There are soy products on the market that claim to help with estrogen deficiencies but I don't know how effective they are. If it's just hot flashes that bother you black cohosh and daimiana might be helpful. As for thyroid, see if you can get your doctor to write a prescription for a 90-day supply and keep it aside from your day-to-day supply. That's what I did.

And no, there is no way of getting thyroid hormone from natural sources. Kelp won't help if your thyroid isn't functioning properly.

 

I also think that eating a healthy diet and living off the land would do wonders for ALLL of our health.

Wild Yam and Evening Primrose Oil are good to balance hormones.

 

I completely agree with you, a little less McDonalds and a lot more veggies would work wonders. I am referring to myself too, those darn cheeseburgers are addicting. This subject of hormones and medications is something I've thought about and been concerned. I take BC right now and have tried to get more ahead of time; insurance will not allow it. Another thought was what about those pesky problems, let's say yeast infection or other female related issues?

 

Thyroid from natural sources would be like in the olden days... Remove the thyroid gland from the animal (Killed for food) and dry it or whatever they did. There is no herb that will do this. Dosage? I haven't got a faintest idea.

Shelf life on synthroid isn't all that great!

 

Yep. Plan to research this in more detail. It's been produced for many years, and there has to be some data out there to go on.

Standardizing (or even a half-a**ed way of making sure you don't OD yourself) the raw material would be extremely difficult. I use the synthetic, but it and the natural both are measured in microgram dosages.

Going without is potentially fatal. I know from experience that even a year without the supplement can cause radical physiological changes.

Guess I've got myself another side-project...

 

I have done a lot of reading about low thyriod, I needed to stock up on something for the low thyriod . I found a produce on the web at www.nutri-meds.com
I order this but have not used it yet, still taking Armour thyriod at this time, saving the other for times I have to have it.

 

Do you know the shelf life of the product?

 

What's the difference between a vitamin and a hormone? You can't make a vitamin.

How do you make a hormone? Don't pay her.

 

If you come up with any exciting data, please share.

 

Ok, this wasn't too terribly difficult to find info on at all, and thankfully there is a source (pigs) that has a reliable active constituent that could be closely "guesstimated" by weight.:

"... Desiccated thyroid has been described in the United States Pharmacopoeia for nearly a century as: the cleaned, dried, and powdered thyroid gland previously deprived of connective tissue and fat... obtained from domesticated animals that are used for food by man (USP XVI). In the last few decades, pork alone is the usual source. Typically the potency has been specified only by iodine content ("not less than 0.17% and not more than 0.23%") rather than hormonal content or activity. The specifications of the British Pharmacopoeia (BP) are similar.

The best known American brand is Armour. Others include Forest Labs' Naturethroid, Westhroid by Western Research Labs/Time Caps, and Qualitest by Time Caps Labs. Canada's desiccated thyroid is made by Erfa and called simply Thyroid. All consist of desiccated porcine thyroid powder, differing only in the binders and fillers.

All brands contain a mixture of thyroid hormones: T4 (thyroxine), T3 (triiodothyronine) in the proportions usually present in pig thyroids (approximately 80% T4 and 20% T3).

One grain (about 60 mg) of desiccated thyroid contains about 38 mcg of T4 and 9 mcg of T3. Because the preparation is whole thyroid gland, each 60 mg tablet also contains over 59 mg of all of the other constituentsof pork thyroid glands. ..."

So, 60mg of powdered gland yields 38mcg of T4 and 9mcg of T3. I take 100mcg daily as prescribed (80/20 presumed) for example, so now I have some very simple math to do... and then there's the collection of pig glands :xeye:

More questions:

I wonder about drying methods. Slice it up and dehydrate then throw it in a coffee grinder or pestle/mortar?

Sure don't want to choke this stuff down raw, does the gland carry the same health concerns we'd have with raw pork flesh?

Cooking would most likely destroy the active constituents I want, but that's just an uneducated guess - perhaps they're retained (?)


*emphasis mine - Wikipedia "dessicated thyroid extract" for sources and many more references.

 

I called and asked what the shelf life is, the lady told me from 2 to 3 years shelf life.

 

the product I ordered from www.nutri-meds.com is desiccated porcine thyriod powder

 

And they don't require a prescription as they maintain it's use as a dietary supplement! 90 caps/$22

Can you tell me the strength on it? I could barely make-out what it says on the label. Says 130mg of whole? So using the above math, I would need 3.42 capsules per day to equal 100mcg? Thats about .85 per day. Am I figuring that correctly?
My prescription (levothyroxine) alone costs about .50/day, but when you factor in the doctor visits, lab work, PITA because I hate seeing a doc, and the fact that they won't even prescribe 6 months at a time any more, well worth it imo.

TYVM for the info/link!

 

I'd presume, one could consume an animals gland (?)

Heres the problem with this idea. SHTF today, there is no more phones, no more internet.

Where on the animals body is the thyroid gland? What does it look like? How would you find it?

Get where I'm going with that?

Even if you found the animals thyroid gland how long would 1 thyroid gland help you? Would you have enough animals in your AO to survive for a week? month? year? What happens if that animal has a thyroid deficiency? What dose does a thyroid have? How would you regulate the dose?

This idea is a far stretch to say the least.

 

Eh... If you don't know what's the thyroid gland and you plan to kill for food, learn it now! If you eat the glands with no problems to begin with, you might end up with severe sweating, anxiety, high blood pressure and maybe a stroke.

It's something everyone needs to know.

 

The point is that the idea is unrealistic.

 

Have you ever opened up an animal?

