How do people manage to swap from a high dose of synthetic thyroxine to NDT? I'm on 250 thyroxine and 6 Nutri Thyroid ( claimed to have no hormone in but not sure if true). The safe starting doses for Nature Throid ( the NDT not the Nutri Thyroid otc supplement mentioned above) are tiny, say a quarter grain twice a day for two weeks. That would leave me splayed on the floor with hypo! Yet I'm wary of doing a straight swap with parallel amounts of NDT to thyroxine because all that sudden T3 would upset me.
What experiences have people had?
Thank you!
Joeyis7
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Joeyis7
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Because I'd already taken Levo I actually started on a grain (65mg Nature Throid) and worked my way up from there (still working on it, actually).
I think you'd know very quickly if the T3 in Nature Throid was too much for you. I was fine with it - felt way better almost immediately - but knew within a week that I'd need more to maintain that feeling better feeling. I raised by another half a grain after two weeks, and after a few more weeks raised by another quarter.
The guidance I read said to start with a grain. I'll see if I can find it for you.
Theoretically it takes 6-8 weeks for the thyroxine to leave your system, so you should gradually increase the NDT to compensate. However as jazzw says, you will feel the difference quite quickly and be able to go by your symptoms. People on T3 can usually feel themselves 'running low' when they are due another dose, so your body will give you feeback on an hour-by-hour basis. You will need to listen to your body. Some people find they need to take a little bit more if they have done strenuous exercise too.
Firstly stop your levo for 2 weeks, it takes that long to grt it out of your system, its a storage hormone only. Start the NDT slowly, I started on 1/4 grain a day then built it up over a few months, I could not believe the difference! Even on a low dose I felt so much better.
You are obviously not taking enough. T4 lasts as has been said a long time it is essential that you stop the T4 at least 2 weeks before starting NDT.
I stopped levo and started NDT on 1/2 a grain a day. I had to increase in after a week to 1 and then again to 1.5 and up to 2 after about 8 weeks total. I would have done it quicker but my endo wouldn't allow it. I was on 75 levo and 8 Nutri Thyroid. Let me know how you get on with Nature Thyroid as Armour and endo is costing a fortune so I am considering self medicating! I does take 6 weeks to get out of your system so I wasn't as bad as I thought, but did need to increase it quite quickly.
Thank you all. I'm thinking of stopping the Nature Throid trial as I feel so much worse after five days on quarter of a grain twice daily. I cut my Levo from 250 to 200 and my intention was to gradually increase NDT and decrease Levo. If I were convinced that this swimmy, depressed, sluggish feeling and these terrible palpitations were just an unpleasant hurdle to overcome before reaching the broad sunlit uplands of wellbeing, no matter how far ahead in the future, I would endure them. But surely there is something wrong? Surely people cannot tolerate this? Five days has left me demoralised. 250 mcg levothyroxine was paradise compared to this, though I could not go for a walk. My results in summer showed
Free T3 .....5.1 (3.1-6.8)
Free T4.......31.92 (12-22)
TSH......0.010
Reverse T3.....35 (9-35)
I have high Reverse T3 because I raised my Levo dose between February and July from 12.5. Mcg yes, I mean twelve.....to 250 mcg. I was on 12.5 due to allergy to Mercury Pharma. Couldn't take more. Then I found Actavis and felt better, went on raising till I felt great! But the good feeling didn't last. My receptor cells are blocked but a trial of T3 wasn't tolerated by me.
I hoped to decrease RT3 very slowly on NDT, as Janie Bowthorpe writes can be done in STTM. I planned to take months, substituting NDT for Levo. But I have become discouraged today by horrible symptoms and a feeling that all is not well. I'm waiting for Dr P to write back to me after reading my (very weird) treatment diary. But that could weeks, as he is swamped with diaries. In the meantime, is there anyone who suffered bad symptoms on NDT, trudged through them and came out the other side smiling?
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