Wow GP has agreed to T3!!

[Syd35]

Went in this morning expecting to be told a flat no but he has agreed to let me try it. Anyone got any tips on starting on it, I know I have to reduce my Levo down to 75mcg and take the T3 split into two 5mcg doses per day.

Am I right to try this given my latest results weren't too bad? Although I still have symptoms, admittedly not all the time as at times I do feel a bit better but it is short-lived.

TSH 0.68

T4 18

T3 4.7

I didn't realise T3 had also been done back in 2016 and was 4.9 then, so no real change in the past two years. Some have suggested I might have a conversion problem although private endo disagrees.

Have my fingers crossed this might be the missing puzzle piece, will come back and update

[researcherUK]

Good Results! Looks like they've realised that you are not converting well which means you don't have a steady flow of adequate levels of T3. This small adjustment will hopefully help!

[Supernovae]

That’s great! I wish you well.

My GP told me he wasn’t allowed to prescribe T3 on the NHS even though my blood test showed I wasn’t converting. Going to fix up a private appointment.

[Syd35 in reply to Supernovae]

Yes going private helped my cause. Good luck...

[Supernovae in reply to Syd35]

Thank you, just deciding who to see....

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Syd

Have you got the reference ranges for those results? If FT4 isn't at the top of the range you might not need to reduce Levo.

And I would start on 5mcg T3 daily for 2 weeks then if you feel it's necessry increase to 2 x 5mcg rather than start with 2 x 5mcg. Always best to go low and slow with T3.

[Syd35 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi SeasideSusie - whoops yes here they are:

T4 - 18 (10-25) T3 - 4.7 (4-7) TSH - 0.68 (0.55 - 4.78)

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Syd35]

Syd

Your FT4 is only half way through range, you don't need to lower your Levo dose.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Syd35]

I should have said, see how you go, you can always tweak dose if necessary. My own experience of adding T3 to Levo made me realise that I need my FT4 above half way through range, too low and I feel dreadful. Of course, we are all different so you will need to find your own combination.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

As you have Hashimoto's, low vitamins are extremely common

For both FT3 and FT4 to work these need to be optimal, not just in range.

What are your most recent levels of vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12

If they are too low they need improving first.

Are you on strictly gluten free diet?