At last: info on how to take T3.: This link... - Thyroid UK

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At last: info on how to take T3.

Hiphypo profile image
16 Replies

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

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Hiphypo
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16 Replies
shaws profile image
shawsAdministrator

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 profile image
Marz in reply toshaws

Thank you shaws....

RedApple profile image
RedAppleAdministrator in reply toshaws

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

nobodysdriving profile image
nobodysdriving in reply toshaws

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 profile image
Hiphypo in reply tonobodysdriving

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 profile image
lisabax

Very helpful post, thanks

Issy profile image
Issy

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

Issy profile image
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 profile image
Angel_of_the_North in reply toIssy

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 profile image
Hiphypo in reply toAngel_of_the_North

Yes, I noticed that too, very sloppy!

Issy profile image
Issy

How do we tell them?

Hiphypo profile image
Hiphypo in reply toIssy

Just email, I suppose

Hiphypo profile image
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 profile image
helvellaAdministrator

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 profile image
Hiphypo in reply tohelvella

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 profile image
helvellaAdministrator in reply toHiphypo

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

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