Understanding the Dose The typical form of thyroid replacement we use is called levothyroxine. It’s made of thyroxine, or T4, which is the form of the hormone that comes from our thyroid gland. There are brands like Synthroid or Levoxyl. The way the dosing is written is a little confusing. We usually have medicines that are dosed in milligrams (mg). Levothyroxine is so small it’s always one-hundredth to one-tenth of a mg (ie, 0.10 mg). It’s easier to describe the dose i

Understanding what the thyroid blood tests mean helps patients understand what their doctors are seeing and why we might make certain medication adjustments. The thyroid gland makes thyroid hormone. It mostly makes T4. The lab may show “free T4” or “total T4”. Basically, “free T4” is a better test. After T4 is released by the thyroid gland it gets converted into T3, which is the active form of the hormone. T3 and T4 fluctuate a lot, so they may not be very reliable (alth

Hyperthyroidism means elevated thyroid hormone. The term assumes that the elevated thyroid level is coming from the thyroid gland (and not from thyroid pills). There are three causes of hyperthyroidism. The first is thyroid nodules. Many people have thyroid nodules. Sometimes the nodules will make excessive thyroid hormone. The second cause is Hashimoto’s disease or thyroiditis. Hashimoto’s disease typically causes hypothyroidism, but in some patients when the inflamma