Supplements That Help You Get Off Thyroid Medication

Have you been told that you’ll have to take thyroid medication forever?

If so, that’s not entirely true.

What is true is that about 70% of people who start thyroid medication will never be able to stop.

But if you’re doing the math, that leaves 30% who can.

This means you have a roughly 1 in 3 shot of stopping your thyroid medication (1).

But doing it cold turkey is not the best option.

Instead, you’ll want to optimize your thyroid to ensure you have the best possible chance of eliminating the need for your medication.

And there are some supplements that can help you get there.

So if you’re trying to get off your thyroid meds for good, here are the supplements that can help:

1. Thyroid Glandulars

Thyroid glandular supplements contain actual thyroid gland from animals put into powder form for human consumption.

As you might imagine, they contain everything that you’d find in an animal thyroid gland including some thyroid hormones (2).

This makes them one of the most powerful thyroid supplements available over the counter.

And if you’re someone trying to eliminate your need for thyroid medication, few options are better.

But here’s the catch:

Taking thyroid glandulars in place of your thyroid medication is essentially trading one form of thyroid hormone for another (albeit less standardized).

But if you’re someone who likes the idea of getting your hormones over the counter (because glandulars are available in supplement form), then they are a great thing to consider.

If, on the other hand, you are trying to stay away from thyroid hormones entirely, then this isn’t your best option.

Instead, you’ll want to use some of the other supplements on this list.

Throughout the years, there have been many thyroid patients who switch over to thyroid gland powder from thyroid medication.

Just remember that there isn’t an exact science to this since the hormones in each capsule are highly variable.

But for those who do, they typically need a dose of between 150 mg and 600 mg of thyroid gland powder.

You can find my recommended thyroid glandular supplement here.

2. Thyroid Multivitamin

A high-quality thyroid multivitamin is another tool that you can use to help you get off your meds.

It works by providing your thyroid gland with all of the nutrients that it needs to function, ideally at the doses it requires.

This means you’ll need to get a multivitamin specifically designed for thyroid patients, as standard multis typically won’t cut it.

And while this isn’t a surefire way to eliminate your need for thyroid medication, it’s almost always a necessary first step.

Because the reality is that many thyroid patients find themselves deficient in multiple vitamins and minerals (3) which the thyroid gland needs to function.

And replacing those vitamins and minerals can, at the very least, help your thyroid do the job it was meant to do.

But just taking the multivitamin isn’t often enough to push your thyroid gland into producing more hormone than it’s capable of, unlike some of the other supplements we will discuss.

Even if you decide you want to stay on thyroid medication indefinitely, it’s still a great idea to take a thyroid multi because it may help your thyroid medication work more effectively thereby reducing the dose needed for you to feel better.

You can find a multi designed for thyroid patients here.

3. Black Seed Oil

Black seed oil is a powerful anti-inflammatory and immune-supporting compound that has been shown to have benefits in autoimmune thyroid conditions like Hashimoto’s.

One study (4) showed that taking black seed oil was sufficient to reduce TSH and improve thyroid hormone levels without any additional intervention.

And since the most common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s, this makes black seed oil an interesting treatment for the majority of low thyroid patients.

Compared to some of the other ingredients we’ve discussed so far, black seed oil seems to actually be helping repair the thyroid gland directly through its immune-modulating effects.

As a result, you can consider this more of a root cause treatment as opposed to a treatment like thyroid glandulars which act as a direct source of hormones and pro hormones.

The only downside to black seed oil is that its largest benefit will be seen in those with autoimmune thyroid disease and it will likely have a more muted effect on people with low thyroid conditions not caused by Hashimoto’s.

You can take either black seed oil as a liquid or you can get nigella sativa in powder form as both options work.

But if you’re looking to use the same ingredient in the study I mentioned previously then you’ll want to use nigella sativa powder.

4. T2 Thyroid Hormone

Similar to thyroid glandulars, you can look into the use of T2 thyroid hormone.

It’s an active thyroid hormone and the only thyroid hormone available over the counter.

Unlike T4 and T3, its action primarily focuses on certain tissues like fat cells, muscle cells, and liver cells (5).

So while its effects are less general and more focused, it can still support the function of other thyroid hormones like T4 and T3 making it a great adjunct therapy.

Again, it’s one of those things you probably don’t want to use if you are trying to go the complete all-natural route, but it’s a great option if you want to take over-the-counter supplements in place of pharmaceuticals.

T2 is available in both capsule form and cream form.

The dose for capsules is 100 mcg per day.

And the dose for cream is 37.5 to 50 mcg per day.

5. Glutathione

Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant and it plays a crucial role in protecting your thyroid gland from inflammation and oxidative damage.

Most thyroid patients don’t realize this, but the very process of creating thyroid hormones inside the thyroid gland results in the creation of free radicals (6).

And if these free radicals aren’t dealt with by antioxidants, they can damage the thyroid gland.

It’s through this mechanism that many people damage their thyroid gland through the normal process of living life.  

But you can protect against this damage, and the corresponding consequences, by supporting the oxidative capacity of your thyroid gland with supplements like glutathione.

I wouldn’t count on glutathione to cure your thyroid problem, but it’s a great supplement to take if you think your thyroid condition has an inflammatory component (as exists in Hashimoto’s).

For best results, use glutathione in combination with something like a thyroid multivitamin to provide broad protection to your thyroid gland.

6. Selenium

Selenium is another amazing tool for supporting thyroid health.

Your body uses this mineral as a co-factor for the enzyme that naturally produces glutathione.

This means you can increase glutathione naturally by taking selenium (or you can take it directly) and get many of the same thyroid gland protective benefits that we just discussed.

Selenium also helps your body produce thyroid hormone (7), activate T4 into T3, enhance immune function, and improve the structural function of the thyroid gland.

It also happens to be the case that many thyroid patients don’t get enough of it.

Some people even theorize that selenium deficiency is one of the primary triggers of the autoimmune disease Hashimoto’s.

If you want to take a selenium supplement, aim to get around 75 to 200 mcg per day.

If you prefer the all-natural route, you can get your selenium from brazil nuts which provide the highest concentration of selenium of any food.

7. Vitamins A, D & K

These fat-soluble vitamins are essential for immune function, thyroid hormone balance, and thyroid health more generally.

Vitamin A especially helps your cells utilize thyroid hormone due to its actions on the thyroid nuclear receptor (8).

The best way to think of vitamin A is as a tool to enhance the effectiveness of whatever amount of thyroid hormone is floating around in your body.

And vitamin A doesn’t discriminate in its actions either.

It doesn’t care if the thyroid hormone floating around in your body comes from thyroid medication or from your own thyroid gland, it can help it do its job at the cellular level.

This makes vitamin A great for all thyroid patients, especially for those trying to get off their meds.

By improving the action of existing thyroid hormones, it can help stretch whatever little amount of hormone your gland is able to make thereby helping you better control your symptoms.

Vitamin D protects against vitamin A toxicity and vitamin K2 can help with calcium shuttling so it’s generally advised to take all three together.

You can find an example of what that looks like here.

Final Thoughts

It may seem surprising, but getting off your thyroid medication is definitely possible for a pretty big chunk of thyroid patients.

Getting off your medication is a process, though, and it’s not something that should be done cold turkey or without forethought.

If you want to see exactly how I recommend doing it, and whether or not you’re a good candidate for it, check out this article next.