How soon feel better on t3?

[Clara9]

How soon did you feel better when you added t3?

Increased my dose 4 days ago and feel just as bad as before

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

4 days isn't really long enough. Are you now taking 18.75mcg T3 with your Levo? You may need to give it a few weeks, I always waited 6 weeks after tweaking doses to retest but found I needed 8 weeks for my results to really reflect the change. However, we are all different and it really depends what else we have going on. I'm still tweaking doses 2 years since adding T3 and not found my perfect doses, but I've had to change brands and that hasn't helped.

[Clara9 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Yes, am taking 18.75. It's so hard sometimes not feeling well. Sometimes I wonder if I ever will...

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Clara9]

Tell me about it! The longer I wait to feel well the older I get and the more new "conditions" I'm collecting.

[Caesard in reply to SeasideSusie]

My case:

- better, from the first dosage, felt like a dark cloud raised from by brain.

- good, but inconsistent, 2 or 3 months after starting T3

- constantly good after approx 2 years after a lot of tweaking, approaching of side topics like vits&minerals, adrenals and overall lifestyle adaptation/improvement

I actually felt this week the best of the last 5 years. It's a long learning curve, sometimes a rollercoaster and it needs a lot of attention, determination and...faith. But it can be done! I've proved that to me and I feel content, proud and happy about it.

[Clutter]

Clara9,

T3 isn't an instant fix. I felt improvement in brain fog, mental clarity and mood a week after adding T3 but it was months before physical symptoms improved.

[Clara9 in reply to Clutter]

Thanks, need to be patient but t's so hard sometimes not feeling well. Sometimes I wonder if I ever will...

[Baobabs in reply to Clara9]

Clara9, I posted a similar plea a few days ago and patience is not one of my strengths, however, we have to have hope. Hang on in there, I am trying. Remember most of the folk writing on this forum are enduring some kind of struggle with the disease and so we rarely hear from 'satisfied customers'.

[Clutter in reply to Clara9]

Clara9,

I though the same after becoming progressively sicker post thyroidectomy. It took almost 2 years to get my meds right but I've been fine since then.

[Clara9 in reply to Clutter]

How are your levels now once you're well? Where in range is your free t3?

[Clutter in reply to Clara9]

Clara9,

My FT3 varies. Last April or May it was around 6.0 (3.5 - 6.5) 24 hours after last dose so I reduced T3 by 5mcg as it would probably have been mildly over range if I'd tested 8-12 hours after last dose. I've found I feel okay with FT3 >4.5.

[Clara9 in reply to Clutter]

Thank you very much for your answer!

[Baobabs in reply to Clara9]

Also Clara9, muscle/joint/bone pain doesn't seem to be much addressed as a symptom. From what I read it appears that little T3 reaching these areas can cause soft tissue damage such as tendons/ligaments and of course injury such as this can take a considerable period of time to heal. My initial Endo dismissed this symptom as nothing to do with Hashi's or thyroid problems, sending me for rheumatoid Arthritis tests that came back negative. For me this is the worst symptom as every time I engage in any form of exercise my muscle pain worsens and I feel weaker whereas when I used to complete hard gym workouts I would grow stronger! This all raises the question of who cares enough to embark on relevant and necessary research into this very complex disease. To this day I can still hear my GP's voice when diagnosed, 'just take a tablet every day and you'll be fine'!

[SilverAvocado in reply to Baobabs]

Baobabs, are you talking about things like sprains and injuries, or pain only?

I dislocated my knee over Christmas. Right after the most active week I've had for years. I'm sure it was linked to increasing my activity, but I'm also wondering if it's more related to bring hypo or hyper.

Spraining my ankle during an aerobics class is one of the early hypo events I had before my thyroidectomy (for cancer). That time my ankle just gave way underneath me and I fell - the woman behind me saw it all and thought I'd slipped on water. But of course I didn't know i was sick then, so I was really going for it

[Baobabs in reply to SilverAvocado]

Interesting what you say re the sprained ankle Silver Avocado. You know I don't really know if I mean injury in the sense that you talk about. More probably wrenching and muscle pulling on a regular basis and as if muscles/joints are sort of jelly like and just weak. For example I can't fasten buttons often or lift my arms to fasten zips/buttons on garments at the back. I suffer burning pain in muscles rather like the feeling you get with lactic acid build up say on a jog. This was one of the major reasons my current Endo prescribed T3 and I was thrilled she believed me. She was very matter of fact when I asked her why she believed me as she said all her patients with the same problem use similar wording. I have to say muscle/bone/joint/stiffness type pain was the first symptom I noticed several years ago but thought it was due to getting older. Perhaps it will be the last to go!

[Saggyuk]

It normally takes me three months to feel full effect of T3 increase so can take time- I must be slow lol!

[silverfox7]

Have you had Vit D, B12, folate and ferritin checked recently, add to post if you have and their ranges. These four help our thyroid so much but often one or more are low and so not helping out Thyroid to work properly. This may well be the reason that T3 addition isn't helping much.