Weight gain on T3

[Hippyhappy234]

Hi everyone

A bit of a long story. I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid / hashis 2 years ago. Put on Levo but didn’t work for me at all. I switched to ndt & lost over 2 stones.

6 months later, I started getting hypo symptoms again. Ran a private blood test, showed there was a little room to add t3. I then reduced my ndt from 4 capsules to 1 & added more t3. (Suspected reverse t3).. still hypo.

It’s been over 2 weeks since I stopped ndt all together & only taking t3. I’m still putting on weight. I feel so down. It’s affecting everything.

I do have iron issues. Recently started taking iron capsules (blue bonnet high strength).

Any advice pls

[greygoose]

Reducing NDT from 4 capsules to 1 was a massive reduction. How much T3 did you start taking to compensate? Why did you stop the NDT completely? And how much T3 are you taking now? Do you have any blood test results you can post to make things clearer?

[Hippyhappy234 in reply to greygoose]

These were the private blood tests I had done in December as my weight kept creeping up. At this time I was taking 4 x 150 mg thyrogold.

TSH <0.005 (0.27-4.20)

Free thyroxine 19.7 (12.00-22.00)

T4 104.0 (59.00-154.00)

Free t3 5.43 (3.10-6.80)

Thyroglobulin Antibody 14.700 (0.00-115.00)

Thyroid peroxidase antibodies <9.0 (0.00-34.00)

After this I ordered t3 from Mexico. At first I reduced a capsule & added a small amount of t3. Subsequently, I reduced to 1 capsule & added about 75mcg t3.

I then had another blood test on the 14th Feb 18.

TSH was <0.01 (0.2-4.0)

T4 10.2 (11.0-22.6)

Free t3 8.1 (3.5-6.5)

After this , I was advised by the yahoo group that I am pooling. I was advised to stop ndt altogether as it was probably contributing to reverse t3 & work on my iron & check adrenals.

My weight is still increasing..

I feel like going back to ndt. It was brilliant & really helped with weight loss which is my main hypo symptom.

I am currently taking 62.5mcg t3 but was advised to take 50mcg only

[greygoose in reply to Hippyhappy234]

Well, you were certainly over-range on FT3 in February, but this doesn't mean that you were 'pooling' - if such a thing even exists! And, it was highly unlikely that you had high rT3 with an FT4 of 10.2! That was under-range, and it's high FT4 with low FT3 that causes rT3 (there are other reasons, but that don't apply in this present conversation). I'm afraid you were given some pretty crazy 'advice', there!

Being over-medicated can cause weight gain as well as under-medication. But, then, so can a lot of other things. Your December bloods look quite good, although your FT4 might have been slightly too high. But, I'm not familiar with the FT4/FT3 content of Thyrogold. However, had it been me, I think I might have reduced Thyrogold by one capsule, and added in slightly over the equivalent of T3, to lower your FT4 slightly, and increase your FT3 a tad. I think there might have been a bit of over-kill there!

And, I'd stay off the Yahoo group, if I were you!

[Hippyhappy234 in reply to greygoose]

Sorry greygoose I have replied but not the correct way 😬

[Hippyhappy234]

Thyrogold contains 50mcg T4 & 12.5mcg t3. So your saying to go back to 3 thyrogold capsules & about 25mcg t3.

What do you think started to cause the weight gain after 6 months of being on thyrogold. It was definitely not an appetite increase.

Should ndt & t3 be taken together in the morning ? Thank you for your reply Greygoose. It makes sense !

[Clutter in reply to Hippyhappy234]

Hippyhappy234,

If you use the Reply tab greygoose will be notified by email on on-site alert that you have responded.

[Hippyhappy234 in reply to Clutter]

Thank you for that clutter

[greygoose in reply to Hippyhappy234]

When you started to put on weight again, were you still on the same dose of Thyrogold as when you lost it?

[Hippyhappy234 in reply to greygoose]

I was. I started thyrogold in March 2017 with 1 capsule & about 3 months later I was taking 4 & lost 44lbs.

My weight stabilised & then in Sep/Oct it started going up again

[greygoose in reply to Hippyhappy234]

And how are your nutrient levels? Vit D, vit B12, folate, ferritin?

[Hippyhappy234 in reply to greygoose]

I would say low. Iron levels are on a previous post & so are vit D & b12. I’m now supplementing iron regularly. The high strength blue bonnet

[greygoose in reply to Hippyhappy234]

Well, low nutrients could have had something to do with it. Your body can't use thyroid hormone efficiently if your nutrients aren't optimal.