Posted by bissie66 on January 29, 2001, at 14:34:57
In reply to Re: Noa -- hypothyroidism-PS, posted by Noa on January 28, 2001, at 15:16:14
> Cytomel is one of the brands of T3, while synthroid is T4. T4 is thyroid with 4 iodine molecules (atoms? sorry--non-scientist here and I always get these mixed up) and cytomel has three iodines. T4 is more stable--this is the form that thyroid hormone is stored in the body. But T3 is the active form that the cells of the body use. It is less stable. Usually, the body converts T4 to T3 as needed, but some people don't convert enough of it. In psychiatry, especially, doctors have found that T3 helps to potentiate the effects of antidepressants.
>
> BTW, with thyroid hormones, pick a brand, any brand, and stick with it. Generics are less reliable as to potency, and you want to stay with the same brand, whatever it is, for consistency.Thank you very much for the info. I just got my blood results back, and my TSH was 1.52, not too high, but my doctor is still raising my dose from .88 to 1 mcg. He wants to get me below 1. I'm so glad he's up on this research.
I take Levoxyl, and have since I was diagnosed about 3 years ago. That's generic synthroid. So you think it might not be as reliable as synthroid?
poster:bissie66
thread:52313
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010122/msgs/52889.html