T3 dosing

[Emidjemal]

How much t3 can a person take I know its all different but with t4 from what I've seen most people are on at least 125 mgand over

[PinkNinja]

Most people actually take much less than that. It is best to start with a small dose of T3, say 10-20mcg and build up slowly. Average dose is 20-70 mcg but some people need more. I need 100mcg but someone with thyroid hormone resistance may need as high as 160-180mcg.

It is a very individual thing but most people need less than 125mcg.

I hope that helps.

Carolyn x

[Emidjemal in reply to PinkNinja]

Hi thanks yes it helps. I started of lower I don't feel I'll or any thing I just dropped another 25mg of levo so on 50 mg I'll hold for a couple of weeks and see how it goes

[marmaris in reply to PinkNinja]

Hi Carolyn I have upped my dose of T3 from 20 to 30mcgs (Endo's request), and lowered T4 from 100mcgs to 50mcgs. Still not right, weight gain etc. The fear I have is that when I lowered T4 before (November 2013 and reduced it to nothing), and still took the T3 my suppressed TSH went from 0,07 to 29 and GP put me back on. I feel the nhs T3 is weak, have put on 10kilos in one year. Desperate for answers.

[suzannai in reply to PinkNinja]

Carolyn, Do you know how to determine if one actually has thyroid hormone resistance? Is is that they can take a high dose and NOT be stimulated the way most others would be? Do they take the high dose all at once or divided throughout the day?

[PinkNinja in reply to suzannai]

I am afraid I don't know much about it other than you can have high serum levels of t3 but be clinically hypo. People with thyroid hormone resistance can need very high doses.

[nobodysdriving in reply to suzannai]

see my reply below suzannai, I have thyroid hormone resistance at the cellular level x I take 180mcg T3 daily, I can take this all i one go, no problems.

[suzannai in reply to nobodysdriving]

Hi there. I am now taking 225 mcg T3 for a few days and feel okay overall. No changes to report. Would this indicate thyroid hormone resistance? And if so, are there other things that I should be assessing for? ie: progesterone, cortisol? why is this happening and how can I figure it out? Thank you .

[nobodysdriving in reply to suzannai]

I hope you got to the 225 slowly.....by the way, that seems a big jump from 135 to 225 in 3 weeks I have to say....it corresponds to almost 5mcg daily or 20mcg every 4 to 5 days.

If I were you I would just 'sit' for a while, do not rush it, keep a diary and evaluate your overall wellbeing.

For the record Dr Lowe said that anything over 120mcg to him was thyroid hormone resistance.

you ask : why is this happening....

I ask: what? what is happening? you said you feel okay...

[suzannai in reply to nobodysdriving]

thank you. One resource that I found suggested an increase of 25 mcg every week if no change for thyroid resistance. To clarify, by staying I feel fine, I mean I dont feel hyperstimulated on the dose. I feel exhausted, my face and body is swollen, and I have lost my hair and most muscle mass. I would like to figure out why this is happening. How long does it take for the effects of the thyroid hormone to work in your opinion for someone who is resistant?

[nobodysdriving in reply to suzannai]

but have you always felt exhausted ever since you took your first T3 pill or from before? same as the muscle mass?

I don't know what is causing that, you have to investigate that yourself and/or with a doctor, I can't figure out someone else's problems, it is enough trying to figure out my own body LOL

[suzannai in reply to nobodysdriving]

the loss of muscle mass started before the T3. we thought that it attributed to hypo as I had all the other symptoms but so far there has been very little change. it has been only about two months total but it seems like some people respond quickly to thyroid or ndt. likely there is something missing in the mix. i was diagnosed with a mitochondrial defect also but we still thought this was secondary to the low thyroid. who knows. one day i hope to be back to normal.

[Emidjemal]

How would you know if you have thyroid hormone resistance ?

[marmaris in reply to Emidjemal]

Good question I would like to know this and in fact asked my Endo a few weeks ago, and she said it would reflect in the blood test results if I was not converting. Is this 100% true!

[Emidjemal in reply to marmaris]

Yes it would show if your not converting in your blood test but the NHS don't do the tests you need to get your reverse t3 checked

[marmaris in reply to Emidjemal]

This is very true, I asked again for this to be done, but the Endo said they don't do it?????? Once again left frustrated had to fight to get T3 done, and have an actual letter of apology from my GP's surgery with regard to this.

[Emidjemal in reply to marmaris]

You can get it done privately I haven't yet but would like to

[nobodysdriving in reply to marmaris]

sorry but a reverse T3 does not tell you if you have 'thyroid hormone resistance', also different people mean different things with this 'label'.

