How to Increase Your Thyroid Levels

Hypothyroidism is a characterized by the pituitary gland's inability to produce thyroid hormones T3 and T4. Symptoms include weight gain, dry skin, depression, high blood cholesterol and muscle weakness. Thyroid tests can be performed to determine the amount of hormones you produce and medications can help you increase your levels. Find out what medications you can take and the best diet that will allow the drugs to be properly absorbed in the body.

Instructions

• 1

  Get more iodine in your diet. According to Mayo Clinic at www.mayoclinic.com, iodine deficiency, though rare in the United States, may be one of the reasons that thyroid hormone levels are low, because the thyroid gland uses iodine to produce hormones. Eat more iodine-rich foods like haddock, cod, condensed milk, cheddar cheese, seaweed and sea kelp.

• 2

  Take synthetic thyroid medication with T4. Levothyroxine adjusts your T4 thyroid levels, so that your levels return back to normal. The most popular thyroid medication in the country is Synthroid; however, there are several others such as Levoxyl, Levothroid, and Unithroid.

• 3

  Take synthetic thyroid medication with T3 and T4. Amour Thyroid is one of the first natural thyroid medication on the market that is obtained from the thyroid glands of pigs. Many people prefer this type of medication, because it has both T3 L-triiodothyronine and T4 levothyroxine. The debate continues about this drug, because numerous doctors believe that the body doesn't need T3 while other doctors, especially in the holistic field and of the older generation, believe that the body needs T3 to fully absorb T4.

• 4

  Choose between taking synthetic thyroid medication in the morning on an empty stomach or at night. Generally, people take their medication in the morning before they have any food or caffeine that can interfere with it being absorbed into the body. According to a study published by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism at www.jcem.endojournals.org,, bedtime doses of levothyroxine were absorbed in the body at a better rate than morning doses.

• 5

  Avoid eating a diet high in soy and fiber. Also, calcium supplements, antacids and iron supplements can affect the amount of synthetic thyroid absorbed in the system. Talk to your doctor if your diet contains lots of fibrous vegetables, whole wheat, high fiber fruit, tofu, soybeans or soy milk.