Starting on T3

[HMH65]

Just started on Liothyronine 10mcg for 3 weeks, 20mcg for 3 weeks and then 30mcg for 4 weeks. How long before I notice any improvement and what am I likely to notice first ?

[Hidden]

This is very difficult to answer, as everyone is very different..

Hopefully someone on T3 will pop up with their own experience...

L

x

[Hennerton]

I think each person is different. Are you on T3 only or combined with T4? I stopped T4 and started T 3 only and immediately felt better about 20 minutes after each dose but of course at that low level, the good feeling soon wore off. As my dose increased, I became more stable. I have a friend who combines it with T4 and it took a few weeks before she felt the difference. I still find it acts very quickly for me, however but other people do not notice as much. Be patient though because it is a powerful hormone. Have you had blood tests to check your iron, ferritin, folate, B 12 and Vit D? It is important these are all at optimum levels and not at the bottom end of the reference range, when taking T 3. I hope you do well on it and soon notice a difference.

[HMH65 in reply to Hennerton]

I'm currently on Thyroxine 200mcg in the morning and have just been on Liothyronine 10mcg for just 5 days. I was advised by my private doctor (Dr S) to be on Liothyronine 10mcg for 3 weeks, 20mcg for 3 weeks and then 30mcg until I am reviewed by him at the end of the year. I wasn't told anything about reducing my Thyroxine. I am on a regular dose of Vit D as that had been low. All other blood tests have been normal.

My GP has refused to prescribe Liothyronine and I have had to have a private prescription at around £50 although I returned from one of the Greek islands 2 weeks ago where I purchase Liothyronine x 30 tablets for 1 euro !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marz]

...are you taking the doses throughout the day - or all at once. That can sometimes make a difference for some....

[T3sortedme]

Before I say anything else, you must work with your GP. This is my experience. I got just a little improvement taking T3 at the same time as T4. Once I stopped taking T4 the improvement was more dramatic. The first thing I noticed was that the mental fog disappeared. Then my energy levels started to improve, but it took a few days. Within two weeks I started to feel like a different person. I used Paul Robinson's book which I found extremely helpful (Recovering with T3). It appears that for some with faulty body chemistry T4 can turn into reverse T3 which blocks normal T3 access to the cell. That was certainly my experience! I really hope it works for you. It is important to split your doses. T3 has a short half life. I take 20 µg at 7 AM, 20 µg at 12.00 and 10 µg at 5 PM. I do not take T4. Feel free to ask any specific questions.

[Everdean in reply to T3sortedme]

I think I have same problem you had, but my Dr won't have it. Thinks Levo is ok for me .Says I look fine!!!! Yet I am feeling increasingly worse. Where can I get my own bloods done including Ferritin, Iron etc? Thank you

[T3sortedme in reply to Everdean]

Needs a new question thread as this is HMH65's! You will also get wider input which is valuable. How long have you been on combined?

[vajra]

I seem to have conversion problems HMH, and have ended up taking mostly T3 with a small 50mcg dose of T4. T3 when i first managed to get some prescribed (even at the relatively low dose of 10mcg daily) produced very noticeable (mostly cognitive and mood related) improvements within hours.

Against that it's taken years and a series of dose adjustments and supporting treatments (e.g. removal of mercury fillings) to get to where matters stand right now - and it's very hard to know exactly what had what effect. Not to mention that as stuff changes what worked before can need tuning to maintain the benefit.

It seems to take a long time for some of the subtler effects to filter through, guessing there may be quite a bit of adaptation of receptors/re-starting of processes and the like that needs to take place to restore a fairly decent state of balance...

ian

[Heloise in reply to vajra]

ian, have you thought of dropping T4 entirely or tried dropping it for a while?

[Heloise]

I was on NDT and so my body was used to having a bit of T3 in that. When I found I could not raise my sadly low level of FT4 and FT3 without feeling hyper, I decided to try T3. In fact, I stopped the NDT entirely but of course it stays in your system for a couple of weeks.

I revved up the T3 rather quickly since 5 mcg. is next to nothing. Within about ten days, I was taking 20 mcg. and now have settled on 25 mcg. taken once in early morning.

I do not miss NDT at all. I don't know if that is true for everyone. I find T3 easier on my system with no hyper symptoms.

It's been four months and I have lost weight which is rare for me and I feel more relaxed. I am still waiting for various pains to improve which was my main problem. I think my skin is improving. I am satisfied that I am on the right track and I hope it is for you as well.

[lesleywagg]

I felt a difference within 2 weeks, I now take 25mcg in the morning and around lunch time, started on it in April and felt a lot livelier and no more afternoon naps. I lost 5lbs within 2 weeks, then my weight stayed the same, in middle of July joined a slimming club and have now nearly lost 2 stone. X

[lesleywagg]

I forgot to say i started off on 25mcg in the morning for a week then added half a tablet at lunchtime then a week later a full tablet at lunchtime. I also monitored my blood pressure and pulse.X

[vajra]

Hi Heloise. I've not tried all T3 as of yet for longer than short period, but put some T4 back in as it seemed to produce a 'buzz and slump' sort of feeling - and i didn't have enough supply to keep it going to see if it would resolve itself. (i'd built up a little reserve as a result of my doc over prescribing a bit)

I have been slowly easing up the proportion of T3 in cautious steps (he's a bit wary) with the endo i've been with since my doc took fright on T3. (he referred me as he claims to know nothing about it - better anyway than pretending) Presently 2x20mcg T3 and 1x50mcg T4 which feels very good.

Got a very nice improvement in energy, wellbeing and elimination of a few residual joint aches recently (not to mention now losing weight) by starting to treat my high cortisol levels using an adaptogen (Seriphos) - it could just mean (?) that I'm making better use of the T4 (converting better) or something like that as high cortisol can cause production of more reverse T3.

I'm actually thinking of upping the T4 a little again to see what happens, as if it would work it'd be better as I'm a bit wary of running solely on T3 unless truly necessary. I'm cautious that the body may like to have some T4 around for subtle reasons (trialling natural thyroid is on the list too, but it's very hard to get here), and also of the thought that if the supply fails (and it's unreliable over here at times) that i could be seriously hypo in only days...

ian

[Mez1977]

I was put on liothyronine (T3) afterdeveloping a severe reaction to levothyroxine (T4 which I had been on for 17 years) was the best move the endocrinology team ever made I lost 7.5 stone in 3 years and I haven't looked back