Is It Dangerous To Take NDT If You Don't Need It?

[connorj123]

I can't say for sure because I'm waiting for my blood test results of my thyroid. But say for example my results came back mostly ok, and I decided to take a small starting dose of thyroid-s, can it cause heart and organ damage? I have had hypo symptoms for years and I definitely want to try it just to see if it helps ..

 

[milkboi]

More dangerous than if you need it, but no, it’s very unlikely to cause any long-term damage if you start with conservative doses.

 

[connorj123]

More dangerous than if you need it, but no, it’s very unlikely to cause any long-term damage if you start with conservative doses.

Thanks, I'm thinking of starting on 1/4 of a thyroid-s tablet for 2-3 weeks then upping it if I'm not feeling anything. Do you take doses once a day or do you split the dose up across the day? I've read conflicting info about it needing to be on an empty stomach or not

 

[tara]

In my non-expert opinion, and not as advice ...
My understanding is that it might cause trouble if you take significantly more than your system thinks it needs.
If you are monitoring temps carefully, that can help guide. If they are consistently low, and there are other significant low thyroid symptoms and signs, and you've checked out and remedied contributing causes as far as you can and given them a chance to recover, then a small dose and slow increment - eg at least 3 weeks - may not be too hazardous.

You could check out nutrition first - malnourishment or deficiencies can cause trouble. And if supplementing, thyroid, you need to be well-nourished anyway. Check out cronometer or similar if you haven't already, but don't go by their low calorie advice - it's not designed for raising metabolism.

If it were me, I'd split the dose into at least 2.

 

[connorj123]

In my non-expert opinion, and not as advice ...
My understanding is that it might cause trouble if you take significantly more than your system thinks it needs.
If you are monitoring temps carefully, that can help guide. If they are consistently low, and there are other significant low thyroid symptoms and signs, and you've checked out and remedied contributing causes as far as you can and given them a chance to recover, then a small dose and slow increment - eg at least 3 weeks - may not be too hazardous.

You could check out nutrition first - malnourishment or deficiencies can cause trouble. And if supplementing, thyroid, you need to be well-nourished anyway. Check out cronometer or similar if you haven't already, but don't go by their low calorie advice - it's not designed for raising metabolism.

If it were me, I'd split the dose into at least 2.

Yeah I might split it into two. As for temps, this morning I was 97.18 and sometimes I can be 97.50 ish when I first wake up. It does always seem to rise to 98 plus though after morning.

I eat eggs everyday and drink a lot of milk. Liver now and again, and meat. I might start taking a multivitamin though when I start the tablets just to be sure (wholefoods vitamin)

I've got fatigue, cold hands and feet, and pretty much every hypo symptoms besides insomnia. I sleep just fine, besides waking up rarely in the night sweating excessively

 

[tara]

I eat eggs everyday and drink a lot of milk. Liver now and again, and meat. I might start taking a multivitamin though when I start the tablets just to be sure (wholefoods vitamin)

Calories, carbs, fruit and veges, minerals from food?
If those temps are good 5 min+ measurements, they look slightly low, not severe.

IIRC, I think Broda Barnes aimed for waking temps of 97.8 - 98.2. He said if you supplement more to try to push it higher, it can affect endogenous production of the thyroid hormones.

 

[connorj123]

Calories, carbs, fruit and veges, minerals from food?
If those temps are good 5 min+ measurements, they look slightly low, not severe.

IIRC, I think Broda Barnes aimed for waking temps of 97.8 - 98.2. He said if you supplement more to try to push it higher, it can affect endogenous production of the thyroid hormones.

thing is i've tried everything to try and feel healthy and literally nothing has ever worked. hands and feet have always stayed cold, fatigue never went, and same for brain fog.. i think i might have to risk it

 

[tara]

It's unlikely you've tried everything.
Not sure how old you are. Do you consistently eat 3000 cals/day?
Do you get 80-100g + protein /day?
Have you tallied up approx calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other minerals, B-vits and other vitamins? etc?
Do you have a history of high PUFA? If so, have you changed - how long ago?
Have you tried making sure to eat something starchy every 3 hours?
Do you sleep enough and get regular sunlight on skin?

I tend to think theses are basics that come before supplements.

