS:  Armour, Nature-Throid, Westhroid  These are desiccated (heat
dried)  glandular thyroid products (from a porcine [pig] source  They also
contain T4 and other factors that allow T4 to more readily convert to T3.

However, according to Dr. Alan Gaby, who has been treating thyroid disorders for 30 years, "standard lab tests fail to identify most hypothyroid patients"  Many times women will be told "nothing is wrong" 
If TSH is normal, many physicians believe that automatically rules out
hypothyroid. Relying solely on TSH will under-diagnose many individuals.  It
is only one measure of thyroid function.  If you monitor only TSH, it does not tell you how much T4 is converting to T3.

TESTING: TSH tests can be deceptive as a tool:  The TSH test is very sensitive to T4.  When you are given T4, your TSH will go down and it can appear that your thyroid values are "normal". However, if you are a non-converter and still have low T3, your symptoms of hypothyroidism will still be present.  However, your doctor may feel that you have been given what you need with just the T4 (Synthroid). You may actually need some T3 to make your symptoms disappear.

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO POOR CONVERSTION OF T4 TO T3

Deficiencies in chromium, copper, iodine, iron, selenium, zinc, Vits A, B2, B6, B12
Medications:  Birth control pills, estrogen, steroids, beta blockers
Diet:  Soy
Other:  Stress, Environmental toxins, diabetes, obesity, mercury, radiation, aging.

BASAL BODY TEMPERATURE CAN HELP YOU DIAGNOSE YOURSELF:
"More information can be obtained with the aid of  an ordinary
thermometer than can be a obtained with all other thyroid function test
combined"  Broda Barnes, M.D.