One month later, if the TSH blood is still too high I raise the T3 dose to 10 or 20 mcg and continue to increase the T3 level each month until the TSH is normal. Psychotherapy often fails to control depression. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychotherapy, proposed theories about depression, that many psychiatrists do not accept because his writings were his opinions and not presented as scientific data supported by controlled experiments. The dominant theory today is that depression is caused by low brain levels of the neurotransmitters, serotonin and norepinephrine. The drugs such as Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft that treat depression 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 T4 also known as Levothroid and many people become even more depressed. They treat this depression by prescribing T3 as well as T4. 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.