Is T3 usually so immediate and obvious in its effects?Is one dose a day better than three?

[mumcat2]

I've recently gone back to taking liothyronine and Levo. Previous posts will explain why -it's not germane to my question anyway. I am convinced that I can feel my doses of T3 (5 a.m. and 1 p.m) kicking in half an hour or so after taking them. I'm also convinced I feel them wearing off with first a lowering of my mood followed by the return of inexplicable fatigue. I cope with what I label lack of T3 after my 1 p.m dose wears off because that happens when I'm asleep!

I'm not up to speed controlling all my symptoms completely with the T3 and I'm thinking of going up from 20 to 30, split over 3 doses at 5 am,1 pm and 9pm. ( I take 100 T4)

I've read that many people take their daily dose all in one go. I'm slightly reluctant to try this because of my feeling that I can tell the dose is wearing off; doesn't the relatively short half-life of T3 limit how long it stays at a therapeutic level in the body to being too short to dose the full 24 hour?(apologies for the rambly sentence,just hope you get my drift)

[Aurealis]

Yes, I wonder that too, I can feel the dose kick in most when the overall dose is too low, I get a patchy effect. I feel it peak about 2 or so hours after taking it, and sometimes a drop an hour before next dose. These effects reduce when I'm on the best dose.

[mumcat2 in reply to Aurealis]

This confirms the thought of increasing the dose might help. I'll give it a try!

[shaws]

Yes, T3 is absorbed into your bloodstream quickly, but the effect lasts between 1 and 3 days for this single dose. This is a link and if you read it all you will get some good information. Dr Lowe didn't only use T3 but NDT plus he had a protocol his patients followed. Excerpt

And finally, why do I specify that the typical patient use one full dose of non-timed-release Cytomel for life? Because extensive testing has shown that this is safe, effective, and most economical—when used within the context of our entire protocol.

[mumcat2 in reply to shaws]

Can I have the link please?

[shaws in reply to mumcat2]

Sorry, here it is:-

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

[mumcat2]

Just read the link - thanks. It not only confirms that single dose is the best way,but that the reason I feel it get to work is that my dose isn't yet high enough to allow it to build up in my system. In effect, I'm currently getting a couple of elevated peaks,rather than a nice stable plateau. I'll start tomorrow and see how it goes.

[mickstability in reply to mumcat2]

I reckon you're right - when I first went T3 only the peaks and troughs were very noticeable, but increasing the dose smoothed them out like Aurealis found.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to mumcat2]

Taking one dose helped me avoid the peaks and troughs, but I then seemed to absorb it better so I felt a little overcorrected. In the end have decided to take most of it in the morning and only a little in the afternoon but now feel hypo again, so it's swings and roundabouts.

Good luck!