questions about dessicated thyroid hormone

[sucram]

Hello, i would like to know what kind of thyroid hormone i should take, i live in australia so i need something available there. I would also like to know what dosage to take and how long to take it for. Thanks.

 

[tara]

I don't have experience with this, but I don't think anyone can answer these questions without more information, eg. :

1. Have you read any of Peat's articles/listened to his inteviews? It's useful to get a picture of the overall approach. Raypeat.com and viewforum.php?f=18
2. Have you used thyroid before - are you looking for a replacement, or to try for the first time?
3. Do you have hypothyroid symptoms? Have you measured temps and pulse at all? Do you have test results that indicate a deficiency?
4. How's your diet? A lot of people think it's worth trying to get a more supportive diet first. For some people this is enough to improve thyroid function and to improve health. Even if it doesn't solve the problems, it gives a better basis of nutrition to support eventual thyroid supplementation. This involves getting enough carbohydrates (esp. sugars), protein, minerals, and vitamins preferably from food, enough overall calories, and minimising polyunsaturated fats and anything that irritates your particular system too much, and a few other factors. Take a look at the Diet subforum for more info. Different variations work better for different people, depending on context.
5. There are other non-diet approaches that some people also find helpful for raising metabolism, including red-light exposure, increasing CO2 retention, raising temperature, limiting endurance exercise.
6. If you do eventually decide to supplement thyroid, I gather that getting dosage adjusted to suit you can be tricky, and is very individual. There are some threads with suggestions about how some people approach this. They usually involve starting low and raising slowly, and using T3 as well as T4 sources.