T3 how to take

[Gcart]

How do i take T3 is it with food/emtpy stomach? I would be grateful for your help

[shaws Administrator]

Gcart - I wouldn't rush to take T3 at present. I've looked at your profile page and you only joined in June after having a thyroidectomy in February.

When we take thyroid hormones they must be increased very gradually and I expect you were feeling bad on levothyroxine. Doctors don't appear to be aware of how unwell we can be.

I don't know whether you are contemplating taking T3 only or adding some to levothyroxine. It is not straightforward when taking thyroid hormone replacements and it has to be done very slowly, step-by-step.

Can you give me some more information, please, as many (when they feel awful on levo) find just adding some T3 does the trick.

[Gcart in reply to shaws]

Thank you both for reply. I am waiting on blue hprizen blood tests, they say it would be a couple of weeks as i am having RT3 done. I will post and hope for thoughts on them .at first on T4 i thouhgt i was doing ok. But now for a couple of months muscle pains very bad, eyes give me problems sleep problem and cant think straight. I am seeing GP today. I will let you know. Very disappiomted in Endo no letter since thyroidectomy so Gp only has what I was told 2 weeks after op by surgeon. Made phone calls and written !! I am ready with T3 from Greece, but I will not take til had help from here or maybe GP😐. I will be cautious . Thanks again.

[shaws Administrator in reply to Gcart]

You can add some T3 to a reduced T4.

Doctors/Endos have mistakenly believed that T4 is the 'perfect' solution and leave us to 'get on with it' even if we cannot function as we used to and I developed more clinical symptoms than I had with a TSH of 100.

Some prescribe Anti-d's instead when we desperately need thyroid hormones but, according to the blood tests, we are on sufficient - which is untrue. They also fail to understand the purpose of thyroid hormones so we have to do the ground-work ourselves:-

hormonerestoration.com/

hormonerestoration.com/Thyr...

How wealthy the pharmaceutical companies are when we are provided 'other' meds for our symptoms instead of a decent thyroid hormone, plus if in the UK, the NHS pays dearly for the 'extras' which might be completely unnecessary.

[heathermr]

I take my T3 by dissolving it under my tongue as it stops any issues with food problems. It dissolves very quickly, does not taste of anything and gets the T3 into the blood stream where it works best and flows around the body quickly. It works well for me as I take mine in several doses during the day. Just remember to start slowly and only increase any dose in small stages and wait at least a couple of months before making any more changes.

Heather

[Gcart]

Thank you heathermr

[Eddie83]

Preferably on empty stomach, 1 hour before or 2 hours after eating. Because T3 has a short half-life (about 12 hours in my case), I don't see that increasing by a small amount (e.g. 2.5mcg) every 2-3 days is a problem. If you are adding T3 to a T4 regimen, just make sure you aren't on an inappropriately high dose of T4 before starting T3, otherwise you may discover the unpleasant truth that the only thing worse than hypothyroid, is hyperthyroid. I usually suggest that T4 intake not be over the Abbott T4-only full replacement dose of 1.7mcg/kg body weight, and confirming where you are on T4 with lab testing before starting T3, is preferable. I find taking all my T3 and T4 once/day works very well for me, but that doesn't work for everyone.

However, if you are going onto a T3-only program, you should probably space your T3 out over the day. When I was on T3-only, I took five 12.5mcg doses spread out between getting up, and going to bed. Like the late John Lowe, it might be possible for you to tolerate all T3 as one daily dose, but I don't suggest that.

[Gcart]

Thanks Eddie83 saw Gp today. When not so tired will pass on what he said

[reneeh63]

Preferably an empty stomach - but also away from caffeinated beverages and dairy (calcium interferes).

Sublingual won't HURT, but the molecules in T3 are too large to be absorbed sublingually so they'll just end up in your stomach as if you'd swallowed it. So if you still want to do sublingual, you still need to avoid food because it is NOT going directly into your bloodstream.