How to Build Your Own Natural Desiccated Thyroid Blend

There were a ton of thyroid patients who were hit in the proverbial face when Nature-throid and WP Thyroid were taken off the market. 

And it looks like the hits keep coming with the recent targeting of NDT by the FDA.

For many patients, NDT has been one of the most effective thyroid medications available (not the only option, but often the one that worked best).

The good news? You don’t have to sit back and watch your best option disappear.

With the right combination of prescription thyroid medications and supplements, you can recreate many of the benefits of NDT all by yourself… safely and effectively.

Here’s how to do it:

What’s in NDT That Makes it So Effective? 

If you want to recreate your own NDT formula, you need to understand what makes it work so well:

The first has to do with active ingredients and active thyroid hormones: 

Levothyroxine contains only T4 thyroid hormone (1), whereas NDT contains a combination of T4, T3, and T2 thyroid hormones. 

So right off the bat, you are getting a more complete thyroid hormone replacement regimen when taking NDT.

But there’s more:

The concentration and ratio of T4:T3 in NDT matters as well.

Each “grain” of NDT is standardized to contain roughly 38 mcg of T4 and 9 mcg of T3. 

Beyond this, NDT likely also contains some amount of T2 (which isn’t standardized).

It’s this combination that helps to explain why thyroid patients prefer NDT over levothyroxine (3) and other T4-only thyroid medications. 

From the perspective of thyroid hormones, NDT wins by a landslide when compared to levothyroxine or Synthroid.

The second reason that NDT works so well has to do with additional ingredients that are naturally found in the thyroid gland of both humans and animals:

This includes naturally occurring proteins, pro-hormones, enzymes, and nutrients (such as iodine).  

Remember: 

Comparatively speaking, levothyroxine contains none of these added ingredients. It only contains T4.

Why does this matter?

Because you can add all of these extra ingredients to any existing set of thyroid medication to “build” your own NDT.

How To Build Your Own NDT-Like Regimen

For most people, this starts with a T4-only base (like levothyroxine or Synthroid) and adds all of the extra ingredients that we just discussed to match those found in NDT.

But you can safely combine ALL of these ingredients that we are about to discuss to any thyroid medication (including those already taking Armour or NP thyroid).

Step #1. Add a Thyroid Glandular Supplement. 

Your first step is to add a supplement to your regimen that contains thyroid glandulars. 

Thyroid glandulars contain dried-up thyroid gland tissue from cows, which allows you to obtain the enzymes, proteins, and pro-hormones that would be included in NDT. 

Glandulars contain:

• Enzymes, proteins, and pro-hormones similar to those found in NDT (their sourcing is similar)
• Trace amounts of T4 and T3 thyroid hormone (probably some T2 and T1)
• Trace minerals naturally found in the thyroid gland (copper, zinc, selenium, and iodine).

This is a critical step because there is really no other way to get these ingredients.

You can find my recommended thyroid gland powder (designed specifically for thyroid patients) here.

Step #2. Add a T2 Supplement (3,5 diiodo-l-thyronine).

The next thing you’ll want to do is add T2 thyroid hormone on top of your levothyroxine. 

Because T2 is found in small amounts in NDT, this is not something you’ll want to forget.

T2 doesn’t get the same credit as T4 and T3, but it’s still a powerful thyroid hormone. 

T2 has been shown to have a potent effect on metabolism (6) that is equal or greater to that of T3, an effect on cholesterol metabolism (7), an effect on adipose tissue (8), and an effect on cellular ATP production. 

There’s no question that T2 is contributing to the overall power of NDT. 

As I mentioned before, the only problem with the T2 component in NDT is that no one knows how much is actually in there. 

The assumption is made that it likely is simply because some T2 would exist in the thyroid gland of pigs, but no one knows how much. 

Regardless, it’s still very important to account for this T2 component if you are trying to make your own NDT. 

Fortunately, T2 is the only thyroid hormone that is available over the counter, which means it’s something that you can add to your levothyroxine right away. 

