Posted by Pfinstegg on November 23, 2002, at 13:14:41
In reply to Journal mentions triiodothyronine augmentation, posted by Jaynee on November 23, 2002, at 12:25:43
Thanks for posting the reference to the new article. There was a previous article about using triiodothyronine for depression in the New England Journal of Medicine, published in 1999.
Our brains produce TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), which in turn instructs the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine (T4). Normally, our bodies turn some of the T4 into T3 (triiodothyronine), but in some people, this doesn't happen as much as it should. There's not a lot of research on it, but the consensus seems to be that T3 is essential for mood stabilization. With difficult-to-treat depression, The NEJM article recommended giving supplemental T3 as Cytomel, even if one's TSH, T4 and T3 are all within normal limits. I started doing that in August, and am definitely less depressed. I am also taking fish oil, lots of vitamins and tianeptine, so it is hard to know for sure if the Cytomel is actually helping- everything probably is! Taking 5mcg of Cytomel daily has lowered my TSH to about 0.5, the very lower limit of normal, but I don't notice any side effects from it. Another person who seemed to benefit from it is Chloe, who started taking it post-ECT. I haven't seen a recent post from her, but it seemed to be very helpful in preventing the "crashes" she was experiencing just prior to her maintenance ECT. I have noticed the same thing- an absence of "crashes".
If you have TRD, I think Cytomel is a very safe, reasonable medication to try- as long as you have good follow-up for your thyroid hormone levels.
Pfinstegg
poster:Pfinstegg
thread:128933
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021122/msgs/128944.html