Levothyroxine and liothyronne ,

[Maggiemay12]

Started on 50mg off Levothyroxine and 10 mg off the T3 and felt terrible ,so trying to alternate between 50 Levothyroxine and 1 1/2 of the T3 ,so probably getting about 7 1/2 mcg of T3 as cutting a 5mcg tablet and next day 75 mg off Levothyroxine and 5 mcg T3 ,can't add more T3 as feel terrible , feel ill in morning and take this at 6 o'clock every morning to about lunch time and start to feel a lot better but worse on the 50mg morning ,can't up any more as doctor says to allow 6 weeks for body to adjust as was on Nature thyroid but the T3 combination was slightly too much. any advice please ,

[shaws Administrator]

Maybe miss a dose of T4 altogether for one day (it has a long half-life) and take T3 only.

10mcg of T3 is around 30mcg of levothyroxine and might not be sufficient to last to the next day but if your 10mcg makes you feel better I'd take another 10mcg and be apt to try 20mcg only T3 next day.

Your dose is extremely small but if you're having a bad reaction it might be to the levo and not T3.

I was very unwell on levo and some people cannot tolerate it. It is trial and error unfortunately. I'm fine now on T3 only.

I confirmy I'm not medically qualified - only can go by my own experience.

[Maggiemay12 in reply to shaws]

T3 makes me ill when I start it ,takes ages for me to adjust to it then feel great ,

[shaws Administrator in reply to Maggiemay12]

Have you tried T3 only without levo?. Did you take T3 when you'd already taken levo?

[Maggiemay12 in reply to shaws]

I take the two together in morning , I. Was ill for ages on NDT ,but then I was good but I could feel too much T3 for them for me . I was on just Levothyroxine in the beginning but was up and down with tiredness

[marsaday]

T3 is best used in small doses. This means 5mcg or 6.25mcg depending on the size of tablet being used. The body makes about 1-2mcg per hour. so using the small dose best mimics what the body does.

I have found my body reacts best to T3 if i take it in the late afternoon. In the past my body didn't like it in the morning at all.

The same can be said of the T4 as well. The timing really makes a difference to how it works for me. I take the T4 at bedtime (100mcg) and it works much better than if i took it in the morning. I also take 25 T4 at about 4pm and again this dose works really well (just like the T3 would do). I only use T3 sporadically now because the T4 does seem to be all i need.

In the past i have been on 150 T4 doses and as high as 200mcg. They never seemed to work so well for me and i think the timing was one of the reasons. It is all so complicated to try and get balanced on which ever thyroid meds you choose to take.

The best approach is to trial and error different times and different doses.

[Maggiemay12 in reply to marsaday]

Thanks for that info ,I was thinking off taking the Levothyroxine at night time as I used to do this many years ago as it worked better but was unsure about the T3 if I take it at night or on its own in afternoon .

[Maggiemay12 in reply to marsaday]

Thanks so much for info about taking T3 Not in morning and to try in afternoon ,what a difference by just doing this , I feel so much better ,thanks again ,why don't doctors tell you this ,!!!!!

[marsaday]

I can't say whether taking T3 at night will be useful. The only way to find out is to try one night. I have tried the T3 at bedtime and it was ok, but i can't say it made much positive difference. some people it may keep awake.

Trial and error is the way to go.

I would do the T4 at bedtime and try the T3 at 4pm and see what happens.

[marsaday]

Great news. I am so pleased another person has been able to mess around with the timings to produce different results.

The doctors know so little about this illness. The only way to get better is to take control of the illness, research and trial different aspects.

When using thyroid hormones the feedback you get from changes can be pretty quick. T4 can take a little longer to give you answers, but T3 tells you within a few hours.

So because of this we can chop and change quite quickly to try and establish best patterns of practise.

[Maggiemay12 in reply to marsaday]

Can't sleep to about 4 in morning when on only 50mg off Levothyroxine and 1 1/2 5mcg off the T3 which is about 7.5 mcg ,sleep ok on the other dose that I take of 75 Levothyroxine and 5mcg of T3 although I wake up a few times but ok. Can't understand why I am not sleeping ,take my tablets in morning and T3 round 1.30 ,any advice ,

[marsaday]

Can you be clearer with what T3 you take. Please just state the mgs amount.

Everything is ok on 75 T4 and 5 T3 ?

BUT on 50 T4 and 7.5 T3 you cannot sleep ?

You may have too little thyroid meds in your system and so your body is reacting to produce more cortisol or adrenaline and so this keeps you awake.

I would try taking the T4 at bedtime as mentioned.

Stick with the T3 in the afternoon.

You just need to try different combinations to try and get balanced. I cannot say what will work for you. So by trying different levels at different times you can hopefully narrow in on what works. This will not take a few days to sort out, more like months to a year i imagine.

[Maggiemay12 in reply to marsaday]

Doctor wants me to take 50 mg of Levothyroxine and 10mcg of the T3 tablets every day but it was too much T3 for me so trying to up the Levothyroxine a bit and get a balance to stay at for a few weeks to see how I feel ,so maybe have to try 10mg with the50 levy and see if sleep improves .

[marsaday]

The good thing with T4/T3 is you can work out what ratio suits you the best. Try and get as much from the GP as you can and then just work out your own routine over time. Certainly try taking less meds as this can help guide you. If you feel loads worse on less then this indicates you do need more. The sleep may settle down. All trial and error though.