Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below My friend had recently started synthroid. She has taken matters into her own hands. Her thyroid tests have always come out just within the "normal" range and therefore have never been treated. So this is without a doctors reco. or suprervision. Is there any dosage that is safe or that I can caution her on how to take this? I know that it's not something to mess around with.
Friend and Synthroid
- Thread starter Debu
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Sassy69
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So she, by her unqualified self, has determined that she has a thyroid problem and should self-medicate with synthroid for .. uh what purpose? I would agree that if you read some of the stuff on places such as about.com about being hypothyroid and the often occurring situation where a person appears to have the symptoms of hypothyroidisms but thyroid tests come back in the "normal" range, often on the edge of "normal" but still "normal". BUT, the appropriate recommendation if a person feels they need thyroid medication and the doctor who is returning results of "normal" that the person still feels are contestable, is to seek a second opinion from a doctor who is specifically qualified for this and also considers a tighter range of test result to be "normal" or "abnormal" (hypo or hyperthyroid).
It wasnt' stated why this friend decided to self-medicate with synthroid. If you look at many of the posts about T-3 used as a fat loss agent (and muscle loss!), synthroid is definitely not an option that will achieve such loss when thyroid medication is included in a cutting cycle.
I would strongly urge this person to go seek a second opinion the thyroid test results before deciding synthroid is the way to go, much less choosing the picking the dosage.
What exactly is the purpose?
It wasnt' stated why this friend decided to self-medicate with synthroid. If you look at many of the posts about T-3 used as a fat loss agent (and muscle loss!), synthroid is definitely not an option that will achieve such loss when thyroid medication is included in a cutting cycle.
I would strongly urge this person to go seek a second opinion the thyroid test results before deciding synthroid is the way to go, much less choosing the picking the dosage.
What exactly is the purpose?
Is she taking any other medications or hormonal contraceptives? These can cause weight gain and make losing weight very difficult. But truthfully, losing weight is slow and hard for just about everyone.
I would never self-medicate my thyroid. Even under a doctor's supervision, fine-tuning thyroid medication is very tricky. Some people are treated with T4 (of which Synthroid is), others need T3 as well. It's as easy to get too much as too little thyroid hormone. And while getting too much may sound good (more energy, weight loss), this can cause the thyroid (and other body systems like the heart) to literally burn out from being in overdrive.
An excellent book is The Thyroid Solution by Arem Ridha. One topic he covers is how being in the "normal" range of thyroid tests may not be optimal range for an individual, and possible solutions for treatment.
I would never self-medicate my thyroid. Even under a doctor's supervision, fine-tuning thyroid medication is very tricky. Some people are treated with T4 (of which Synthroid is), others need T3 as well. It's as easy to get too much as too little thyroid hormone. And while getting too much may sound good (more energy, weight loss), this can cause the thyroid (and other body systems like the heart) to literally burn out from being in overdrive.
An excellent book is The Thyroid Solution by Arem Ridha. One topic he covers is how being in the "normal" range of thyroid tests may not be optimal range for an individual, and possible solutions for treatment.
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