The best form of T2 to use is 3,5 diiodo-l-thyronine, which you can get in a supplement like this. 

In terms of dosing, my recommendation is to start with 100 mcg per day. 

This dosing puts you well below any dosing that would cause problems or symptoms, which means it will support thyroid function without causing problems. 

This type of dosing will also not impact your thyroid lab test results. 

In some sense, using a T2 supplement is preferred over getting your T2 from NDT because it allows you to know exactly how much T2 you are taking and how you respond to that. 

Because T2 dosing likely varies from lot to lot, it would be hard to know exactly how much T2 was in your last prescription of NDT and how that was impacting how you were feeling. 

Step #3. Add T3 Thyroid Hormone. 

Your final step is to add some T3 thyroid hormone to your levothyroxine. 

As I mentioned above, NDT contains 9 mcg of T3 for every 38 mcg of T4. 

This gives NDT a ratio of T4:T3 of about 23% T3 and 76% T4. 

You can then use this ratio to determine how much T3 you should add to your levothyroxine dose to get a dose that is roughly equivalent to the T3 found in NDT. 

If you were using 100mcg of levothyroxine, for instance, then you’d want to get around 20mcg of T3. 

Don’t worry too much about getting the ratio or percentages just right as it’s more important to just add some T3 to your regimen to fill the gap. 

Out of everything we’ve discussed so far, T3 will be the hardest thing to get because it is gated behind a prescription from your doctor. 

Even though that’s the case, I would still encourage you to try and get the T3 if possible. 

T3 is a very powerful thyroid hormone and is lacking from T4-only thyroid medications like levothyroxine and Synthroid. 

Simply adding T3 to your existing thyroid hormone regimen will be a great addition, even if you are only able to add 5-10mcg. 

(Optional) Step #4. Add an Iodine Supplement. 

I’m including this one here as an optional ingredient because if you are making your own NDT then you can choose to add extra iodine as needed based on how much you consume from your diet and from other supplements. 

But you should be aware that NDT does contain raw iodine as well as iodine from the thyroid hormones found in the medication. 

Each grain of NDT contains roughly 130 mcg of iodine. 

If you were previously using 2 grains of NDT like WP Thyroid (a fairly standard dose), then you would have been getting around 260 mcg of iodine each day from your medication alone. 

If you then switched to levothyroxine, you would then need to make up for that iodine deficit. 

As a general guideline, safe and effective daily dosing of iodine for thyroid patients is usually around 300 mcg each day (9). 

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You can adjust how much you supplement with iodine (or if you want to) based on how much you are getting from food sources and from your supplements. 

My recommendation is to err on the side of less iodine rather than more. 

The higher the dose, the more likely you are to run into trouble with iodine, but it isn’t until you consistently hit doses of 1 milligram (1,000 mcg) or more per day that you reach this threshold. 

Conclusion

Here’s what the final formula looks like:

• T4 – 80-100 mcg of levothyroxine/Synthroid/Tirosint
• T3 – 10-20 mcg of Cytomel/liothyronine/SR T3
• T2 – 100-200 mcg of T2
• Thyroid gland powder (150-600mg)
• Thyroid supporting trace minerals

By adding an extra 2-3 supplements and 1 additional prescription medication to your levothyroxine, you can create a powerful thyroid hormone combination that allows you to re-create many of the benefits and ingredients found in NDT. 

In my opinion, using all of these individual pieces together will likely provide you with even more benefits than just using NDT because you can more finely tune individual doses and more easily figure out what is helping you the most. 

Now I want to hear from you: 

Were you impacted by the recall of NDT formulations like WP Thyroid and Nature-throid?

Are you having trouble managing your thyroid symptoms with your current thyroid medication?

Did you know that there were ways to recreate the ingredients found in NDT with a combination of supplements and medications?

Are you planning on giving any of these recommendations a try?

Leave your questions or comments below!