T3 only & clearing advice

[Ebs73]

Hello everyone. I'd like some advice about rt3 clearing and what to look out for, reducing dose etc... if needs be. I am doing quite well after coming off nutri thyroid which I tried for over a year. Unfortunately I became increasingly hypo after seeing a small improvement iinitially. I had no money to return to Dr P as I've not worked much in a year & a half due to ill health. I did hours of research and decided to try t3 only as I literally felt like I was dieing again. My GP said (as per usual) they're prepared to give me tranquilizers, pain killers, anti inflammatories, sleeping pills, anti biotics, anti depressants , hormone pills, you name it but not the one pill that has helped me! ? Also after years of nutrition research I was on an optimum grain free, cow dairy free, refined sugar free diet plus supplements plus regular exerciser and when my symptoms got really bad I was told it was my age (37 at the time) I was told to eat less & exercise more. My official diagnosis is fibro & CF. 😬

Thanks in advance . 👍

[shaws Administrator]

Don't worry too much about RT3 as it is a normal phenomenon as described in this link:-

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

Go to the date March 24, 1999 to read the question/answer.

Re Fibro etc. Usually, I think, if your TSH doesn't quite 'fit' you may be diagnosed with an alternative.

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

web.archive.org/web/2010103...

[Clutter]

Ebs73,

Do you have thyroid results and ranges to share?

Nutri-Thyroid is an over the counter supplement and it is questionable whether it has any active hormone in it let alone sufficient to cause high rT3 which is usually a result of unconverted T4. If you are taking T3 only it won't convert to rT3.

[Ebs73 in reply to Clutter]

Hi there, I only have t4 & tsh which have been done each yr since I had my son 20 yrs ago this is when I 1st felt seriously fatigued & not myself always deemed normal although very symptomatic according to Dr P who I saw in Aug 2015 I was always mildly hypo & a difficult pregnancy & Labour triggered more symptoms. He also said my adrenals were shot & I was put on adrenal extra & nutri thyroid . Which I took for over a year.

My last t4 (about a month ago) was 10.6 & tsh was 1.91

When I went to see him the results were from 2014 & my t4 was 11.3 & tsh was 2.89

Something in the nutri thyroid gave me heart palps I know it'd very weak compared to other makes but I was on 5 a day and still hypo symptoms prevailed . I've seen more improvements on t3 in a much shorter time.

Thanks for replying . ☺

[Clutter in reply to Ebs73]

Ebs73,

Do you have the lab ranges (the figures in brackets) for the T4 result you had done last month and were you taking NutriThyroid or T3 when you were tested?

As you are taking T3 you really need FT3 tested in addition to TSH. FT4 will be low/below range when you take T3 only.

[Ebs73 in reply to Clutter]

I can only find these numbers beside the test results 0.30-4.20 tsh

9.0-23.0 free t4

This was actually done in August this year when I was still on the NDT . I asked for a ft3 but my gp refused me. I will get full bloods done when I start working again .

[Clutter in reply to Ebs73]

Ebs73,

That is what I meant by ranges. If the ranges for the results you had done a month ago are the same your FT4 was low in range and TSH a bit high. Taking T3 only will give a very different result. TSH will be a lot lower if you are taking sufficent dose and FT4 will drop below range eventually. FT3 should remain within range.

[Ebs73 in reply to Clutter]

I have been advised by gp to get my bloods done every 6 weeks or so and so am due to get them done soon but he wont do ft3 so I'll have to wait for that one . Then I'll be able to see what the t3 only has done to my levels. Thanks for your help. 👍

[anjuliet]

I only managed to get T3 on NHS after being referred to a consultant at the hospital (two consultants before the next one decided to place me on a trial basis - this was two and a half years ago). Before that, it took me 15 years, five different GPs telling me to eat less and exercise more, until one of them finally referred me, all because I insisted on trying ndt.

[Ebs73 in reply to anjuliet]

Hi, I'mself treating after over a year on NDT the symptoms have been insane and I was very worried . My C.F.specialist said it was dangerous to take supplements and that people who do die younger! My gp wasn't much better so after seeing Dr P & a naturapathic gp who both confirmed adrenal fatigue & hypothyroidism I decided to keep self treating. Ssdly neither of them can write prescriptions and my gp refused point blank to let me have t3 on prescription . My symptoms started in earnest after I had my son .

[anjuliet in reply to Ebs73]

Do both Dr P and the naturopath gp know you're self-medicating? What about your gp who refused to let you have t3, does he or she know as well?

[Clutter in reply to anjuliet]

Anjuliet,

If you read the thread properly you will see that NHS have NOT banned prescribing of T3 but some CCGs have.

[anjuliet in reply to Clutter]

Okay, I stand corrected. I have edited my post.

[Ebs73 in reply to anjuliet]

Hi, I've not been working so haven't had the money to go back to either of them. They both knew I'd tried NDT before but not about my recent addition. My gp does know and my C.F. specialist knows but neither will agree to provide me with a prescription . I will write to Dr P to let him know I'm now on t3 instead.

[anjuliet in reply to Ebs73]

Maybe your GP and C.F. specialist are wary because they know of the NDT...?

[Ebs73 in reply to anjuliet]

Hi, they purported not to know anything about NDT or any other supplements such as adrenal extra . they both have said there's no such thing as adrenal fatigue. I don't care what they say now I was on so many drugs from the age of seven that I no longer accept their pills, as I stated earlier they've offered me tranquilizers, pain killers, anti inflammatories, sleeping pills, anti biotics, anti depressants , hormone pills, none of which helped at all in fact for me diet pillsthey gave me nearly killed me, metformin possibly contributed to my chronic B12 deficiency & until I tried a strict diet & supplements & exercise I felt like I was dieing! Then even that stopped working and NDT & adrenal extra etc... at least helped I was in a very bad way when I went to see Dr P!

[Eddie83]

While I was on T3-only, I found I was doing well at about 0.82mcg/kg body weight. Taken as five 12.5mcg doses over the day. I am now on T3+T4, and that seems to be working. I take a lot of nutritional supplements, such as trace minerals (e.g. selenium is needed for deiodinase enzymes).

As far as rT3 clearing, that is an experimental process. I ran into some people on the old RT3-T3 mailing list who did not expect to ever be able to get off T3-only. Everytime they tried to go back on T4 again, they would go back to the same nasty place. If you go back on T4, be prepared to go off it again if it doesn't work.

Have you read any of what the late Dr. John Lowe wrote about the role of hypothyroidism in fibro? He was a staunch advocate of T3 for fibro. For instance, this link from STTM:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/f...

Unfortunately, Lowe's book "The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia" is no longer in print, and only available at a ridiculous price.

[Ebs73 in reply to Eddie83]

Hi, thanks for the reply . I am doing ok on t3 it's early days yet. I'm aware of John Lowe's stuff unfortunately I forgot all about him til quite recently & as I wasn't doing so well at the time I was lucky that Dr Mercola played an old interview of him a few months ago and I re-watched it & it reminded me about the whole fybro thing. So I looked at what other people have found out & it seemed a sensible thing to try. it's a big shame that his book is between £89-999 on Amazon I would have enjoyed reading it.

[Eddie83 in reply to Ebs73]

worldcat.org claims it is available from 15 libraries, world wide. Of course chances of one being near you, are low.