At last: info on how to take T3.

[Hiphypo]

This link popped up on another group's page, so I am pasting it in here as it is something I have been asking for a long time:

drugs.com/cdi/liothyronine-...

Perhaps our resident B-S detectors/experts will have a read over and comment, There is a lot of info on T4, but not much on T3.

Cheers everyone,

Jenni

[shaws Administrator]

It is a good link but Dr Lowe would have disagreed about taking T3 with food. This is his explanation:-

By taking T3 with meals, a patient reduces the amount of T3 that will enter her blood. Some food constituents, such as calcium, bind thyroid hormone in the GI tract. This effectively limits the amount of T3 that absorbs into the blood, the rise of the blood T3 level, and the brief exposure of the heart to higher concentrations of T3. But there is a problem with this approach.

The patient who takes T3 (or T4) with meals won’t have anywhere near an accurate idea of how much T3 enters her blood. Different meals will contain different amounts of T3-binding substances that will reduce the amount of T3 that enters the blood. One meal may contain a small amount of T3-binding substances; another may contain a large amount. As a result, the amount of T3 that enters the blood after meals is likely to vary a lot. Accordingly, the degree to which T3 drives the patient’s metabolism any day is also likely to vary widely.

Taking T3 with meals, then, blurs the relationship a patient and her doctor may look for between her dose of T3 and her metabolic status. The proper solution is simply to reduce the amount of T3 the patient takes on an empty stomach. With this approach, the relationship between a particular dose of T3 and metabolic status will be far clearer.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

[Marz in reply to shaws]

Thank you shaws....

[RedApple Administrator in reply to shaws]

As is so often the case, Dr Lowe's words make a lot of sense

[nobodysdriving in reply to shaws]

this is something I'd question Dr Lowe about if he was still with us....I cannot find anything which proves that food will reduce its absorption as T3 is 'unbound' to proteins and passes freely from the instestinal moucosa into the blood stream...also when I contacted the scientists at Amdipharm they told me the very same, that it is 99% absorbed. Take it or leave it I guess (meaning: believe whichever side you want to believe, I'll believe Amdipharm as I have far too many things to worry about than when to time my T3 in my life LOL)

[Hiphypo in reply to nobodysdriving]

Dr Lowe also differs significantly over dosing, as he says to take it all at once. I cannot do that, and follow Paul R's split dosing method, although not as scientifically as he sets out in his book (being as mathematically challenged as I am).

[lisabax]

Very helpful post, thanks

[Issy]

Even if the correct quantity is absorbed, the absorption rate could be lower depending on the size of the meal?

[Issy]

Not sure about the accuracy of this bit - what does everyone else think?

"or myxedema (a condition characterized by chest pain, increased heart rate, pounding in the chest, excessive sweating, heat intolerance, and nervousness)"

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Issy]

Whoever typed the webpage (probably done overseas on the cheap) just repeated the description for thyrotoxicosis further up the page and no one bothered to get it proofread ...

[Hiphypo in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Yes, I noticed that too, very sloppy!

[Issy]

How do we tell them?

[Hiphypo in reply to Issy]

Just email, I suppose

[Hiphypo]

Thanks everyone for your views, very helpful.

Also:

"Using calcium carbonate together with liothyronine may decrease the effects of liothyronine. You should separate the administration of liothyronine and calcium carbonate by at least 4 hours."

This only applies to Calcium 600 D (calcium/vitamin d), so would I be right in assuming that swigging one down with my early morning cuppa won't have much of an effect?

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

The bit that says:

Take liothyronine tablets at least 4 hours apart from calcium salts (eg, calcium carbonate), cholestyramine, or sucralfate.

... is questionable. I can find nothing which suggests that cholestyramine interact with liothyronine in that way. It certainly DOES interact and has even been used to treat Graves, but the four hours bit seems wrong. It affects thyroid hormones within the body.

All too often things to do with liothyronine are actually to do with levothyroxine but are simply assumed to apply to liothyronine. That seems a reasonable start point for thinking about it, but t is utterly wrong to put that out as how things really are.

Rod

[Hiphypo in reply to helvella]

Thanks Rod,

I find it is sooo difficult to sort through things like this, having no science background whatsoever - and therefore, no critical appraisal faculty. At least folk like your good self share their knowledge and help a numpty like me to pick a path gingerly through it all.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK in reply to Hiphypo]

Don't take too much notice of what I write - I am quite good at finding things, but am in no way qualified to claim anything more than general awareness!

Rod