As I have pointed out before, I have hypothyroidism and am having symptoms that may or may not be related to it. In my quest to be an informed patient, I have been looking for a lot of research. It is rather tedious, especially since I have to get through a lot of misinformation that is on the Internet. Fortunately, I have found a site that looks like it’s done the work for me: MyThyroid.com. It confirms a lot of what I have learned in easy to read summaries of current research with links to the original papers.  The FAQs reference the most recent research, at least on the optimal treatment page.

The research confirms my suspicion: I am tired because I didn’t get enough sleep, not because my thyroid is out of whack (for example). If I am cold, I just get some tea to warm me up. Adding T3 might not be a good idea, especially since there isn’t a lot of benefit (the body produces primarily T4 and converts that to T3 as needed; T3 is very potent and thus can cause hyper symptoms very quickly).

It might be frustrating to accept that there isn’t an easy solution to the many symptoms we might experience. It would be so much easier if they’d just disappear with one small pill rather than a life-style overhaul because they’re not really caused by hypothyroidism (because the blood tests are normal).  Of course, there might be some fine-tuning that’s necessary but once the blood levels of the hormone are normal, the thyroid is very likely not to blame.

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