“A kid working at a MacDonald’s counter can be shown how to adjust thyroid medicine better than this”

 — an anonymous philosopher

Summary Points:

• Many thyroid patients are dissatisfied with their thyroid care–you can take control!

• There are three main thyroid hormones: T4, T3 and Reverse T3 (RT3). 
• T4 is only made by the thyroid gland
• T3 and RT3 are made by most cells of the body
• For each cell, T3 is the gas and  RT3 is the brake.
• All three can and should be measured with every thyroid measurement
• T4 and T3 are available as mediations; RT3 is made from T4. 
• No medication regime can match natural thyroid function, but sometimes there is no choice but to use thyroid medication for short- or long-term therapy. 

This book will focus on essential thyroid therapy. While this method is backed by long-standing quality science, those details will be saved for later chapters and books.

The reason that I am writing this book, despite there being so many already, is that I formulated a “Thyroid Algorithm” several years ago after my frustration with my mother-in-law’s thyroid care.  I will save the story for a later chapter, but the degree of suffering that I witnessed, not only in her case, but so many, got me angry enough to engage a philosopher who came up with the statement above. Anyone can do it!

Since then, I have been teaching my patients to apply the Thyroid Algorithm, not only to feel better, but to know why and how to do it. I teach my patients to fish, at least those who want to…

I have chosen the word “Therapy” for the title, rather than “Treatment” or “Therapeutics”. All would have worked but for me the connotation of Therapy implies healing, rather than managing or curing.  Our thyroid system can heal, even after resection or radiation.  The thyroid gland is a small part of the thyroid-iodine-adrenal system. When thyroid medication is sub-optimally adjusted, it stresses other systems and ultimately becomes chronic due to the ripple effects. For most patients, the pattern has been brewing for a decade or more before the thyroid is addressed, in part due to incomplete testing and sub-optimal treatment strategy.

To heal well, the best approach is more comprehensive and therefore more holistic. Indeed, while we will focus on the logic of thyroid assessment and medication adjustment, it will all work better and deeper if this approach is a part of a multi-dimensional approach. The Holistic approach includes at the least: breath, sleep, water, food, movement, purpose, and stress management. 

It is estimated that more than 50% of thyroid patients are dissatisfied with their thyroid status. The usual complaints are insufficient energy or stamina, a feeling of thickness, stiffness, slowness, coldness that can affect the hair, skin, joints, bowels, immune system, and brain. If you are reading this book then you have probably figured out that a Primary Care Provider or an Endocrinologist who only orders two or three thyroid labs is not going to be of any help. This is because the tests are incomplete and there are only three ways to go with T4 medication– up, down, or same. I’m excited to finally put this all down in a book to share with you!