Hypothyroid and alternative treatments

[soloabe]

So we have a Brittany (he lives with my mother) who was diagnosed HT at 18 months old after a T4 showed normal but a full run up showed positive.

2 years later his T4 tested abnormal and has been every since

He is now 6 and has resisted treatment.

The only symptoms he shows is hair loss and aggression, fear defensiveness.

He has had the oral l-thyroxine which is the T4 hormone which has not helped or raised his T4 at all.

He is generally happy and is now just a management case but i was wondering if anyone has heard of any alternative treatments that may help?

 

[bushaes]

Hi, do you know the TSH levels?
I'm not a vet, just a medical student, but in humans, TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) levels can indicate whether or not the l-thyroxine dose is correct. There are negative feedback loops that control TSH release from the pituitary gland in the brain. If there is a thyroid problem, and not enough T4 is produced, the TSH levels will increase as they try to stimulate the thyroid to produce more thyroid hormone. When T4 levels rise, TSH levels should fall back towards normal. When they reach 'normal', it can be assumed that the T4 dose is correct. There is however some normal variation in 'normal', and a 'normal' TSH doesn't always mean that the l-thyroxine dose is therapeutic, but it can be a good indicator.
In humans, the more active thyroid hormone is T3, triiodothyronine. An enzyme called deiodinase is required to convert T4 to T3. If this enzyme doesn't work properly, increasing T4 levels will not have much effect on symptoms. There are products that contain T3, or a mixture of T3 and T4, which may be more effective at controlling the symptoms.
Well, that's in humans anyway, not sure about dogs, and it's only 'textbook medicine', I'm not sure how things really work in practice, or in dogs, but hopefully there's something useful in what I have said.

 

[Sprout]

My Dobie is on Thyroxine, but the vets cant seem to get the dose right. Recently they have literally doubled the daily dose, but she is still showing signs of hair loss, and we are now having to feed her almost double the amount she was on and she still looks too thin.

I am beginning to loose faith in my vets, as they seem to have the attitude "lets try this" then a few weeks later "lets try that" - meanwhile the poor dog is still not looking right .... time for a change maybe!

I would be interested to hear of anyone else's experiences.

 

[gunnergundog]

Have you contacted Jean Dodds in the USA? She responded once to an email of mine when she hadn't even treated my dog and was very helpful with suggestions indeed.

Coconut oil was one suggestion I recall. You can contact her via Hemopet
http://www.hemopet.org/services.html

 

[jendie]

Jean Dodds is an excellent world authority on thyroid problems and I'm sure she'll be willing to help. Some vets in the UK do not agree with her views. Do you know whether your dog has auto immune hypothyroid ? I suspect it might be an auto immune problem as he developed it at such a young age. If a dog has one AI problem it is more likely to develop another, so a full check up might be worthwhile. I think the usual treatment for hypothyroidism is with soloxine. It can take a while to get the balance right, the vet has to guage the dog to suit your particular dog and make up the shortfall in thyroid being produced by the dog's own body. There is a Yahoo support group, I think it is called CIMDA support forum, which might be able to advise. You could also look up the CIMDA website, the organiser Jo Tucker is not a vet but has a wealth of experience in dealing with these problems.

 

[Delta99]

Hi,

my cat suffers from hyperthyroidism and I did a lot of research on this. Best thing I could find that supposedly aids thyroid function is seaweed. Have been giving a little bit to the cat in addition to her medication but can't really say I've noticed a difference. There is a lot of other herbs etc that 'may' help, I'll have a look when I get home, I had lots of stuff printed I could send to you.
The other recommendation is the natural diet, every report I read said the commercial food is really bad.
Hope this helps a bit...

 

[jendie]

The 'natural' diet can be good for some dogs but it will not contain the iodine that is a precursor to the production of thyroxine. In some areas iodine is added to salt as a preventative. Hypothyroidism used to be more common in land locked countries as they had less access to salt and to iodine (from seaweed).

Has your dog's TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) been tested? Has he had a T3 and a free T4 test done. What are his most recent TSH and T4 levels? How much soloxine is he taking? Is he otherwise fully healthy or is he taking other medication? What is his weight? If he has some other ailment he may be suffering from sick thyroid syndrome which is not due to the thyroxine not responding but due to the intercurrent illness.