I've been taking T3 only for nearly 6 weeks now and am currently on 56.25mcg split over 3 doses a day. I'm not optimal yet, but am probably close. I've been following the Recovering With T3 protocol, and have over the last several month (when I was on NDT and also since taking T3) introduced various mineral and vitamins ... magnesium citrate, selenium, B12, iron, B complex, D3, K2, folate, and an adaptogen. I have found myself OK on magnesium, selenium and B12, but not so good on the others. I am low in iron and ferritin, D and folate and was low in B12 tho those levels have gone through the roof. I have high cortisol late night and early morning, but like I said feel awful when I take supplements to correct these. and recently diagnosed high blood pressure (since moving from Levo to alternative thyroid hormone treatment), so am taking BP meds now.
Every time I introduce some supplelents, I get nauseous, dizziness and pressure headaches. Everything I experience when taking the supplements I apparently need, goes against what I read. I actually feel worse instead of feeling better.
Just wondering if anyone has successfully moved to T3 only and felt better without additional supplements ... TIA
Jan
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JanKindon
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Jankindon, taking thyroid meds won't improve low vitamins and minerals. How low are ferritin, vitD and folate? B12 shoots up when supplementing but it's not a problem as excess is excreted in urine.
I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.
Hi Clutter, I'm aware that taking thyroid meds won't improve low vits n minerals ... I was just wondering if people managed to get on ok just on T3 only, without supplementing anything else. I feel good on T3 only but awful when I introduce vits n minerals, despite my low levels. I'm always loath to introduce vits n minerals as I always end up with the nausea, dizziness and headaches .. I've often put it down to all the inactive ingredients packed into pills. But through advice from various thyroid group pages on fb and reading literature in books and on the internet I often feel I should supplement what I'm low in, so give it a go and end up feeling worse than before I started supplementing. Perhaps I should just listen to my own body
Jankindon, If your levels are in normal range I agree, listen to your body and don't worry about optimising levels. Deficiency needs addressing though, particularly iron and vitD. D3 is available in drops and sprays which might be worth trying.
Already tried iron in sachet form, capsule form and pill form; and D3 in softgel form and liquid form, three times in the last few months. I feel so much better for not taking supplements. It goes against everything I read, but I simply can't see the point of taking supplements that make me feel worse. I have suspected right from the word go that I am simply intolerant to the fillers, or in respect of D3 possibly the lanolin it is produced from :/
JanKindon, absolutely no point in taking things which make you feel worse unless your life depends upon it. The Cambodian Iron Fish may help you raise iron/ferritin levels healthunlocked.com/thyroidu....
I am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions.
Wow, that just seems too good to be true, but I'll get myself one of them if I can find somewhere that sells them (not so easy I am finding) and see how I go, thanks Clutter
I feel good on T3 and also take supplements for deficiencies. I also felt good on a certain NDT too, so I know I have an option if necessary.
Instead of supplements maybe it would suit your body best if it can be done through food? Or maybe take one supplement for a while and see if it doesn't cause an affect. Then introduce the next one. If any one gives you a problem maybe switch to another brand as sometimes fillers/binders can affect some of us.
I hope you feel better soon and am sorry you also have high blood pressure at present.
Thanks shaws, I have gone the route of introducing supplements slowly ... I've been self-medicating my thyroid problem since mid March and introducing vits n minerals slowly over that time, stopping them when I've felt pants and re-introducing them a few weeks or even months later. I've been fine on magnesium citrate and selenium but as soon as I introduce any other supplement that's when it all goes awry. I'm ok for a week or so and then the dizziness, nausea and headaches start (forever to be known as DNS) I was monitoring my BP, temp and pulse, several times a day as per the RWT3 protocol when raising a dose and that's when I discovered high BP .... popped off to the doc for some BP meds and the DNS stopped so I thought it had to be the high BP causing it. Sadly not as my BP is now regulated and normal and the DNS is back. I've stopped taking all supplements now for a few days, so fingers crossed the awful symptoms stop soon.
