Dr. Westin Childs Podcast: Thyroid | Weight Loss | Hormones

In this video I explain how I determine which thyroid medication a patient needs. There are basically three main choices in medications: 1) Natural Desiccated thyroid medication (including armour thyroid, naturethroid and WP thyroid) 2) T3 only medication (including Liothyronine, cytomel and sustained release T3) 3) T4 only medication (including levothyroxine, tirosint and synthroid) The question is how do you determine which medication works best for you? Patients who do well on NDT medication include: - Those who have not felt better on T4 only preparations - Those who need to lose 10-20 pounds of fat - Those who have not been on thyroid medication before - Those with Low free T3 and low Free T4 but normal reverse T3 levels Patients who do better on T3 only medications: - Those with high levels of reverse T3 - Those with leptin resistance - Those with insulin resistance, diabetes or pre diabetes - Those with a personal history of bipolar disorder or a strong family history of mental health disorders