t3/t4 combined pill

[ritecharm]

Hi, today I met a thyroid specialist who thinks I do have a conversion issue and put me on a combined t3/t4 pill. He thinks it will help me with my neurological issues that I have for almost a year ( twitching, vibrations, carpal and cubital tunnel syndrome etc). If any one taking the combined pill with similar symptoms or in general , has it helped you ?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

For those of us in the UK there is no T4/T3 combo thyroid replacement available on the NHS although some of us take both Levo and T3.

[SAMBS in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi Seaside Susie, interesting, your reply to ritecharm - re the T3 with Levo. T3 is the one thing not showing on my blood test result asked for by my new medical centre here in UK. See my post written yesterday re my results, and headed "Back to Square 1?......." I hadn't asked for any of the specific tests, it was the Surgery Nurse - after I registered and she was my 1st appointment at the Centre.

So if no result, how will they know if T3 needed or not? My last french result posted here, I think T3 was a little out of range, but that's a while ago and has disappeared from my files, along with other papers not health related. Pm me with reply to T3 query. Sambs x

[helvella Administrator]

You'll find very few here on the sort of combined pill you are talking about. Such products do not exist at all in the UK, and the USA product(s) have not been available for many years. There might be a few people getting them in or from oher countries.

However, quite a lot of people here take desiccated thyroid tablets which contain both T4 and T3. (There are endless discussions of the differences between the synthetic tablets and the desiccated thyroid tablets. Basically, though, both are combined products.)

[greygoose]

I live in France, and I took a combine pill for a couple of years. And, yes, it did help. I actually started to lose a little weight, after putting so much on with levo only. But, there wasn't enough T3 in it for me, and my doctor at the time wouldn't prescribe T3 on its own - because he didn't 'know what it was'! (pathetic!) - so, I changed doctors and moved on to NDT. And, frankly, I was better on the synthetic T4/T3 pill, than I was on the supposedly 'natural' NDT. I'm on T3 only, now.

[ritecharm]

I live in Germany and apparently it's used here. Doctor has not offered me pure t3

[Hidden in reply to ritecharm]

OK, so you are on Novothyral then? Or some equivalent drug (I think there are at least two T3/T4 drugs in Germany if I'm not mistaken). I used to take Novothyral about ten years ago, before switching to NDT, and it was much better than T4 only. It's definitely cheaper than NDT which does not seem to be reimbursed under any health care system.

[helvella Administrator]

Just a general point:

There have broadly been two approaches to T4/T3 combined tablets. One approach is to make them with a 10:1 ratio of T4:T3 - which is claimed to be somewhere near what we make ourselves when heathly.[1] The other approach has been to reproduce the the ratio of about 4.2:1 found in desiccated thyroid products.

[1] More recent research papers call this into question. Some suggest our thyroids actually make significantly more than this.

[ritecharm]

Mine is this 10:1 pill. Any ways for me it's bit assuring to get some thing else than pure t4 and steered by tsh. This is how I had been managed till now since being diagnosed three years back

[Alejandrita17]

Hi ritecharm, how are you coping nowadays? I have the SAME symptoms as you, and I need advice!!