Anyone NOT take prescription med?

[lindsayanne0]

I see a naturopath and have been put on GTA-Forte II. I someone else mention they were taking Thyromine. Just wondering if anyone else is treating their thyroid issues with a non-prescription med and what kind of results they've seen.

Thanks

[liv]

Re: Anyone NOT take prescription med?

Did you not just post about an unexplained weightgain?
If you are not helping the thyroid properly that may explain it.

[lindsayanne0]

Re: Anyone NOT take prescription med?

Hey Liv - I just found out about the thyroid issue. I had gone in to get checked because of everything going on. So I pretty much JUST started taking something for my thyroid.

[liv]

Re: Anyone NOT take prescription med?

I see. Well getting that checked and dealt with will be a relief. You will be able to keep your weight under control.
I have not gone the natural route. I use levothyroxine. It has been very helpful for me. I hope you can find something that you are comfortable with. It will take some time to see the impact though.

[bizzlekitty]

Re: Anyone NOT take prescription med?

I take levoxyl (generic for Synthroid) and that helps me stay pretty stable thyroid (TSH) wise. It's always worked pretty well for me. If anything, I've had to lower my dosage as I've lost weight at least once.

The problem with the non-prescription meds for thyroid is that they are not regulated by the FDA, and there's been a real issue with consistency among them (getting the T3/T4 dosage correct) There's also been a shortage of many of them because of increased demand and being able to "try" them without prescriptions. Many people do use them and do quite well on them, however.

I will be the first one to tell you that in many cases, natural approaches instead of prescriptions drugs should be considered in many cases and often work better, as a supplement OR alternative only if necessary and okayed by your doctor. However, thyroid issues are one of those that you shouldn't guess on and should be treated with a doctor who works with you on it.

The non-prescription meds sometimes work better for those who don't react well to the prescription version for a variety of reason. But I honestly would try the prescription route first and see how that does. Some people actually do have problems with T4 being converted to T3 (which is what presc meds do) and the natural versions sometimes have both T3 and T4, and those do work better for.

It also takes time for thyroid medicines to build up and thus work in your system. And it often takes months of testing and taking the meds to finally reach the right dosage. The prescription route provides the best stability to get to that point. If it doesn't work well, that's when you may want to explore other possibilities, such as the natural alternatives, if you can find a reliable and stable source. You should still be tested by a doctor to make sure it is working however.

Thyroid issues, even once you're on the right dosage and TSH level is correct, will still cause symptoms along with weight loss to be slow. Thus, being really careful about what you eat, is really important. For me, I found I do better with the best nutritious veggies I can get for my net carbs (green beans, brussel sprouts, broccoli (which CAN bother thyroid but it doesn't for me), spinach, cauliflower, peppers, avocado etc. and avoiding most of the known stallers (limited cheese and dairy, no aspartame, no shakes or bars, no fake products).