Synthroid - generic vs. name brand

There are two good bovine OTCs that I know of: American Biologics, and Thyrogold. 

Those of us who've gone this OTC natural bovine route have found these better after trying all the prescription meds... You have to take a lot of the natural OTC because these are not a refined dessicated thyroid, more bulky. But they are organic and the dosing is as consistent or more than the prescriptions. 

Prescriptions are allowed a 10% variation on the dosage from the label, so you can get a much as 20% variation between lots. I found this impossible to deal with. The OTCs seem to be more consistent.

If you can think straight, maybe my story will save you some trouble or at least give you some ideas for what could work for you.

You'll need to

1. get your thyroid back on track.

2. get your hormones back on track.

3. Get your digestive tract healthy.

I had been on the NDT for a while, and had been having difficulties with it, so my doc switched me to synthroid, which was so bad I  couldn't get out of bed, had migrains so bad, I feared I would have a seizure, gained massive amounts of weight in a very short time period. I'm talking 10 pounds a month!. Not only does this med NOT work, it shows in the blood, as if it does work, then you still get all the synptoms of low thyroid, and all the horrible side effects. Synthroid contains a bunch of additives that are allergenic- acacia, dies, fillers- that are extremely harmful to many thyroid patients. Acacia is used asa preservative, you know that big, pretty flowering tree that causes everyone to have major allergies when they're in bloom? Can't think of something worse to put in a medication for people with thyroid disease, which is auto-immune, Graves or Hashimoto's.

The synthroid was so bad, so my doctor put me on levoxyl, which still didn't work right, then a compounded, which also didn't work. I spent a year trying to get the dose right and in the end, T4 was way too high and T3 was too low and I felt like crap, had gained nearly 40 pounds and had massive water retention and auto-immune, fibromialgia symptoms, low progesterone, spotty periods, etc.

I switched back NDT, treated the spotty periods and low progesterone with bladderwrack, which also helps the thyroid, as well as vitex. for a few months. This helped, and I was starting to feel better for a while, until I got the dose right, almost... except, then my T3 was too high and the T4 was too low... Too high T3 causes panic attacks and too low T4 causes severe brain fog. Yikes! You don't want your brain to attrophy!!!! I still had the water retention and inflammation, but less than on the levothyroxin. I was afraid to try some of the OTCs because I am on a very high dose of medication... But it became clear that none of the prespcription options are bioidentical. and in fact, there is no bioidentical thyroid med- WTF!? Some are better than others, is all.

I spent two days researching OTCs and found one to try. I started a week ago with it and feel so much better, it's amazing! I had virtually no transition symptoms with the OTC, whereas with the others, especially on or off the levo/synthroid, I was confined to bed for 4 days during the medication transition, both on and off.Now, on the OTC, , every morning I wake up with less water retention. I realize now that in all likelihood, the NDTs are cut with synthetics because I had the same reaction the them, as the levo, but to a lesser extent. I am hopeful that this new med will work, along with the herbs to rebalance the hormones and an excellent acupuncturist to help get the body back on track. I'll try the OTC for a year if it seems to be working. If it doesn't continue to work, I don't know what I'll try.

When your thyroid gets out of whack, your hormines go all wonky. The hot flashes you're feeling could be your thyroid overwoking itself (if so, the back of your neck will be hot, but your cheeks will be cool) or it could be the rest of your endocrine system getting exhasuted. You likely have adrenal exhaustion and low progesterone, since that's the pattern with low thyroid. Ic an PM message you with the name of the book I used that helped me figure out what herbs to take to get the adrenals and progesterone back on track.

You'll also need to clean up your diet extensively, since your digestive tract is a large part of the immune system, so if unhealthy, can contribute to problems.

Hope my story helps. Feel free to PM me if you need specifics for anything. Barbara, who is also on this site, has a lot of experience and is very helpful as well.

Catherine 

What is the OTC that you are or were taking? Are you still taking it? How has it been working? I'm 5 to 6 weeks on synthroid, I'd much rather be on something all natural. I am feeling way worse than when I started taking the medicine. I'm going tomorrow to have my levels tested. Until reading on here i didn't realize how so many symptoms relate to what others have said and didn't put them together. This isn't working for me.

Hi Tamila,

im on American Biologics Bovine glandular. I've heard ThyroGold is also very good.

Way better after 6 months on this. I could literally smell the toxic chemical if the other meds as they detoxed out of my system for 4 months.