For all those who say they can't tolerate T3...or get it from GP or consultant....

[juliat]

For all those who say they can't tolerate T3...

Don't take it at night! ( unless you don't want to sleep or enjoy nightmares)  just a small dose ...10mcg in the morning with some T4 (mine is 150mcg T4 and 10mcg T3 once a day in morning.  Thyroid profile all in normal range. On this dose, over time, even suppressed TSH has come into range - so they can't keep banging on about the dangers of a supressed TSH ! (that goes for me and my daughter too - specialist says they often see that given enough time)

25mcg is a hefty dose of T3 .  START VERY SMALL AND BUILD UP VERY SLOWLY IN THE MORNING ONLY AND DON'T ADD IT TO YOUR USUAL T4 DOSE, DROP THAT SLIGHTLY   (Too much T4 will give you all the syptoms of overdose)   I reckon that is why so many conultants can get away with saying T3 doesn't suit you. They start you off too high and tell you to take it in split doses.

( suggest they try it! )

don't give up on getting it , EITHER AS A NEW PATIENT OR AS AN ONGOING PATIENT from a consultant....see my posts about CCG etc...GP's can prescribe it, consultants can presribe it. The Royal College of Physicians have taken the 2015                                      British Thyroid Association paper on management of primary Hypothyroidism as their protocol ( read it thoroughly, with a highlighter pen in hand, if you need it you can get it, CCG drug traffic light system is guidance only.  There is shared care agreement if your CCG has classed Liothyronine as a red drug or Individual funding if they have classed it as aconsultant red drug and ' not recommend'

follow my posts if you want to know if we succeed in continuing to get T3 on prescription after GP has removed from our repeats after CCG classed as red drug

[Jose651]

Hi juliat, 

I have just started adding a little T3 to my Levo. My dose was 100/125mcg Levo and I dropped it to 100mcg.  The T3 I have is 25mcg so I cut it into 4 and am taking 6.25mcg at night and another 6.25 mcg with the 100 mcg Levo early morning. 

I feel no difference but my last bloods showed above range  rT3. Any advice would be appreciated.

I do hope you and your daughter get your repeats reinstated. How long have you been taking T3.

J

[jimh111]

I find the opposite.  It is the night time dose of L-T3 that is critical.  Too little and I tend to get to sleep easily but keep waking up.  Too much and I find it difficult to get to sleep.  With the right dose I fall asleep OK and just wake up once or twice for a moment, pretty normal I guess.

I do have more vivid dreams on L-T3, they seem to be in sharper focus.  This is followed by being much more refreshed the following day with no brain fog and able to concentrate.  The brain is very active during sleep, particularly during dream and I suspect it needs T3 to work well.

Also taking T3 containing medication at bedtime is a good way of assessing your dose.  If you can't get to sleep you are taking too much.

[Parbrook]

I think that there is no single reaction after taking T3.

Some people have posted noticing a boost after their T3 dose, or having sleeping difficulties with taking T3 at night, while others have not experienced these.

I have not noticed either of these reactions after taking T3 (currently, 30mcg with 50mcg T4), regardless of time of day.

[Clutter]

Juliat,

I take 20mcg T3 on waking and a 10mcg dose at bedtime.  It doesn't keep me away and I'm not disturbed by dreams which I very rarely recall.

If someone has FT4 top of range they may need to reduce T4 dose slightly when adding T3 to avoid over medication but why would someone with mid-range or low FT4 need to reduce dose?  The reason patients are advised to split T3 dose is to even out the peaks which cause temporary over medication after ingesting T3.

Has your CCG agreed to reinstate your prescription?

[humanbean]

When I was taking T3 I found I needed to take a small amount of it at night to help me get to sleep. And I had to take that last dose of the day just as I turned my light out to go to sleep and no earlier. Taking it an hour or two before bed was hopeless, and kept me awake.

[jimh111]

This is a good strategy.  fT3 normally peaks around 3 am, being about 6% higher than at 3 pm (I think it's 6%, I'm going from memory).