T3

[elsa142]

If one had this in 25mg tablets.....how would you start dosing? I'm inclined to start with half a tab in the morning and another half in the afternoon and take it from there. Does anyone have any experience of this?

[Clutter]

Elsa, if you've not taken T3 before it would be better to take a quarter, 6.25mcg, for a few days to see how you tolerate it before taking more. How much Levothyroxine are you taking?

[elsa142 in reply to Clutter]

Hello Clutter....I'm on 100mg levo at present

[Clutter in reply to elsa142]

Elsa, 25mcg T3 is equivalent to 75mcg T4 so take it slowly as I suggested. If you're optimally medicated ie TSH around 1.0 or just under, you may want to cut your Levothyroxine to 75mcg if you increase more than 6.25mcg T3.

[elsa142 in reply to Clutter]

ok ,thanks for the advice.Is that a quarter twice a day? I will ask my doctor for the TSH level ....have just had bloods done for levo....they ring me up and say....yes, you're fine .....off you go for another year. NOT fine !!! I'll try and pick his brains. I'm tempted to tell him I'm intending ti self-medicate through sheer desperation. I'll be really careful.

[Clutter in reply to elsa142]

Elsa, 6.25mcg once a day for a week or two then increase if you're still symptomatic but stick on 1/2 tablet 12.5mcg dose for the next few weeks and have another thyroid blood test. thyrophoenix.com/adjusting_...

Ask your GP receptionist or practice manager for a printout out of your recent thyroid test with the lab ref ranges.

[elsa142 in reply to Clutter]

Thank you Clutter, for your advice, and for this brilliant resource.

[Heloise]

Hi Elsa, it might be wise to do what Clutter suggests but I was on one grain of Armour which is compared to 100 mcg. of levothyroxine. Armour has some T3 component so my body was accustomed to some T3 but a very small amount. I decided to stop my Armour entirely and began on T3 only by cutting the 25 tablet into 1/4's. In about a week or so I was taking one tablet each day and didn't have any reaction at all. But it may not be the same for you. Are you planning on dropping all of your T4?

[elsa142 in reply to Heloise]

Thanks for replying Heloise. I've no idea! Groping in the dark here. Why did you want to stop the Armour? And does the T3 help your symptoms. I thought I would continue with the T4....but if I'm honest, I just don't know!

[Heloise]

Ha, I was groping, too, elsa. I was on Armour for more than ten years but didn't understand anything. I believe they kept my TSH around 3 and it was pretty bad. When I learned more, I tried to increase Armour to raise my free T3 which was minimal and so was my T4. I had the feeling that the T4 portion of Armour was not converting so I thought I would try T3. It has been fine and occasionally I try to increase slightly. I wish I had known more so I could have tried this when I was younger but I'm happy to be able to order my own T3 and monitor myself. My P.A. doesn't know anything to help me.

So, do you feel your T4 is NOT converting for some reason? In that case, I think T3 would suit you well and if it's your adrenals at fault, you can work on that as well. I think Dr. Peat always tried treating both. I'm biased against T4 but I know many people can handle it. stopthethyroidmadness.com/t...

[elsa142 in reply to Heloise]

I do feel the T4 isn't converting, but I think it helps up to a point. However, that's not to say that it will be necessary once I've established the T3. Thanks for your help Heloise....the information is most interesting and helpful.

[elsa142 in reply to elsa142]

Where did you source your Armour by the way?

[wedway]

I use T3. I started at 2.5 mcg once a day, and then increased each week by 2.5 mcg until I reached 15 mcg daily. I have hypothyroidism with high levels of TSH. I cannot tolerate T4 at all. The T3 worked for me, but you have to be careful. Too much T3 will cause cardiac symptoms; high blood pressure and tachycardia. I am not a medical doctor. This is just my experience.

[elsa142 in reply to wedway]

Thanks wedway.....that's really helpful. I am concerned about the whole heart thing with thyroid, and the various ways cardiac health is affected by the condition itself and the various meds. It's a minefield isn't it. I'm very grateful for your advice.

[Stourie in reply to elsa142]

I was on 100 of levo when I started 10 of t3. After a week I raised my t3 to 20 as per Dr Skinners advice. I had no problems and felt the benefit of the t3 within a couple of days. I eventually stopped the t4 altogether and am on t3 only. I did take 80 t3 at and felt fine for ages but the last few months I have raised it to 100/120 per day at bedtime and feel not too bad. I never had racing heart or any adverse effects with t3.

[elsa142 in reply to Stourie]

Thank you for your reply Stourie....very informative and helpful.

[Ann1e2000]

Hi, its a bit trial and error, I started by splitting mine into 6.25mcg and for the first week took 1 in the morning and reduced my T4 which I take at night from 75mcg to 50, after a week I started to take the T3 twice a day. after about 4 weeks of trialing different doses I'm now settled on 25mcg T4 at night and 25Mcg T3 which I take all in one dose in the morning. Everyone tolerates it differently and I found this was best for me. I have noticed I do get a bit of a racing heart last thing at night so I'm going to try taking a tiny bit in the evening. But in general i feel the best I have in a long time. I would suggest you take your temperature every morning while your working out your dosage to see if its increasing (it should but only by a little bit) mine has now gone up from an average of 34.8 to 36.2. You may also find the T3 gives you headaches, these will go after a week or so. Before T3 I used to get lots of headaches and aches and pains but now get hardly any.

[elsa142 in reply to Ann1e2000]

Hello Ann.....thanks so much for your reply....very informative and coherent, and really helpful! I'm very excited to have got hold of this stuff....so here goes....thermometer at the ready!!

[T3sortedme]

My advice is be consistent in when you take it. Certainly I would do it in two doses, one early and one later in the day. It is important to be consistent as your body adjusts and moving timing around can mess up the benefits. For me changing by 30 mins is the maximum, an hour loses me the benefit for the rest of the day so I stick rigidly to to my timings. (I am on T3 only and a higher dose)

[elsa142 in reply to T3sortedme]

Thank you T3sortedme....that's really interesting. I'm a bit of a scatty type .....probably the typical hypo brain fog ! So I will struggle with that to begin with I know! I'll really try to concentrate.

[T3sortedme in reply to elsa142]

I use an alarm on my mobile phone. It works well as long as I stop and take the tablet straight away else I carry on doing something and forget!! I have tablets in my coat too so some are always with me.

[elsa142 in reply to T3sortedme]

Oh....that's a good idea.....I'll bear that in mind if I find I need to do the same Thanks for your help!

[sulamaye]

I have gone from t4/t3 to t3 only in order to hopefully clear reverse t3 that I believe is making me very ill - I have m.e/cfs. I also have adrenals that are shot so I am using the circadian dosing to help support them - that is a very early dose to support cortisol production. Sometimes people find they can't increase their t3 because of their adrenals and placing the first dose early helps. I monitor temperature, pulse and blood pressure before and after doses to ensure I don't go over. You may find that helps especially if your tsh gets supressed.

I don't suppose you have that problem, but I say it just incase you hit it. I used to take my T3 with my T4 in the morning when I was on NHS prescribed T4 and T3.

[elsa142 in reply to sulamaye]

Hi Sulamaye....thanks for your input. I don't have those particular problems......I can't SLEEP, which makes me chronically fatigued, by that's a bit different. I do have a close friend who has suffered with ME/CFS for years, but I don't know if it's thyroid related and I don't think that's ever occured to her either, so that's interesting. I believe there are so many connections that it's hard to understand and keep up with them all. I have osteoporosis which is linked to thyroid.....I've known this for years but only recently discovered why. Drives you nuts. I really hope you find some relief.