I hope that resolves some of your problems. It's a bit off-putting when taking supplements to help us get better and we begin to feel worse. Do you take them about 4 hours apart from any thyroid meds.
Yup I followed the letter of the law strictly, taking iron 4 hours away from thyroid hormones and also D3 and my HRT 4 hours away from thyroid hormones too
That's good Jan. That's why it's best to introduce one thing at a time for a few weeks so that we know which to drop from our regime if we're not improving.
Thanks Shaws, I'm now just taking T3 only, my high BP meds (only been an issue since ditching levo) which I was prescribed a few weeks ago, Omeprazole which I take when I really have to (despite trying to wean off them for several months and trying everything under the sun to help my reflux without success), rhinitis meds and nasal spray, and ibs meds once in a blue moon. I've converted to lactose free milk, butter, cheese and have a lactose enzyme to take when I want to eat normal dairy and am trying to reduce the gluten laden foods, tho that is hard as the gluten free options are simply vile lol.
I feel my best move is to quite simply not take any supplements as my body just doesn't like it
"II am not a medical professional and this information is not intended to be a substitute for medical guidance from your own doctor. Please check with your personal physician before applying any of these suggestions"
Yea I've low stomach acid, but because I've been taking Omeprazole for several years. I've tried Betaine HCL with pepsin, it made the reflux worse, and various other alternative supplements. I eat a handful of almonds every day (one of the alternative remedies) and they help a little but coconut oil, pure lemon juice, apple cider vinegar with mother, deglyccherized licorice, the Betaine HCL and god knows what else I've tried that I can't remember have never worked lol
Jan, the T3-only protocol doesn't work for everyone, and makes some people quite ill. It sounds like you're in that category. If T4-only made you sick, did you ever try combining T4 with T3, or taking plain NDT first? If your BP was not high before, but is now, then you should not be taking that much T3. Here's a different point of view you should read: tiredthyroid.com/rt3.html
I think you have got the wrong end of the stick HIFL ... I'm doing great on T3, it's the supplements that make me feel awful. I've no symptoms of reverse T3, in fact I feel the best I have for a long time on any thyroid hormone
I was on Levo for about 15 years, and was ok for about 8 or 9 then hypo symptoms crept back in. I got sick of my GP's fobbing me off with 'your levels are normal's and researched alternatives and changed to NDT only mid March this year. I found that even slight dose rises caused me to become hyper and yet reverting back to my previous dose would cause hypo symptoms to raise their ugly heads again. Not long back I changed to the synthetic T4/T3 combo but Levo made me feel hypo again so I decided on T£ only and have felt good on that, bar still being tired and crashing occasionaly, but I'm not quite optimal yet
Do the supplements that cause problems have any fillers in common? And do the supplements that you do cope with have those fillers in? It might be worth checking, just to see if it gives any clues.
Yup loads of fillers in common, magnesium stearate, cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose are the most common fillers between many. And I have read that mag stearate can be toxic, so did wonder whether just taking the odd supplement with certain fillers is ok and I can tolerate it, but when I hadd several others the build up of specific fillers makes me feel awful.
The liquid D3 has only orange flavouring and sunflower oil, I have wondered if I am intolerant of the lanolin that the D3 is produced from.
I have to put it all down to the simple fact I cannot tolerate bombarding my poor ole body with loads of supplements and I will take the meds I need to keep me as healthy as possible and any extra vits/minerals/sunshine hormone I will have to hope I can get as much as I can as naturally as possible.
Hi Jan, I'm on T3 only and self inject B12 - I take all the usual folate, ferritin, magnesium, Vit D, K2, B complex supplements but the thing I really feel weird over is if my potassium is too low - my husband can take one look at me and gets a glass of coconut water and puts it in front of me (I'm allergic to bananas) within thirty minutes I feel better - you don't mention potassium supplements - do you know your levels? X
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