What your saying is unrealistic to the point its insane.

Post STHF/EOTWAWKI most will not have a vet on hand to find the thyroid in an animal, a lab clinician to test the thyroids of the various animals (Though I'm sure we will all have a massive farm to sustain 1000's animals need for our life time of one said patient), a chemist to isolate and synthesize the chemicals needed. Thats not including trails and follow up care. It is much more complex then you are giving it credit for.

Yes, there are specialist which can do these things but its a team of many members of highly educated people. If you can do all this, on your own now, I hope you are getting paid to reflect it.

Again the idea that this is something you can do, with a text book and a knife, is INSANE.

 

You understand that the whole gland in being used currently as pharmaceutical grade meds? Granted, standardizing would be a feat, as I mentioned before, however we currently use a fairly standard raw material as assessed by weight.
The pig glands are very similar to our own, many preparations are not standardized at all.

Knowing that a certain weight of dried material yields a certain mg of T4 and T3 makes this application fairly simple.
Because the long-standing production methods use raw gland as-is in a freeze-dried form, obtaining a correct measure of the hormones we're seeking is fairly simple, and roughly the same in practical application as gathering vegetation, drying, and using weight to determine end-strength of the derivatives.

Of course standardization is ideal, but I'm not trying to go into the pharmaceutical business here, I'm seeking a natural alternative to what I'm currently being prescribed.

Yes, I have "opened" an animal. Removing the gland is as simple as cutting it out.

 

Ok, your not listening and your wanting to argue.

Your theory is un-real-istic. If you dont believe me then try it. Stop taking your medication, go out side and open up your pig. (You do have a bunch of pigs right?) Find its thyroid, weigh and dose it, and see how long you can survive.

Do it now while all the information is available and "in front" of you, cause SHTF it wont be. Do it now while there is medical personnel available to test your labs and monitor you progress. Then maybe you'll stop being hard headed and see what I'm saying.

If you want to cheat, then call your doctor and ask him/her how realistic the idea is. When he/she tells you the same thing I just did, call your local vet and ask him/her the same question. When they tell you the same thing. Call us all a bunch of idiots and go try it yourself. Either way at some point you will have to step out of the world of "theory" and into the world of reality.

 

Hops are a good source of estrogen. One man in the area here that makes beer has women collect his wild hops because if a man handles them too much he can't...well, you know...perform his manly duties. (hopefully that's okay to say on a family site) Tea from red clover has a mild estrogen like effect. I use it to help reduce crampings and that helpless feeling that comes the day before my little buddy visits.

As for the thyroid, there just isn't much in nature to replace that besides using animals and that may take some education. If you have a Vet you may be able to talk with her/him. Then if something does happen bad in the world you can deal with the local slaughter house or butcher. It's best to stock up on your meds now and then learn just how little you can take and still feel good. That's the problem with thyroid meds, people do need it but the more you take the worse your thyroid works until the person it totally dependent on the meds. Starting on the lowest dose possible is safest but not always in the cards.

Tury

 

Your theory is un-real-istic.

So what does mr Broken Record suggest?

 

So, if I were to believe DocYoung, it's all over for me.
I guess I should just rent some movies and stock up on popcorn and coke cuz all I'm gonna do is sit around and wait for the EOTWAWKI.

Wrong!
I too have a severe thyroid problem and you can bet your boots I'll figure out how take care of it w/o meds if need be.

I have had half my thyroid removed and I know exactly where it is and what it looks like.
I have helped dress many game animals and birds and bet I could find one there too.

Hilda - any updates from your POV?


Heather

 

I ended-up taking cabingirl’s advice when my Synthroid ran out. Bought the Nutri-meds Porcine product. Near the bottom of the second bottle now.

I personally think the natural supplement is awesome. I have had to get labs at least twice a year for several years now, and it’s always a run-around with the doc. Nailing the proper dosage has never happened.. ten years later.

If you’ve managed along with this condition and supplements for any amount of time, you know full-well when you’re not getting enough. It’s nice that each tablet is a small percentage of the dose you’d get in a pharm by prescrip – you have much more control over when it’s delivered to your system.

I highly recommend the Nutri-meds product. Thanks again cabingirl

As to the “desperate times” aspect, I feel pretty confident now, in what I’ve read and learned, that I could at least get enough from raw, natural sources to survive.

I have gone as long as a year at a time without it. My body wouldn’t start a system shut-down for several months. Granted, there would be goiter from hell by then, but it wouldn’t be fatal-dangerous just yet. If I came by one dose every six months, I’d call that staving-off death, but even one gland every six months, and I’d be managing fairly well, imo.


"It can't be done" is simply unacceptable!

 

I'm new to the forum and am wondering how things are going now that it's January? I've taken Armor thyroid in the past and am now on Synthroid, but am really excited to look into the info. I've found here. I've wondered about the whole female hormone thing in the future too.... I've tried to go off my hormones a few times in the past, but I feel so horrible, emotionally and physically, I just can't do it (I had a complete hysterectomy 14 years ago). I tried 'Estroven' a while back, but I ended up going back on my prescription estrogen. I'm not sure what to do.....

 

Oops! I didn't see the more recent posts on this thread till just now when I posted! I see the discussion has continued past last October - I'll read to catch up. Sorry!

 

Estrogen can be extrapolated from urine in not only pregant animals but other pregnant humans. The Romans used to collect the urine from pregnant servants because women and animals have extremely high concentrations of estrogen in the urine. The urine would be processed in some manner of drying and then comsumed by the Queens. They considered it an elixir of life during that time period.