What dose Cytomel to start with

[Nicole6]

My endo says that I'm not converting t4 to t3 but he does not have anything but Veterans Administration meds to give me so I'm thinking about buying Cytomel online. I know they come in 50mcg tablets.

[Issy]

Many people take 25mcg early am, 12.4 at 10am and 12.5 at 3pm. A single dose during the day doesnt seem as effective.

[galathea]

What is veterans administration? Why isn't he giving you t3.. Liothyronine?

G xx

[langdocienne]

When I was in Crete, came back last week, I bought plenty of T3, the uni pharma brand made in Greece. I take normally 125/150mcg T4 daily at night, best time for me, and now have reduced the T4 to 100mcg, and take 1x 25mcg T3 in the morning, and 12.5mcg afternoon. If I am going out, will take another 12.5mcg. I had advice from another person on here, that the new ratio of T4 to T3 was 3:1, normally they were saying 4:1. It does give me extra energy, used to take an energy pill to go out, now don't need it. Swam for England in Crete, couldn't have done that before. Everyone just has to work out how they feel on different doses. I don't know where to buy the cytomel, but if you know someone going to Greece, get them to buy you some if possible.

[teenarocks]

My endo prescribes only 5 mcg. Cytomel. She said it has been shown the body uses around 6 mcg. per day. It has worked for me. After 20 years on Synthroid alone I finally feel better. Stopped the Synthroid and am taking brand only Levoxyl. Right now on 88 mcg but she may decrease it to 75 mcg if TSH is still too low with next tests. I don't know how anyone could take 25 or 50 mcg Cytomel. It must feel like you're on an amphetamine. Be careful with too much. Your heart could be compromised over the long term.

[robbie0710 in reply to teenarocks]

How do you like levoxyl? I'm thinking of switching from generic to levoxyl.

[robbie0710 in reply to robbie0710]

And how are you doing with the cytomel. Looks like this is the path my endocrinologist may be taking. My free T4 is high while T3 is low. Understand that this happens alot when using only T4 meds.

[teenarocks in reply to robbie0710]

I am very happy with Levoxyl. My endo says I should only take the brand. She said the generics are not reliable for dosage and you could be getting a different generic manufacturer at different times depending on what the pharmacy has in stock. So to be sure you are getting the same dose all the time ask the doc to order "Brand necessary". I have struggled for many years. I was on Synthroid. It was not good for me. Finally I've found an endo who seem to understand that and switched me to Levoxyl with which I have been much better. Also she added the Cytomel which I think has made a tremendous difference. A chiro I was going to told me I was a poor converter of T4 to T3 after some testing he did. So taking the T3 in Cytomel has been a great relief. However she did say I don't need the brand in the Cytomel. So I've been getting a generic T3. Good luck to you. I hope you find what's right for you.

[sulamaye in reply to teenarocks]

It doesn't make you feel like you r on speed if u need t3 only because t4 is converting to rt3 or pooling. I used to take 20 mcgs on top of 175 mcgs of t4 and never felt speedy. Now I am t3 only and currently on 60mcg which my endo says is not a big dose. It all depends why u need it. Your body is constantly converting t4 into t3 so u will certainly use far more than 5 mcg over a day.

[Nicole6 in reply to teenarocks]

teenarocks,

Thank you for the tip. I ordered 100 100mcg tabs of Cytomel because it was the only size the site that didn't require a prescription offered. I need to find a different site or try to find a way to split it 10 ways. LOL

[jacrjacr in reply to Nicole6]

can you pm where u got it

[Eddie83]

Cytomel comes in 5mcg, 25mcg, and 50mcg. I would not attempt to use the 50mcg tabs unless you are planning on being on T3-only. Of course the price per mcg is less for the bigger dose tabs. I am on Cytomel+Levoxyl at 15mcg+75mcg, one dose per day. To keep cost as low as possible, I use one-half of a 25mcg tab plus one-half of a 5mcg tab.

If you have no idea how you are going to respond, I would not start with a daily dose higher than 5 or 6.25 mcg.

[Nicole6 in reply to Eddie83]

Hi,

I am going to try the t3 alone because my endo said that I am having trouble converting t4 to t3. I was going to start at 50mcg and see how I feel.

Thanks.

[Eddie83 in reply to Nicole6]

Keep in mind that taking T3 is going to drive your TSH down. That means your own thyroid is going to produce less T4, which you also need. It is certainly possible to support yourself on T3-only (I did it for over a year on 5*12.5mcg doses daily), but there are benefits to having a decent level of T4 in your system. On that high a dose of T3 (and that is a lot to *start* with), I predict you are going to have to use some T4 or NDT.

[Clutter]

Welcome to the forum, Nicole6.

Cytomel is available in 25mcg. Buy a pillcutter and quarter the tablet into 6.25mcg doses. You can add 6.25mcg to your Levothyroxine dose. You may need to increase to 12.5mcg after a couple of weeks. Most people split12.5mcg into 2 doses 6-12 hours apart. You should stick with the dose for 6 weeks and have a FT3 blood test to check levels before increasing further. FT3 should remain within range.

[Nicole6]

LOL, These are 100mcg tabs.

[jacrjacr]

is their any way your dr will put you on natural thyroid meds from porcine like nature throid or armour?

[buffett8080]

I have worked for three VA facilities. The VA has Armour Thyroid on formulary, as well as Liothyronine. Just ask him/her to look it up. They can also write you prescriptions that you can take to your local pharmacy. Armour is cheap...not sure about Liothyronine without insurance.