 

[connorj123]

It's unlikely you've tried everything.
Not sure how old you are. Do you consistently eat 3000 cals/day?
Do you get 80-100g + protein /day?
Have you tallied up approx calcium, magnesium, potassium, and other minerals, B-vits and other vitamins? etc?
Do you have a history of high PUFA? If so, have you changed - how long ago?
Have you tried making sure to eat something starchy every 3 hours?
Do you sleep enough and get regular sunlight on skin?

I tend to think theses are basics that come before supplements.

21, i eat till i am satiated and 100% get enough protein. trust me i have tried everything diet wise lol, for a long time

 

[ddjd]

I have no idea why but I always get TERRIBLE headaches whenever I take NDT

 

[BearWithMe]

My dental health went from absolutely perfect to absolute disaster (multiple root canals, extractions, teeth rotting under the new fillings etc) when I was taking unnecessary amounts of NDT.

But if you will supply enough nutrients to support the increased metabolism, you should be fine.

 

[connorj123]

My dental health went from absolutely perfect to absolute disaster (multiple root canals, extractions, teeth rotting under the new fillings etc) when I was taking unnecessary amounts of NDT.

But if you will supply enough nutrients to support the increased metabolism, you should be fine.

Thanks for ur comment

 

[BearWithMe]

There are plenty of peaters with the same experience btw

 

[connorj123]

There are plenty of peaters with the same experience btw

Which NDT were u taking and dose? You might not of needed the NDT at all to be fair as well

I'm gonna start on a really low dose and work my way up slowly I think

 

[connorj123]

There are plenty of peaters with the same experience btw

Did u get ur thyroid checked at the docs before taking it as well?

 

[BearWithMe]

Did u get ur thyroid checked at the docs before taking it as well?

Sure, I was diagnosed hypothyroid.

 

[connorj123]

Sure, I was diagnosed hypothyroid.

Ah that sucks that it didn't work in that case :/

 

[BearWithMe]

Which NDT were u taking and dose? You might not of needed the NDT at all to be fair as well

I'm gonna start on a really low dose and work my way up slowly I think

It was Thiroyd from Thailand, my final dose was 120mg and I was building it up over very long period of time, but none of this actually matters at all. If you don't keep up with the increased metabolism, you will lose your teeth no matter what brand, what dose you use and how long you will build up.

Don't think that "better" brand or slower increasing of the dose will protect you. It won't and when you lose your teeth, there is no way back.

I'm not discouraging you from taking NDT at all, many forum members does great on it, I'm just saying that you should not focus on the brand or building up slowly, you should focus on getting PLENTY of nutrients to keep up with the increased need.

 

[BingDing]

I've never read anything about supplementing thyroid causing organ damage.

I think the benefit of supplementing thyroid is intimately tied into clearing PUFA out of your tissues.

 

[Jennifer]

I can't say for sure because I'm waiting for my blood test results of my thyroid. But say for example my results came back mostly ok, and I decided to take a small starting dose of thyroid-s, can it cause heart and organ damage? I have had hypo symptoms for years and I definitely want to try it just to see if it helps ..

Did you also get your cholesterol checked? If it's too low, thyroid supplementation can elevate stress hormones. I had to monitor my cholesterol level while I was figuring out my thyroid dose. My doctor had me on too much at one point and I was noticing symptoms of excess adrenaline returning -- heart palpitations, shortness of breath, overheating but cold extremities etc. I had her check my cholesterol and it had gone from 210 to 122 in a month -- way too low!

Yeah I might split it into two. As for temps, this morning I was 97.18 and sometimes I can be 97.50 ish when I first wake up. It does always seem to rise to 98 plus though after morning.

I eat eggs everyday and drink a lot of milk. Liver now and again, and meat. I might start taking a multivitamin though when I start the tablets just to be sure (wholefoods vitamin)

I've got fatigue, cold hands and feet, and pretty much every hypo symptoms besides insomnia. I sleep just fine, besides waking up rarely in the night sweating excessively

That might be due to adrenaline. The body pulls heat from the extremities to keep vital organs warm when temps are low. Do your hands and feet warm up as your temps rise through the afternoon? I had cold hands and feet but my temps averaged 98.6°+ and when I first started taking NDT, my temps actually dropped, revealing that adrenaline had been falsely elevating them. Now my extremities stay warm most of the time and my temps are back up.