For those resistant 'at cellular level' (ie your cells need tons of T3 in the bloodstream at all times to be taking in enough of it and make use of it) the only way to know is by process of elimination over a long time following signs and symptoms, in these individuals (I am one of those by the way) blood tests for thyroid hormone are 'totally useless' as in the blood they will always show a TSH of zero and an fT3 'way over the range'. For these individuals Dr John Lowe used to say that the best 'tests' one could do (if you wanted to do any tests) was ECGs to look at the voltage of the heart and resting metabolic rate.

Let's not forget that it is always best to arrive at a 'diagnosis' with a medical professional, I arrived at that 'assumption' with 2 private doctors who both agree that there seems to be no other explanation why I need high doses of T3 (after carefully checking for ALL possibilities we could over 2 years).

[Emidjemal in reply to nobodysdriving]

That's not what I said she wanted to know if she was converting t4 in t3

[nobodysdriving in reply to Emidjemal]

sorry I read she wanted to know the same as you which was 'how do you know if you have thyroid hormone resistance'

Emidjemal

19 hours ago Emidjemal

How would you know if you have thyroid hormone resistance ?

Reply to this Recommend 0 Edit Report

marmaris

5 hours ago marmaris

Good question I would like to know this and in fact asked my Endo a few weeks ago, and she said it would reflect in the blood test results if I was not converting. Is this 100% true!

so....she wants to know too and she asked the endo who said 'it would show in her bloods if she was not converting', this looked like the endo told her that if she has 'resistance' it would show she is not converting....

[suzannai in reply to nobodysdriving]

Hi nobodysdriving.

I feel that I have thyroid hormone resistance. I developed all symptoms of hypothyroid this past year with facial and body myxedema aswell as extreme pain, constipation, dry yellow skin etc. I am on 135 mcg of T3 as a divided dose and feel no different. I have had hundreds of labs tests performed and there is not other rationale for the symptoms. I am not sure but am wondering if I should try to take the dose all at once or how to proceed. I am desperate to feel better and get some to this fluid moving. I am familiar with Dr Lowe's work and my ecg is normal but i have not had the basal metabolic testing done. Any advice would be much appreciated. I am getting desperate for some answers.

[nobodysdriving in reply to suzannai]

well, of course I am not in the position to tell you if you need more etc

however I can tell you what I did and what worked for me

I had to address my vitamin B12 'needs', I actually need to inject B12 very very frequently

I also need to keep my vit D at 'optimum levels' this would be for me in between 100 and 200 nmol/L for this I have to take 6,000 to 7,000 iu daily

I also take multivitamins of course and 'stay on top' of my iron/folate requirements (folate is so needed when on b12 supps), and also take a b-complex supplement on top of the multivits.

I also do not eat gluten, no sugar, high fat diet.

with my private doctor we also tested for 'heavy metal poisoning/toxicity' to make sure none of this is stopping me from using the T3 well.

also had an adrenal saliva stress profile.

I tried both multi-dosing and taking my T3 all at once, yes the whole 180mcg

the first time I wanted to take it all in one go I was 'apprehensive' so I increased one of my multi-doses slowly over a few days, until all of my T3 was at once.

I first took it at bedtime but this proved to be wrong for me as it gave me really bad heart pounding in the night in bed.

then moved it to the morning and this worked really well.

I think dosing once a day is better as I am slowly getting hypo again on multi dosing (at present multi dosing 4 times a day, I take 60/40/40/40 ) so am thinking of going back to once a day dosing. My temps have gone low again and struggle a lot with my weight and I can't wake up as promptly in the mornings on multi-dosing.

so it's only by trying that you will know if once a day dosing suits you, but I would say increase the dose slowly, what I did, say if I was on multi-dosing like above, I would start taking 70/40/40/30 for 3 to 5 days then if all ok I'd take 80/40/40/20 for 3 days then 90/40/40/10, then 100/40/40, then 110/40/30, you get it right?

[suzannai in reply to nobodysdriving]

Thank you. Yes I understand the multidosing except that my T3 is 45 mcg capsules so I dont know how would be best to proceed. Perhaps 90 mcg and then 45 mcg for a few days to see how I tolerate it instead of 45/45/45.

[suzannai in reply to nobodysdriving]

Thanks again for this. I am taking B12 10,000 mcg methylcobalamin and 5000 IU D every day. My ferretin is low so I am trying to address this with iron but I am constipated so it poses a problem right now. My saliva panel for adrenals is normal range but a bit on the lower end am and noon. I dont know how important this is for dosing with T3 only but I know it shoudl be ideal with the NDT.

[nobodysdriving in reply to suzannai]

maybe with iron you can try spatone if you can afford to buy it? it's meant not to constipate you.

in regards to the capsules, can you open them and then you can use a third of the content in one dose and the 2/3 of the capsule in the next dosage? is your T3 slow release? I hope not, it is not the 'best' T3 to use for a thyroid resistant person....

