What is this T3 and is it better than Levothyroxine and if so why?

[Roxy_68]

Hi everbody..I'm new here and this is my first time posting, I don't understand what T3 and T4 means could someone please explain it to me? I keep hearing T3 is best medication wise but don't even know what it is. All I know is I have hypothyroidism and take 100mg Levothyroxine for it. I have had it about 17 years. Is there something better medication wise out there that I'm missing out on? Thanks.

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Check out the home page:

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/index....

[shaws Administrator]

Welcome to your first post. When we are first diagnosed as being hypothyroid we are given levothyroxine.

There are two main thyroid hormones in our healthy bodies, one is thyroxine (T4) and one is liothyronine (T3). T4 is the inactive hormone and converts to T3 which is the active hormone in all of our receptor cells and drives our metabolism.

When we are diagnosed with hypothyroidism we are prescribed levothyroxine which is a synthetic thyroid hormone and it is also called T4.

Thousands do well on levothyroxine but some don't recover their health as they would like so some doctors add a little T3 to the patient's levo (T4).

Others who don't find themselves improving on levothyroxine find many doctors or endocrinologists refuse to add some T3 on a trial basis so some buy it themselves and self-medicate.

It's not necessarily that one is better than another but that a combination suits some people more and they feel well.

So my question is 'how do you feel on 100mcg of levothyroxine' ? That's the main question. Also we have to have our minerals/vitamins at an optimum level as well.

[Glynisrose]

You should naturally convert T4 to the active T3 naturally but if you don't then you might need to take T3. If you exercise you use up T3 and your whole body needs it.

[SilverAvocado]

You might also hear NDT mentioned. This stands for Natural Desiccated Thyroid, and is derived from pig (or bovine) thyroids. It contains both T4 and T3, the storage and active form, and because it comes from an actual thyroid, it also contains all the trace bits and pieces you won't find in the synthetic version.

Much like T3, some people find they need this, and it works much better for them. It's almost non-existent on the NHS, and most self-medicate.

[Roxy_68]

Hi again. Thank you Shaw for the warm welcome and thank you to you all for taking the time to reply. Cinnamon_girl. I didn't realise this info was already on available on here, not quite worked out how to navigate the site properly on his phone version yet.

To Shaws: I feel fine on Levothyroxine I guess, I certainly have not had any negative impact from it, although I am always tired and lethargic but i'm not sure if thats the Levo not working properly anymore or the weight gain and Rheumatoid arthritis I've had for the past 14 years. I know that I was very poorly with all the symptoms before finally being diagnosed, however pretty much the moment I took the Levothyroxine I could already feel the improvements happening. I did used to be on on 125mg then years later it dropped to 75mg but now is at 100mg and has been for about 7 years. So I guess that T3 means no difference for me but as I didn't know what it was and kept reading that people wanted to be put on it or were buying it privately to self medicate I thought it was something that I needed and that was going to make me feel better than I do. Again Thank you for the replies. xx