Hi, I have been on levothyroxine for about 10 years now - I'm a 55 yr old single mother of a 13 year old boy - and am also on combined HRT and have been for the past 5 years. No problems with blood pressure or history of heart disease or cancer in the family. My problem is that while I did see an improvement in my fatigue symptoms when I first started taking T4, for a long time now I have gone backwards on this although I've never quite reached the levels of exhaustion I was at before my diagnosis. However, I don't feel that my levels of concentration have ever really improved to any extent making things like reading books a virtual impossibility. I did manage to lose 3 and a half stone by adopting a very low calorie total meal replacement diet (600 cals a day) in 2011 but when I stopped this the weight has now all gone back on, plus another stone. I had a check up on my levels just last week and was told everything was fine but once again, when I mentioned my constant tiredness it was brushed off.
Almost two years ago now I went to see my GP because I really thought I was depressed as I never had any energy to do anything, had no interest in doing anything in any case, suffered from constant brain fog and poor memory.
Last night I saw Trust Me I'm A Doctor on BBC 1 and for the first time ever heard about T3. I am going to make an appointment with my GP to ask about being prescribed T3 but am worried that I'll just be brushed off so want to know that if I buy T3 online what would be a safe dose to take with my current T4 dosage.
I used to be the sort of person who put make-up on as habitually as cleaning my teeth and my house was clean and tidy. Now, as I write this at 3pm in the afternoon, I am still in the clothes I threw on this morning to do the school run and there are two bags of shopping still lying the middle of the kitchen floor from 18 hours ago because I just can't be bothered to put the stuff away. I must have walked around those two bags about 40 times but they're still there.
I will go and get a shower shortly as I have to pick up my son and take him to football training but frankly, if it wasn't for him, I think I'd be much worse. Because of him I force myself to do certain things like keeping a reasonable standard of domestic cleanliness (but nowhere close to how I used to be) and cooking proper food.
Having found out about T3 I am desperate to try this in combination with my T4 to see if this is what I need to reclaim the woman I used to be.
Any help would be much appreciated. I am Cardiff.
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Cardiff-Cate
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If you post your recent thyroid results with the lab ref ranges (the figures in brackets after the results) members can advise whether the addition of T3 may be helpful and how much to add.
Cardiff-Cate I think the first thing you should do is get a print out of your thyroid test results so we can see exactly how 'fine' everything is. Ask your surgery, you are legally entitled to your results under the Data Protection Act 1998. Make sure you also get the reference ranges and then post the results for comment.
Also, if you've had nutrients tested, post those results also. If not, ask for the following to be tested
Vit D
B12
Folate
Ferritin
Do you take your levo on an empty stomach, one hour before or two hours after food?
Do you take your levo well away from your HRT and other meds or supplements?
When having blood tests for thyroid, do you bookm the first appointment of the morning, fast overnight (water only) and leave off Levo for 24 hours?
Once we've seen your thyroid results - preferably
TSH
FT4
FT3
TPO antibodies
TG antibodies
plus your vitamin and mineral test results, that will give a full picture and indicate whether T3 would be needed.
If you can't get all these tests done with your GP, then you can do them with a finger prick blood test at home
I will get a print out of my results and post them.
I'll check for the nutrient tests and if they haven't been done I'll request that they are.
I do take my Levo on an empty stomach first thing in the morning an hour before food but I tend to have a coffee about half an hour after taking it and I take my HRT at the same time. In fact, I am about to start taking my Levo at night because I've seen that this has helped some people but will continue to take my HRT in the morning.
Apart from the very first diagnosis blood tests, all subsequent blood tests to check levels have been non fasting and I've never been told to abstain from taking Levo for 24 hours prior.
Cardiff-Cate Most doctors won't know about fasting tests and leaving off Levo for 24 hours, just the odd enlightened one.
Eating lowers TSH, so fasting and leaving Levo off for 24 hours, together with the earliest possible appointment, gives the highest TSH possible which is what we need when looking for an increase in dose or to avoid a reduction.
You might find you do better with taking Levo at night, the coffee half an hour after won't have helped, nor taking the HRT so close.
Cardiff, I've been where you are--exactly!! I'm sorry you are experiencing this but I can totally identify with your troubles. T3 has made the biggest difference for me. After 22 years of feeling ill due to Hashimoto's, I am finally feeling better. I have had to insist on each increase in T3 from my endo until I think I am now, finally, on my optimal dose. I'm sorry to hear that obtaining T3 in UK has become very difficult. (I am in U.S.) I would encourage you to purchase T3 online if your doctor will not prescribe it. I don't have anything to add to the previous posts but just want you to know you are not alone in this struggle and some of us have been helped tremendously by combination T4/T3 treatment.
Thanks for replying to my post. Great to hear about your positive results. I will definitely order T3 online if I reach the conclusion that it could help and my doctor is reluctant to prescribe it.
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Argument for *not* reducing T4 when adding T3
Adding T3 to T4 for the first time
T4 levels in relation to T3 dose
Adding some T4 back in to my T3
Adding T3 to T4 