[suzannai in reply to nobodysdriving]

No the T3 is instant release. Oddly enough, when I first took T3 I took 15 mcg of sustained release and felt pretty good on it for 10 days. I dont know if this is worth considering again (I understand it is harder to regulate and does not work aswell for resistance). I seemed to feel good on it but maybe that was because my body was finally getting some T3 for the first time since getting sick and anything was better than nothing. When you did Wilson's I assume you also used Sustained release? How did you do on that protocol and was it the first thing that you tried?

[nobodysdriving in reply to suzannai]

No I never did the Wilson's protocols, I am not sure I 'agree' with it. I was on levo, then NDT then moved to T3 only. When I tried NDT again I felt unwell fairly soon, I now know T3 only is what I need.

[suzannai in reply to nobodysdriving]

Sorry to bother you again. One interesting symptoms/constellation of symptoms that correlates with all other is that of POTS/dysautonomia. I tend to have a high heart rate to begin with, nausea, tremor....all this before thyroid hormone. Do you have any idea if it is correlated. I have read a bit on it and that they can go hand in hand but would love to know if you had any of this. For example, when I started on T3 my HR went way down and overall BP is down but now HR is up again. Hard to tell what is contributing

[nobodysdriving in reply to suzannai]

oh sorry don't know anything about 'POTS'.

But my heart rate is always fine (ie 65 to 85 beats per minute) at rest of course, I do not check it unless I am sitting and resting.

[Hidden]

You have to have good iron, b12, D, and great working adrenals to take t3 in high doses. I can't take more than 5 mcg t3 without totally falling apart. And your other hormones should all be good, too. Just because one person can take a high dose doesn't mean everyone can. And when you can't take it but you do, the results can be disastrous.

[Mum24]

@dellie_42 hope itsvok to jump in and ask a question on previous comment, what do you mean by 'fall apart' ,my Endo has me on 100mcg levothyroxine and 10mcg T3 daily, I feel much better but feel I old do with 'just a bit more' to feel great, but Endo says he doesn't want to tip me over the edge,and I didn't really understand that.

[Aurealis in reply to Mum24]

I think your Endo means 'tip over the edge' into over treatment. I so recognise that 'just a bit more' comment, I felt like that for many months then eventually did my own thing! It is best to be patient, over treatment is unpleasant.

[Emidjemal]

Hi I'm supplementing my iron b12 and bit d even though my blood results are supposed to be normal . I don't feel like I'm going over the edge or over the top I don't feel hyper. I'm on 50cmg t3 and 50mg levo my intention is to come of levo I have already reduced it from 125

[nobodysdriving]

there is NO standard/average dose, I know people on 30mcg daily and people on 500mcg of T3 daily! (yes 'five-hundred' it is not a typo).

[Emidjemal in reply to nobodysdriving]

I must be one of those that need a high dose I'm on 50mcg and don't feel any different thanks nobodys driving you've put my mind to rest. I've been reading about people taking tiny amounts and feeling hyper

[nobodysdriving in reply to Emidjemal]

yes some people can take as little as 5mcg and feel 'hyper'. Often this is due to their adrenal glands being 'fatigued'.

My adrenals have always been in 'fairly good shape' so I can handle all of my T3 in one go too.

as always: we are all so different

[Emidjemal in reply to nobodysdriving]

Well at least I know I can take more i kept reading that people can't tolerate it

[suzannai]

I think that I too have an issue with resistance. Did your family members take this does all at once or divided throughout the day? I am on 135 mcg divided T3 compounded and feel nothing at all.

[Schenks]

Sorry to but in for something at a tangent, but this is a really important thread for me. Does anyone know how to 'tab' a thread without butting in to it? I am just at the start of what I feel is a move across to T3 from prescribed NDT and I want to be able to keep a note of where to find the thread without copying and pasting - anyone know how, please?

[Clutter in reply to Schenks]

Schenks, I bookmark the thread on my browser.

[Schenks in reply to Clutter]

Nice one!

[mickstability]

I've read all the above, so I realise there are a variety of conditions and treatment regimes extant, but in answer to your question from my perspective of being thyroidless, 80mcg is fine for me. I hope that gives you an indication of how little you can take and feel normal - as to how much, well I can't say a lot, other than I'm probably taking slightly more than I need, but haven't had any adverse effects so far, and suspect that any excess T3 is metabolised out of the system. More work needs to be done on this, and I suspect that CarolynB is entirely correct in her first response.

[Emidjemal in reply to mickstability]

thanks I'm on 50mcg but I defiantly think I could do with more but am going to hold for another week to see how my temperature is its pretty low still

[Emidjemal]

I'm up 62.5 and I don't feel hyper