YourUniverse
Member
I started supplementing thyroid (tyromax, natural dessicated thyroid) and was hoping for some dosing guidance, so I went to my GP this morning. I live in Canada, and I love our health care.
I dont know what I was expecting, but I just left extremely frustrated. I asked him for guidance on thyroid dosing, and told him what I have been doing (1 drop most days for about 2 weeks) of NDT. I had some concerns, specifically about endogenous thyroid hormone being halted, and wanted help finding my right dose.
He told me to stop taking thyroid immediately, as my last TSH results from 1 year ago were "good" - I had 1.07. To my knowledge, this is fairly high, although not terrible. It is certainly in the "normal" range, but on this forum we know we want the lowest tsh possible, ideally near 0.04 <-- directly from the man himself, Dr. Ray.
He offered no dosing help other than advising I stop immediately, and said NDT is an old thyroid medication, and that they now prescribe something newer (I believe he said thyroxin). He said thyroid medication would raise my blood pressure and increase strain on my heart.
I have been having some blood pressure trouble the last few months, so while I was there, I asked him about that. He gave the obvious answer that I should have expected - lower caffeine and salt, get more aerobic exercise, stop taking thyroid. UGH! I have concerns about calcification of the arteries (and calcification in other areas, specifically in the brain...) so I asked him if he could recommend different things that would aid in de-calcification. His response was, pending a cholesterol check, that he would recommend dietary interventions - cut out saturated fat and lower dietary cholesterol. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where can I go for expert help? Is my doctor right? By extension, is mainstream medicine right?? Surely, if I lower my salt and caffeine intake, my BP will drop - but Im sure, based on what Ive learned here, that my health would drop, too. I dont want to pester Dr. Peat with my little inquiries, all the information has been made available online, but I must be missing something. In my last correspondence with him, he recommended I massively improve vitamin D status to decrease PTH, and get thyroid dosing correct, which should improve blood pressure. This is virtually the opposite advice of my GP.
Im frustrated and a little confused. Can anyone shed some wisdom here?
I dont know what I was expecting, but I just left extremely frustrated. I asked him for guidance on thyroid dosing, and told him what I have been doing (1 drop most days for about 2 weeks) of NDT. I had some concerns, specifically about endogenous thyroid hormone being halted, and wanted help finding my right dose.
He told me to stop taking thyroid immediately, as my last TSH results from 1 year ago were "good" - I had 1.07. To my knowledge, this is fairly high, although not terrible. It is certainly in the "normal" range, but on this forum we know we want the lowest tsh possible, ideally near 0.04 <-- directly from the man himself, Dr. Ray.
He offered no dosing help other than advising I stop immediately, and said NDT is an old thyroid medication, and that they now prescribe something newer (I believe he said thyroxin). He said thyroid medication would raise my blood pressure and increase strain on my heart.
I have been having some blood pressure trouble the last few months, so while I was there, I asked him about that. He gave the obvious answer that I should have expected - lower caffeine and salt, get more aerobic exercise, stop taking thyroid. UGH! I have concerns about calcification of the arteries (and calcification in other areas, specifically in the brain...) so I asked him if he could recommend different things that would aid in de-calcification. His response was, pending a cholesterol check, that he would recommend dietary interventions - cut out saturated fat and lower dietary cholesterol. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where can I go for expert help? Is my doctor right? By extension, is mainstream medicine right?? Surely, if I lower my salt and caffeine intake, my BP will drop - but Im sure, based on what Ive learned here, that my health would drop, too. I dont want to pester Dr. Peat with my little inquiries, all the information has been made available online, but I must be missing something. In my last correspondence with him, he recommended I massively improve vitamin D status to decrease PTH, and get thyroid dosing correct, which should improve blood pressure. This is virtually the opposite advice of my GP.
Im frustrated and a little confused. Can anyone shed some wisdom here?