Switching from Levothyroxine only to Dithyron!?

[Floriana]

Hello everyone, since my partial thyroidectomy two years ago i'm on Levothyroxine, but not feeling well, so decided to incorporate T3 in my treatment.

Now i have a question:

I'm on 100mg Levothyroxine daily, so how much of Dithyron ( 1 tablet which contains levothryoxine sodium 50ug liothyronine sodium 12.5ug) i should take to be equival on 100mg Levothyroxine?

i'm very grateful for every advice!

Thank you!

[EbonyEvans]

Hello Floriana,

You may be under medicated on 100 of T4. Can you post your last blood test results with ranges so we can help you more?

I think T4:T3 ratio is 1:3 so the Dithyron on its own will be too much. I’d suggest half a Dithyron and 25 T4 as well.

*Ratio edited after GreyGoose’s below response.

Ebony

[Floriana in reply to EbonyEvans]

Hello Ebony and Thank you for answering!

My last blood results;

TSH- 0.28 ref; 0.49----4.69

fT4 - 16.74 ref; 9.65----19.8

fT3 - 1.980 ref; 2.02----4.43

Thank you!

[greygoose]

I agree with need to see your labs to be able to answer, but especially an FT3 result. Do you have that? Because it all depends on how well you convert that T4. If you take one tablet, and assume that T3 is 3 x as strong as T4, it would give you the equivalent of 87.5 mcg T4, but only if you were converting perfectly. It could be that you were converting badly, in which case 1 tablet would give you an increase in dose - which might or might not be a good thing.

If you haven't had your FT3 tested, you could just try 1 tablet and see how it goes. But, in future, you would need your FT3 tested, because that would be the most important number. Just testing FT4 and TSH wouldn't tell you anything about dosing the Dithyron.

But, I really don't think you need to add any T4 to it. Your FT4 will be low, anyway, as you'll be taking T3, and it doesn't matter because the body only hangs on to what it wants, and it doesn't want as much T4 when you're taking T3.

[Floriana in reply to greygoose]

Hello greygoose and Thank you for your response!

Here are my last labs:

TSH- 0.28 ref; 0.49----4.69

fT4 - 16.74 ref; 9.65----19.8

fT3 - 1.980 ref; 2.02----4.43

I want to switch from Levothyroxine to Dithyron considering my awful symptoms.... and sadly i have all of them- weight loss /-25kg/ now gaining/+15kg/ i'm almost on plant based living!

Hair loss, i lost half of it for the last 15 years.

Problem skin, and I always have had very nice and clean skin.

Energy.....what's that? I do not remember what that was...

I can not tolerate neither warm nor cold.

Low mood and depression.

And on and on.....

So, you think 1grain of Dithyron is fine for now?

Thank you very much!

[greygoose in reply to Floriana]

So, your FT3 is very low. Your conversion is poor. So, yes, I think on tablet should be good for a start. It's not NDT, is it, so not measured in grains.

Have you had your vit D, vit B12, folate and ferritin tested? These all need to be optimal for your body to be able to use thyroid hormone.

[EbonyEvans]

Hello Floriana,

Just an FYI:

NDT is measured in grains. It contains 38mcg T4 9mcg of T3 (Thyroid-Gold) And unspecified amounts of T1 & T2 & calcitonin.

Dithyron is 50mcg of T4 & 12.5 mcg of T3. There are others I’ve seen of 110 T4 & 20 mcg T3. Dithryon is the name of the UniPharma brand (may be the same for another European brand/s).

Have you also had your nutrients tested. And do you take good quality vitamins? T4 needs a good nutrient base to work with. Be it natural or supplemented.