M.D. An article in this month's issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry shows that a thyroid hormone called T3 can be used to treat post traumatic stress disorder, commonly seen in soldiers and people who have been through other causes of terrible emotional trauma. The dominant theory today is that depression is caused by low brain levels of the neurotransmitters, serotonin and norepinephrine. Drugs used to treat depression, such as Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft, are supposed to raise brain levels of these neurotransmitters.
Depression is common among people who have too much or too little thyroid hormone.
Doctors usually treat low thyroid function with just T4, also known as Levothroid, and many people become even more depressed when they receive this treatment. Then, doctors should add T3 and decrease the dose of T4 to treat this depression. TSH once a year. If TSH is too high, increase Cytomel to 10 mcg and hold Levothroid at 50. Keep on raising Cytomel by 5 mcg until TSH is normal.