My clinic is receiving an increasing number of inquiries from patients suffering from thyroid problems. The thyroid gland is one of the body’s most important endocrine glands. It produces the thyroid hormones T3 (Triiodthyronine) and T4 (Thyroxin), which control energy metabolism and are essential for the growth of vital cells.
On average, I am consulted by one to two persons per week who mention in their medical history that they have already been treated with medication for thyroid deficiency.
The medication that these patients had been taking up until now was mostly always a T4 preparation, normally a tablet taken in the morning before breakfast. Another thing that these patients have in common is the fact that their laboratory tests showed that their blood values are in the “normal range” and the doctors treating them stated that they are “fine-tuned”.
Despite this, the patients complain of fatigue, excessive weight which dieting cannot reduce, lack of motivation, lowering of physical and mental performance levels, problems with concentration and memory, a bloated feeling, constipation due to decreased bowel function and other symptoms typically associated with untreated or insufficiently treated thyroid deficiency.
How can deficiency symptoms be present, given that “normal” laboratory blood values were found?
Evidently, when substitution treatment is carried out, it is not always enough to be guided by laboratory values. Thyroid deficiency symptoms can also appear when the blood values determined after treatment are still within the laboratory’s reference value range.
Reference value ranges used by laboratories are calculated based on statistical surveys. However, individual requirements of thyroid hormones depend on many personal factors and can therefore deviate from these statistical values.
With regard to the dosage of thyroid substitution medication, treatment should focus on each patient’s well-being and symptoms. Laboratory blood tests alone are not enough. The patient can only then be “properly fine-tuned” with thyroid hormone preparations, when he is free of the deficiency symptoms.
At the beginning of each Hormonal Regeneration® (Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, BHRT), a thorough analysis is made of your current state of health. Subsequently, hormonal deficits and imbalances are compensated by using bioidentical hormones. Regular medical check-ups are carried out so that therapy can be continually adjusted to your individual needs.
DDr. Heinrich, MD