Should I increase T3 after a week?

[cal1971]

I have been on 20mcg of T3 and 50mcg of levo for a week now and feel no different. I'm still knackered!

I was previously on 125 / 150 levo daily.

Should I maybe add another 10mcg of T3, or is it too soon?

Thanks all.x

[Redditch]

It's not too soon. Take another 10

[Weeble1]

I would think you are under medicated now as it seems a big reduction in your Levo. When my endo put me onT3 20mcg my Levo was reduced by 50mcg.

[Clutter]

Cal1971,

I think it's too soon. T3 isn't an instant fix it can take a few weeks to build up T3 levels, metabolise and improve symptoms.

[SilverAvocado]

I agree that one week is a short time to feel a difference. I have felt differences in short times sometimes, but by short I mean in a week or two. Sometimes it takes several weeks or even months to see a benefit.

I tend to be overcautious, so I would hold on the one dose for 6 weeks and then have a blood test (if a GP won't do this, you can get it from Blue Horizon for around £50).

It is likely you will want an increase, as you have erred on the side of a lower dose with the introduction of T3. I think this is the right thing to do, it's better to start slightly low and then raise gently than go in too high and struggle with whether your symptoms are caused by hypo or hyper.

[Eddie83]

The half-life of T3 is pretty short: on the order of 12 hours. Six half-lives is about 3 days, so it seems reasonable to me to increase dose every 3-4 days. However I would not increase by 10mcg, that is 50% of the dose you are on now. I would go slow: increase by 5mcg. The nice thing about T3 is, if you get your dose to a point where it is too high and you start feeling hyper, you can go off T3 for one day and your hyper state quickly subsides.

[cal1971]

Hmmm- not sure now what to do. I think i'm going to up the levo to 75mcg and stay on the 20 mcg T3. I have a blood test in 3 weeks, but I'm worried the Dr might say it's not working and use that as an excuse to stop prescribing it.

[CSmithLadd in reply to cal1971]

I wouldn't up the Levo, instead, I'd raise the T3. To me, it is easier to use in order to figure out what your thyroid hormonal needs are, as Levo takes literally weeks and weeks to get the proper feedback. T3 gives you feedback right away: either not enough, enough, or too much!

T3 works fairly fast, you will feel improvement within hours when you are needing improvement and are taking an ample dose to facilitate adequate rise in thyroid hormone.

Adding more T3 is just fine for the situation you describe. In three or four days, if you have no noticeable improvement, increase it again. Do so until you feel you are definitely making improvement. From that point, as improvement increases, give yourself more time in between adding more.

If you ever notice any hyperthyroid symptoms, simply go back to the previous T3/Levo dose you were on before the symptoms occurred.

Hope this helps!