reverse t3 help

[cat69]

hi

I have been told by Dr P prob have rt3. told me to stop armour completly for at least week and more poss

and start v slowly on low dose t3 quarter tab. done that started feeling grad worse. tried t3 three times over 7 weeks for few days at time. same each time. so no t4 for seven weeks. i cant get hold of him. he is away.

feel really bad after busy weekend and struggling to function. normally picked up by now.

when you have cleared rt3 what do people take then? did it help you?

can someone help? i have tech issues with yahoo rt3 group and do t know how to use facebook privatley.

am on all usual iron, b12 and extrea adrenal support

[humanbean]

I had very high (well over the range) reverse T3. I did a Genova test to find this out. I started treating myself with T3 only, starting at a 1/4 tablet a day dose. (I'd previously been on levo and I stopped that for a week before beginning the T3.) I fell apart. I suffered from intermittent amnesia, lost my vocabulary, couldn't think, brain fog was worse than I'd ever had it before, staggered around like a drunk, couldn't walk properly, could barely lift my arms to above waist height, and generally felt totally exhausted.

I did the only thing I could think of. I took more T3. And I felt a smidgen better. So I started raising my dose every few days. With each increase in dose my brain fog reduced and my walking improved. I ended up briefly taking 200mcg per day, but eventually settled at 150mcg per day for a few weeks. I eventually went hyper, as I expected to do, and stopped taking T3 for a couple of days. Then I restarted at 50mcg per day, which was still too high. Now I take about 2 x 1/4 tablet per day, but I adjust this to the amount of activity I do, so sometimes I take more.

I'm not suggesting that what I did was a good idea, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. But it worked for me. How I felt before starting T3 and how I feel now is like comparing chalk and cheese.

Edit : I should add that I've had a repeat reverse T3 test, and it is still a little higher than I would like but is within the reference range. I don't plan to take massive doses of T3 again.

[Clutter]

Cat, there may be information in these links to help you:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/2...

recoveringwitht3.com/blog/t...

ps I recommend you read the comments in the STTM link.

[cat69 in reply to Clutter]

Clutter thanks for links, i am trying to digest it all. So hard to get head round. Feel like I need a degree in all this just to get better!

[Clutter in reply to cat69]

If I got it right, rt3 may take 10/14 weeks to clear after stoppingT4/NDT and high doses of T3 may be required to nudge the rT3 out of the receptor cells. It would explain why I didn't feel anything when I took up to 120mcg T3 after stopping T4 8 weeks earlier. It wasn't until I stopped thyroid meds for 4 weeks and reintroduced T4+T3 that I started to get well.

[cat69 in reply to Clutter]

Wow can't believe you and Human were taking that? Didn't your heart rate leap through roof??

Did you re-introduce NDT and t3 or levo/t3? so I am not being too impatient to re-introduce something...considering I've been on nothing for 7 weeks?

Sorry to press you - i really feel I have got to take something now. Tongue swelling up again, chronic arm ache etc etc....

x

[Clutter in reply to cat69]

I didn't notice any difference between taking 60mcg and 120mcg.

I'm thyroidless so had to resume meds. I resumed 100mcg T4 but side effects also resumed after 3/4 days so I added 20mcg T3 which calmed everything and enabled me to tolerate T4.

Do you know when Dr. P returns? I understand how difficult it must be but it seems a pity not to follow his protocol if you might be able to get advice from him in the near future.

[cat69]

Human - that was brave and a whacking dose, trouble is there is never a good time to experiment when you have a 8 yr old. See I would try more and have a go but trying to save every bit of energy as of camping tomorrow and half term next week. Just started to try and pack, and arms going like lead already. I did try T3 last Nov (tried 4 times now) but never got off Armour first. One thing in last 4 days temp up over 36.2 every day and night?? Wonder why that is?

thanks for the reply.

[Heloise in reply to cat69]

cat, the t3 is trying to open up receptors for T3 which are blocked. I'm not sure how this works or how long it takes but if you continue to take Armour or T4 you will probably only make more reverse T3.